The doctor and the child with learning problems

The identification and treatment of motor/learning difficulties: parents' perceptions and the role of the therapist

The diagnostic experience of 31 children, assessed as having motor/learning difficulties, attending an occupational therapy department within a children's hospital, was investigated. The study demonstrates the difficulty of specific identification of perceptuomotor problems. Close examination of the children's individual diagnostic pathways revealed a high number of health-care professional contacts and the fact that frequently there were lengthy gaps between parental (and sometimes professional) suspicions and final confirmation. The children's diagnostic experiences prior to starting treatment were varied and involved, and no one single route was predominant. The rationale for occupational-therapy assessment and treatment of this disorder is described, and parental perceptions of its effect are discussed. The findings suggest that an important part of therapeutic intervention may be increasing children's self-confidence and reducing intra and extra family tensions. Fewer behavioural problems were reported once treatment had commenced. It was concluded that an important part of the therapist's role was to provide information and support for parents and to liaise with school teachers, in addition to treating the children themselves.