Occupational Therapy and Independence of Children and Adolescents

Objectives

This subject is part of the Occupational Therapy, Life Cycle and Applied Occupational Activities subject.

This subject focuses on occupational therapy intervention in children and adolescents as a stage of the life cycle. Specifically, the aim is for the student to know how to respond to the specific needs and contexts of occupational participation typical of childhood and adolescence.

The general objectives of this subject are:

• Reflect on the characteristic features of occupation during childhood and adolescence and their implications for occupational therapy intervention.
• Learn about procedures, models and techniques specific to this moment in the life cycle.
• Know the occupational therapy intervention process with children and/or adolescents in the field of mental health, neurological rehabilitation and early care.
• Differentiate and identify the role of the occupational therapist at different levels of care.
• Know how to integrate the family in the process of occupational therapy.

Learning outcomes

• RA1. It justifies the planning of the intervention in the child and youth field through its own models or relevant frames of reference.
• LO2. Identifies the occupational dysfunction associated with the child or adolescent according to the diagnosis and the environment.
• LO3. Knows, selects and applies the corresponding assessment instruments according to the pathology, the diagnosed occupational dysfunction and the person's environment.
• LO4. Uses observation as an evaluation tool from relevant frames of reference or own models.
• LO5. Plans the intervention, which includes the social environment (parents, school professionals, etc.).
• LO6. Designs and applies the activity as a therapeutic tool and adapts flexibly to the circumstances of its implementation.
• LO7. Adapts an environment based on the capacities and limitations of the child or adolescent in treatment and creatively solves problems that may arise.
• LO8. Puts into practice listening, empathy and negotiation skills with users during the intervention process.
• LO9. Puts into practice the skills of criticism and self-criticism while working with the multidisciplinary team.

Competencies

General skills

• Interact with others with empathy, demonstrating skills in interpersonal relationships.

Specific skills

• Analyze occupation in occupational therapy and therapeutic use in the life cycle.
• Carry out appropriate treatment, respecting different phases and basic principles, through therapeutic occupations based on occupational science in the different areas of occupation, analyzing performance components and contexts.
• Know about and understand occupational therapy for the integration of individuals in their environment throughout the life cycle.
• Promote health and prevent disability, to acquire or regain occupational performance at each stage of the life cycle in order to achieve independence and autonomy in the areas of occupational performance of those at risk, with organic deficits, with limitation of activity and participation, and social marginalization.
• Use professional and ethical reasoning effectively throughout the occupational therapy process.

Basic skills

• Students can apply their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional manner and have competencies typically demonstrated through drafting and defending arguments and solving problems in their field of study.
• Students have demonstrated knowledge and understanding in a field of study that builds on general secondary education with the support of advanced textbooks and knowledge of the latest advances in this field of study.

Core skills

• Display professional skills in complex multidisciplinary contexts, working in networked teams, whether face-to-face or online, through use of information and communication technology.
• Exercise active citizenship and individual responsibility with a commitment to the values of democracy, sustainability and universal design, through practice based on learning, service and social inclusion.
• Project the values of entrepreneurship and innovation in one's academic and professional career, through contact with a variety of practical contexts and motivation for professional development.
• Use oral, written and audiovisual forms of communication, in one's own language and in foreign languages, with a high standard of use, form and content.

Content

1. Occupational therapy in primary care
2. Model DIR/Floortime
3. Sensory integration
4. Evaluation process in SMIJ
5. Intervention process in SMIJ
6. Care model centered on the family
7. Child neurological rehabilitation from occupational therapy
8. Occupational assessment in the child and youth field
9. Occupational therapy intervention program for children and youth

Evaluation

According to the Academic Regulations for undergraduate studies at UVic-UCC, there is only one official call for applications that provides for two different evaluation periods:

• Ordinary period, which takes place as part of the training process and during the school period.
• Complementary evaluation period, in which the student can be evaluated again for the tasks, activities or tests that he or she did not pass satisfactorily within the framework of the first period.

Ordinary period

Continuous evaluation of the activities carried out by the student is carried out based on the following criteria:

• Individual and group practices and activities: 50% of the subject's final grade
• Final project: 50% of the final grade of the subject; recoverable

The subject is passed if a grade equal to or greater than 5 is obtained. The final grade for the subject is the result of the weighting of the grades obtained in each of the parts. In order to be able to do the weighting, it is necessary that:

• The minimum exam grade is ≥5.
• Recoverable activities must have a minimum grade of 5 to be able to make a weighted average.

The final grade for the subject is the result of the weighting of the grades obtained in each of the parts. The subject is passed if a grade of ≥5 is obtained.

Complementary evaluation period

Students who do not pass some of the activities considered remediable may make them up during this period. The evaluation of this second period cannot account for more than 50% of the final grade for the subject.

The final grade for this period is calculated by taking the weighted average of the grades obtained in each of the parts, using the last grade obtained in the ordinary and complementary evaluation. The subject is passed if a grade of ≥5 is obtained.

Important

Plagiarism or copying someone else's work is penalized in all universities and, according to the UVic-UCC coexistence rules, constitute serious or very serious faults. Therefore, during the course of this subject, plagiarism or the improper appropriation of texts or ideas from other people (see What is considered plagiarism?) and the improper or undeclared use of artificial intelligence in an activity automatically result in suspension or other disciplinary measures.

To cite texts and materials appropriately, you must consult the academic citation guidelines and guidelines available on the UVic Library website.

Methodology

The subject is organized through:

• Masterclasses
• Case resolution
• Role play
• Observations in the community
• Face-to-face and online synchronous and asynchronous sessions.

Bibliography

Key references

• Greenspan SI., Wieder S. (1997). The Child with Special Needs. Perseus Books.
• La integración sensorial y el niño (2006). La integración sensorial y el niño. Editorial MAD.
• Mulligan, S. (2006). Terapia Ocupacional en Pediatria. Proceso de evaluación. Panamericana.
• Polonio, B., Castellanos, M.C., Viana, I. (2008). Terapia Ocupacional en la infancia. Teoria y Práctica. Panamericana.
• Vázquez Sánchez, F., & García López, B. (2023). Manual de neurología para terapia ocupacional. Médica Panamericana.

Further reading

Teachers will provide complementary bibliography and compulsory reading throughout the course via the Virtual Campus.