BCHC Children's Occupational Therapy

02/09/2025

Sleep is important to our health and wellbeing. Here are some top tips on support with children and young people's sleep hygiene.

01/09/2025

Morning routines with an autistic child may look different from those in other families and that’s okay. Small, steady changes can make a big difference over time. Some mornings will run smoothly, while others may feel more challenging -but meeting your child with patience & understanding is what counts.

Have a look at some of our tips!

29/08/2025

Some Listening & Attention Tips

29/08/2025

World Afro Day

27/08/2025

With children and young people starting nursery or school next week, check out these 5 tips from BBC Tiny Happy People to support your family with that transition.

And most importantly, don't put too much pressure on yourself or your child - it'll all work out! 💗

Starting school can be daunting, but it can also be a lot of fun 😊

23/08/2025

You can find lots of great resources and information on these websites about how to support your child or young person with starting school or transitioning from one setting to another.

11/08/2025

Handwriting can be made fun and engaging by using some of the approaches in this post. Try playing with playdough or Theraputty beforehand and adding a multi-sensory approach to your handwriting tasks.

For more information on handwriting activities, please visit our advice packs on our website (www.bhamcommunity.nhs.uk/child-OT)

09/08/2025

September is nearly here, so let's practise dressing - school uniform style!

👕 Use a sequencing chart if they struggle with getting dressed in the right order (for example putting trousers on before pants). More ideas on visual resources like this here: https://www.autismwestmidlands.org.uk/autism-information/visual-resources/
👕 These next few weeks are the perfect time to take things slowly and practise getting dressed and breaking down each step into smaller chunks. Make sure to leave plenty of time so there's no pressure or feeling of being rushed and try not to do it all for them
👕 Backwards chaining breaks down a task into smaller steps and then works backwards! Start the first steps of the process for the child and then encourage them to continue. Gradually encourage the child to do more for themselves as they become more confident. Make sure to narrate each step as you go!
👕Lots of supermarkets and clothing shops now offer an "Easy Dressing" range with adapted features to make dressing a little easier (for example hidden velcro instead of buttons)

See our website for more top tips on dressing and self care as well as other advice packs on lots of areas your young person may be struggling with:
https://www.bhamcommunity.nhs.uk/paediatric-occupational-therapy-home

08/08/2025

Developing gross motor skills will support your children with their larger body movements e.g. balance, co-ordination, core strength but also with their shoulder strength to support with carrying out fine motor skills in everyday activities. Promoting these skills can be done by participating in a variety of fun activities which support and promote these movements.

This video gives you a few ideas of what you could do with your child over the summer holidays.

07/08/2025

On behalf of SEND Occupational Therapy, we would like to take the opportunity to thank every training and event host setting that has helped us do what we do this academic year! We couldn't have done it without you! Birmingham's SEND Local Offer

06/08/2025

⭐️ Organisation ⭐️
Let's get ready to go back to school with some OT top tips for your young person! The summer is a great time to practise when there may be less pressure and you have more time to take things slow.

⭐️Use visual prompts and checklists
⭐️Use colour coding
⭐️Prepare things the night before where possible to avoid a rush in the morning
⭐️Use apps such as Can Plan, Brain in hand or AutonoMe to support them
⭐️Help them to develop their time management skills including telling the time or making use of visual timers and alarms
⭐️Break up activities into smaller steps and don't overload them - a sequencing chart can help with this

Visit the website for more tips on using visual resources and our website www.bhamcommunity.nhs.uk/paediatric-occupational-therapy for advice packs and even more tips