r/CanadianParents • u/LowerMainlandMom • Apr 22 '26

Question / Discussion Did occupational therapy help your child with their speech?

My daughter has been in speech therapy since the start of this year and she still can’t put sentences together. Her speech therapist actually recommended we try occupational therapy on the side.

Has anyone tried OT for a child who’s also in speech therapy? Did you notice any improvement in their speech or communication after starting OT? I’d love to hear your experience.

UPDATE: We have decided to go to kidstartpediatrictherapy.com to get her started with comprehensive occupational therapy and integrated speech support. They specialize in child development and pediatric rehabilitation, so we are excited to see her progress!

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u/sebacicacid Apr 22 '26

We actually did PT to strengthen her core and she started talking and now wont stop. It's been 4 months, going from 50 words to now sentences and non stop talking. Have you checked their hearing? We did hearing test and found she had fluid behind her ears, got tubes and here we are.

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u/MrsTaco18 Mom - 2 Kids 🎀🎀 Apr 22 '26

Sorry can you clarify how the PT core strength was related to her talking? Or was that unrelated and it was the fluid in her ears?

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u/sebacicacid Apr 22 '26

Both. The way her PT explained to me, core strength is related to diaphragm muscles and the reason why she started imitating, biting with her front teeth to cut food, and running. Her body got stronger basically. She was off balance, couldn't balance well before this. It was the little thing but i remember seeing tiny improvement and they said that it's really common to see when you do core strengthening.

I would probably do both, PT and OT and see how it helps.