Soetkin Connection & Rewilding Coach - Occupational Interventions

Fill out this form if you want Soetkin to provide Occupational Interventions to you or your child.

About Occupations and how Important they are...

Occupations naturally shift throughout life!

Occupations come in many shapes & forms for people in different age groups.

Occupational Interventions can focus on any occupation that needs a little bit or a lot of extra attention.

As a Connection & Rewilding Coach - Soetkin will make an effort to embed the interventions & approaches within natural routines & natural environments. Newly learned connections can then be embedded in habits that already exist in the circumstances where the occupations (need to) happen most of the time. This creates a higher rate of successful outcomes and long lasting effects, even after the interventions have stopped.

BABIES

As a young baby, our main occupations are eating, drinking, sleeping, doing wees and poos, learning, playing, interacting & communicating our needs. Feeling safe is really important as a baby as it will help to build a secure attachment with the parents or main caregivers and will support their optimal development.

These occupations will remain pivotal in every human's life regardless their age.

TODDLERS

Between the ages of 1 & 3 years old, most of the above occupations will become increasingly more complex. Toddlers will gain more conscious control over their bowel and bladder movements and will be able to start to eat and drink more independently. They will become fluent at moving around effectively and they will start using their hands more to use and manipulate objects. They will also start using words and sentences and gradually will be able to communicate their wants and needs through using spoken language as well as through behaviours. Toddlers will start to play alongside peers and more actively start to build relationships with significant others.

PRE-SCHOOLERS

Between the ages of 3 & 5 years old, a lot of things change in the way that children interact with the world in general and with other people. Preschoolers likely will be completely toilet trained by the end of this stage and gradually gain skills at being able to get or even prepare simple drinks or dishes themselves. They often will start to engage in some sort of more formal pre-schooling activity with guided learning activities that suit their age. Their social relationships will get more complex and intricate.

Their language skills are progressing rapidly as their brains are growing and learning at a steady rate. They gain more social & emotional skills that help them to navigate relationships and more complex social situations.

Play skills will continue the evolve and kids will be more tuned in to their play partners and evolve to more turn taking in play. Play will get more involved, will last longer and get more complex,

SCHOOL-AGED CHILDREN

Between the ages of 5 & 8 years old, children who are learning at school or at home are often expected to engage in a lot of activities that require increasingly complex cognitive and executive functioning skills. Being able to pay attention, sustain attention and memorize & process learning materials is important throughout all learning activities. Kids will become better at being able to plan ahead, organize themselves and manage their time. By the end of this stage kids likely will be able to initiate and finish activities with more ease and be able to monitor themselves and what they do until they finish it. They will also show progress in their ability to apply self-control, emotional control and become more flexible with changing circumstances. These are all skills that will continue to be important and progress throughout life and will not reach "maturity" at a set age before adulthood, and even adults often still struggle with these skills.

Emotional, Behavioural and Sensory Regulation are other areas in children's development that become increasingly important and will be challenged at various times throughout this age group and beyond.

Play will become more complex, longer, with more play partners.

Gross motor skills and fine motor skills will develop further throughout the school-aged years. Handwriting will be required and various self-help skills need a combination of both with support of general body coordination skills.

Socially - children will move in and out of various social relationships in the different situations they find themselves in. More friendships will be formed and challenged and social skills will become increasingly important to navigate daily life.

Many children in this age group will also start to develop and engage in hobbies, such as art & craft, sports, youth clubs, etc...

PRE-TEENS

Between the ages of 9 - 11 years old, children will continue to develop all above mentioned skills and occupations.

Especially the area of play & social relationships can become more important - will finetune and/or shift.

Self-awareness and general wellbeing will become more important as children will start to see themselves more consciously within the context of their family, their social circle and the world in general.

TEENS

Between the ages of 12 - 18 years old, teenagers will make a shift from being in Primary School to being in High School for children that go to school. This often is considered to be an impactful change.

Major jumps in development are expected to happen on a physical, but also on a psychological and social level.

Friendships & leisure play a very important role during this time.

Teens will start to think of future study and career pathways and generally will become increasingly more independent in all areas of life.

Teens might start a student job to earn a bit of pocket money.

