Occupational Therapy for People with Multiple Sclerosis

The first time I ever heard the term "occupational therapy" was when my 6-month-old nephew was having trouble adapting to solid foods, so was sent to an occupational therapist (OT). She prescribed a little schedule for introducing foods in a certain order, showed his mom how to feed him so that he would have the best chance at success and even recommended a certain spoon. The term "occupational therapy" made sense when it was explained to me as help to do the things that "occupy" our lives - eating, grooming, doing leisure activities - basically taking care of our needs and living our lives.

As people with multiple sclerosis (MS), those "occupations" that used to come naturally and effortlessly may start taking a little more effort, then a lot more effort, until eventually we stop doing them or need to rely on others for help.

Occupational therapy can help us keep doing these things for ourselves longer. Not only that, a good therapist can help us streamline things so that they require less of our valuable energy - even when our symptoms may be worse.

Read a little more here about occupational therapy - you may be surprised. In writing these articles, one thing that I wanted to really emphasize is that occupational therapy is not just for people that need a lot of help or are severely disabled - it is for anyone that wants to do things "smarter" when their bodies are presenting them with challenges and frustrations.

Read the full articles:

• Occupational Therapy for Multiple Sclerosis
• Getting the Most Out of Occupational Therapy for People with Multiple Sclerosis