When attending an unfamiliar appointment, many children and their parents find it helpful to be prepared with some information about what is going to happen.

Of course the information you give them will vary according to their age, their level of understanding, their anxiety level, their personality and their interest in such information.

Here are some examples of what you might choose to tell your child:

For a young child:

“We are going somewhere special today to have a play with some toys. There will be a friendly lady who will talk with mummy/daddy and who will then play with you. She will have lots of fun toys and activities to do, and she will be excited to see all the things you are good at playing. Let's take your favourite toy/book/game to show the lady”.

For the child who understands a little more you could then say:

“The lady will give you lots of thing to do like: puzzles, drawing, writing, cutting, maybe some running and jumping and maybe playing with your whole body”.

For an older child, it is often helpful to have a little more information, such as:

“Today we are going to see the Occupational Therapist. She is someone who helps children with using their fingers (for using pencils and scissors), using their body (for running and jumping), being organized (for kindy/school) and concentrating. We are going to see her because....eg “You are very good at lots of things, but I wonder if  writing/drawing/concentrating is harder for you than it needs to be. Do you think we could make it easier for you?”

"We will see the lady together. She will have a chat with me and then with you. Then she may have some activities to do together and/or some games. After we have finished playing, she will talk with us about what things you do well and if there are any things that are a bit tricky. Then we will work out together the best way to help you with things you find a bit tricky".

For children with sensory issues you may chose to tell them:

"Sometimes our bodies don't feel comfortable with things that are around us (e.g. tags in shirts, the taste of fruit in our mouth). This makes it hard to concentrate, play nicely with others and behave the way the teacher/or mum and dad want us to. The lady is going to help your body make it easier to do the things you want to do".