Exploring occupational therapy and transitions for young children with special needs

Young children with special needs typically experience many transitions between services. As part of a larger family system, each of these transitions and the myriad of factors involved affect the life of the child and the lives of their families. Occupational therapists have a unique, yet insufficiently explored, perspective that may contribute to the support and planning for families and children during the transition process. The purpose of this paper is to explore the Ecology of Human Performance (EHP) framework (Dunn, Brown & McGuigan, 1994) and apply it to occupational therapy and early childhood transitions. A description of the transition process and potential occupational therapy interventions using the EHP framework is developed.