Occupational therapy and neurodevelopmental conditions
What an OT assessment covers for autistic adults and people with ADHD or related conditions: function, environment, and evidence.
Neurodevelopmental conditions, autism, ADHD and related presentations, affect how someone manages a day rather than whether they can perform a task once. That distinction is most of what an occupational therapy assessment is trying to capture.
What the assessment looks at
- Executive function in practice: starting a task, sequencing it, switching between tasks, finishing.
- Sensory environment: noise, light, crowding, and what a person does to manage them.
- Consistency. Being able to cook dinner once is not the same as cooking dinner five nights a week, and funders are deciding about the second.
- Fatigue and recovery, including what a day costs and what it takes to be ready for the next one.
- Communication and self-advocacy in appointments, workplaces and services.
Where it goes
Usually into a functional capacity assessment supporting an NDIS plan, and sometimes into return to work assessments where the barrier is a workplace rather than a home.
Assessment happens in the real environment. A clinic room removes exactly the variables that make the difference.
Common questions
Do you assess children?
We work with people aged 13 and over. For a younger child you need a paediatric provider who specialises in early childhood or primary-age assessment.
What should I bring to a first appointment?
Any previous reports, and a sense of what a difficult week actually looks like. The second is usually more useful than the first.
Related
- Neurological conditions How OT assessment works after stroke or brain injury and with progressive conditions: function, equipment and the home.
- Physical disability Equipment, access and daily function: what an OT assesses and how the evidence supports a funding request.
- Psychosocial & mental health What OT assessment covers when the barrier is psychosocial: daily routine, participation, and evidencing variable capacity.