A training program on occupational therapy for children, organized jointly by Shanghai Sunshine Rehabilitation Center and LIH Olivia’s Place, was held from 17 to 21 October 2016 at Shanghai Sunshine Rehabilitation Center. Trainees from Shanghai Sunshine Rehab Center, Shanghai First Hospital, Shanghai Children’s Hospital, Shenyang Children’s Hospital, Quanzhou Children’s Hospital participated. The main speaker was Anna Tan Pascual, an occupational therapist from LIH Olivia’s Place. Through presentation of theory, group discussion, and live demonstration, Anna and the trainees thoroughly explored occupational therapy for children.

At present, there is still a big gap between China’s occupational therapy and international standards. In order to improve the overall level of occupational therapy in China, it is of great importance for occupational therapists in China to learn from their colleague and to promote professional development of occupational therapy in China. Given the background, occupational therapist from LIH Olivia’s Place shared assessment and therapy skills in occupational therapy on children with nationwide OT experts, in order to jointly promote the development of occupational therapy in China and to help more children in need.

The main trainer, Anna Tan Pascual, LIH Olivia’s Place, is a registered occupational therapist in the Philippines and Australia. She has a Bachelor of Science in Occupational Therapy and Master of Rehabilitation Sciences, both from the University of the Philippines. In her more than 20 year career, she has worked in a wide range of pediatric settings. Anna’s clinical interests include helping children meet school and classroom demands, especially handwriting, as well as working with children who are blind or have low vision.

In this 5-day training program, Anna not only gave presentations on sensory integration, fine motor skills, cognitive therapy, handwriting skills, visual habitation and visual perception, independence in self-care as well as helping at home, but also shared her own clinical experiences and vivid case studies to help trainees better understand the theories. LIH Olivia’s Place hopes that through this training program, more infants, children, and teenagers who have fine motor, visual perceptual, handwriting, self-care, and sensory processing difficulties can be helped and supported.

One of the highlights of this event was the on-site case studies in which four children were invited to the training site. Friendly and experienced Anna soon won the children’ s attention and cooperation, and she as well as the trainees assessed the children ‘s capabilities in sensory integration, work behavior, posture, bilateral coordination, muscle tone and muscle strength, and dexterity, by working with them and also by observing them play matching games, build with blocks, put on and take off clothes, draw shapes, and do other activities. Trainees were then divided into groups for discussion so that they could have a better understanding of the practical operations in occupational therapy.

The mission of LIH Olivia’s Place drives our efforts to help and support all children and their families in China. In this training program, we were honored to share our clinical knowledge and experience with experts from across the country.