How Speech Therapy and Occupational Therapy Can Work Together to Support Kids’ Development
When you think of Speech Therapy (ST) and Occupational Therapy (OT), you might imagine two very different worlds. Speech therapists work with language, communication, swallowing, and social skills, while occupational therapists focus on fine motor skills, daily activities, and body awareness. But did you know these two therapies can overlap in surprising and helpful ways? Kids working with both therapies may be focusing on similar goals but achieving them in different ways, with each therapy providing a unique perspective and approach to help the child succeed.
Body Awareness: A Common Goal, A Unique Approach
Let’s start with the example of body awareness—a crucial skill for kids to master as they grow. Body awareness involves knowing where your body is in space and understanding how to move and control it. This skill is foundational for many other tasks, like playing sports, dressing, or even engaging in conversation. Both speech therapists and occupational therapists work on body awareness, but they use different methods to get there.
Speech Therapy: The Power of Words
A speech therapist may focus on body awareness through language. For instance, they can teach kids to understand and use different prepositions like "on," "under," "next to," and "between" that can be applied to their own bodies or objects around them. This approach helps kids not only become more aware of their body’s position in space but also learn how to describe it to others to help support their bodily autonomy. Being able to communicate these ideas and needs is also beneficial to allowing a child express themselves. Whether that’s from therapist models, or or using an AAC device to express. **
Over time, the child learns to apply these prepositions to other situations, becoming more aware of their environment and their physical presence in it.
Occupational Therapy: Movement and Coordination
On the other hand, an occupational therapist may work on body awareness through physical activities that require movement and coordination. For example, the child might practice yoga poses or follow simple movement instructions like, "Put your arms above your head," or "Bend down and touch your toes." These activities help children connect physical sensations with spatial understanding.
By using movement-based exercises, the child develops a more intuitive sense of where their body is in space. The therapist might create obstacle courses, balance exercises, or activities that encourage the child to navigate their own body in relation to objects or other people. These physical experiences are valuable because they help the child strengthen their proprioception (the sense of where their body parts are) and improve coordination—skills that are useful for both daily activities and social interactions.
A Shared Goal: Enhancing Everyday Functioning
The overarching goal of both therapies is to help kid’s increase their quality of life. Whether through communication or physical movement, body awareness impacts nearly every area of a child’s development. By working with both a speech therapist and an occupational therapist, children receive a well-rounded approach to improving their body awareness, ensuring that no stone is left unturned.
For example, while speech therapy might focus on helping a child describe where their body or objects are in relation to others, OT can help them physically control and adjust their body movements to match those descriptions. These combined strategies are especially beneficial for kids with challenges related to sensory processing, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), or developmental coordination disorder (DCD), where body awareness can be a struggle.
Collaboration Between Therapists: The Power of Teamwork
The real magic happens when speech therapists and occupational therapists collaborate. When therapists work together to create a cohesive plan, they can align their approaches to reinforce each other’s goals. For instance, a speech therapist might introduce the concept of "above" and "below," while the OT helps the child physically demonstrate those concepts by reaching above their head or bending to touch something below them. The combination of verbal understanding and physical practice creates a multi-sensory experience that makes the concept stick.
Such coordination between therapists also allows them to share insights about the child’s progress, challenges, and preferences. For example, a speech therapist might notice a child’s difficulty using certain prepositions and share this with the occupational therapist, who can then incorporate more of those prepositions into movement-based tasks. Together, they create an environment that supports the child’s development in a holistic way.
A Comprehensive Approach to Development
Ultimately, the combination of speech therapy and occupational therapy allows kids to develop both the cognitive and physical skills they need to navigate the world around them. Each therapist brings their own expertise, but when their goals are aligned, they create a comprehensive approach that helps kids not only communicate better but also move through the world with confidence and independence.
Whether it’s understanding body position with language or mastering the physical coordination required to carry out tasks, both speech and occupational therapists play an integral role in a child’s growth. By working on similar areas in different ways, they give kids the tools to thrive—whether they're talking about their body’s position or showing it through their actions.
If you're a parent or caregiver of a child working with both speech therapy and occupational therapy, rest assured that these therapies are complementary and can work in harmony to provide a well-rounded support system for your child’s development.
THANK YOU to Ms Sammi (ST) & Ms Rachel OT) for providing us with such awesome info in this post! Our team loves collaborating with each other! This allows us to learn more about your child and providing them with the best possible services. Want more info? Contact us today!