They might also explore their identity and engage in deeper relationships with peers.

YOUNG ADULTS

Between the ages of 18 - 25 years old, young adults will likely have finished their high school education and some will focus on further studies or on higher education pathways, while others start or further establish their career pathways.

Young adults also often will move out of the parental home in some way, shape or form. They might go to student housing while they study or they might move out of the house on a more permanent basis.

Hanging out with friends and maintaining a meaningful social life is often important for young adults.

Some young adults will start families on their own, tapping into greater responsibilities towards taking on the care for their own partner and children.

ADULTS

From 25 years upwards, adults will often focus on further study, work, career, family, friendships, obligations and leisure in varying degrees and forms.

Things might shift often either suddenly or gradually.

All previous occupations will remain important and may also fluctuate throughout adulthood.

Occupational Interventions

Soetkin is experienced in and has specialised in assisting people across all above mentioned aged groups, occupations and skills.

If there are any challenges happening in occupations or skills, Soetkin can help to improve skill levels, the way occupations are happening or how they are perceived and to improve overall levels of well-being.

This is a list of areas that may need support across different ages and life experiences.

The list can be seen as a guide to understand which challenges may be influencing various occupations and experiences and should be seen as a guide only into any occupational intervention options suggested.

MOTOR SKILLS SUPPORT

Fine Motor (eg. writing, shoelaces, opening packages, ...)
Gross Motor (eg. walking, running, using stairs, ...)
Coordination (eg. complex movements like riding a bike, swimming, monkey bars, ...)
Body Awareness (eg. identifying body parts & their position, ...)
Visuo-Motor (eg. copying, reading, ...)
Sensory-Motor (eg. fluency and ease of movements, ...)
Motor Ideation (eg. getting movements started, knowing where to start, ...)
Enjoyment of Movement
...

COGNITIVE SKILLS SUPPORT

Learning
Own Learning Style
Focus & Attention
Memory
Cognitive & Executive Functioning
Confidence in Learning
Metacognition
...

PLAY, SOCIAL & INTERPERSONAL SKILLS SUPPORT

Play Skills
Turn-taking
Attunement to others
Friendships
Relationships
Confidence & Trust in Self & Others
Social Skills
Prosocial Skills
...

INTRAPERSONAL SKILLS SUPPORT

Self-Awareness
Understanding Self
Comprehending own Functioning within a context
Self-Esteem
Self-Image
Self-Value
...

EMOTIONAL REGULATION & SELF-REGULATION SUPPORT

Functional use of Emotion-Related Language
Interoceptive Awareness
Body-Emotion-Action Connection
Regulation within the Context of Relationships
...

SENSORY PROCESSING SUPPORT

Understanding Sensory Processing
Identifying areas of challenge through screening or assessment
Sensory Diet embedded in daily routines
...

BEHAVIOURAL SKILLS SUPPORT

People of all ages will do well if they can. If they are showing behavioural challenges, an underlying reason for the challenge can and should be identified and remediated
Importance of recognizing Lagging Skills
Interventions tailored to Context and Relationship, Environment and Age
...

ACTIVITIES OF DAILY LIFE SKILLS SUPPORT

Sleeping
Eating & Drinking
Toileting
Self-Care
House cleaning
...

INDEPENDENT ACTIVITIES OF DAILY LIFE SKILLS SUPPORT

Taking care of finances
Taking care of others
Taking care of pets
Managing household
Work & professional skills
...

MENTAL HEALTH CHALLENGES SUPPORT

Grief (also within the context of contemplating a diagnosis or receiving a diagnosis)
Trauma / PTSD
Anger Management
Depression
Anxiety
Overwhelm
Neurodiversity
ASD, ODD, PDA
AD(H)D
Psychosis, Schizophrenia
Behavioural Challenges
...

FAMILY CHALLENGES SUPPORT

Overwhelm
Organisation
Dealing with everyday difficulties
Agression, Violence
...

SCHOOL / LEARNING TRANSITION SUPPORT

Starting Childcare
Starting Kinder
Starting Primary School
Starting High School
Starting Higher Education
Starting to Homeschool
Starting to Unschool
Starting Dual Enrolment
...