How is occupational therapy different from physical therapy and speech therapy?
Occupational therapy (OT) and physical therapy (PT) are very much related to each other, as they both fulfill the purpose of maintaining the health and fitness of the individual, and graduate coursework is similar as they both involve anatomy, neuroanatomy, and kinesiology. Both OT and PT strive to cover all the aspects of human health – psychological, mental, and physical.
While occupational therapy focuses on developing or restoring functional skills in daily life, physical therapy focuses on developing or restoring mobility. With children, OTs are often seen working on areas such as improving attention, motor planning and coordination with the body, social skills, tolerating different sensations, and self-help skills. PTs are often seen working with children on improving balance, strength and endurance, walking mechanics, and joint range of motion.
Occupational therapy and physical therapy are also very much related to speech-language therapy. OTs and PTs often carry over speech and language goals being addressed by the speech-language pathologist and both occupational and speech therapy can address feeding challenges, play skills, social skills, and executive functioning. Speech-language pathologists have a more specialized field of care, but there are many ways in which the practice of speech-language pathology can benefit from the assistance of occupational therapists and physical therapists.