The Seeds OT Model · Part 1 of five · 3:21
Health is never one thing
Explore the six condition domains in the Seeds OT Model and how an occupational therapist uses them to understand a child’s participation in everyday life.
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Video transcript
0:00Widen the first question
Part one begins with a familiar clinical question. Is this difficulty sensory, emotional, developmental, or something about the setting? Each possibility may deserve attention. The Seeds OT Model asks us to widen the picture before settling on one explanation. A child’s participation is shaped by conditions that interact. Understanding those connections can help an occupational therapist ask more useful questions, while still taking a diagnosis, disability or specific skill difficulty seriously.
0:35Six places to look
The six domains are biology and the nervous system, family and relationships, daily occupations, environment, school and peers, and culture and society. They give the conversation a structure. They are not a scoring system, and every family does not need an equally long investigation of every domain. The purpose is to notice which conditions appear relevant to the activity and pattern in front of you, and which parts of the picture are still unclear.
1:06The body, in context
The body matters. Pain, illness, disability, fatigue, sleep and a child’s sensory experience can all be relevant to participation. A wider view does not explain these away. It asks how those realities meet the demands of the day. What can the child manage in this setting, at this time, with this level of support? A change in the environment may make an activity more accessible even when a biological condition itself has not changed.
1:40Relationships and the setting
Relationships and settings are part of the same investigation. At school, an occupational therapist may ask about transitions, sensory demands, the teacher relationship and opportunities to join in. At home, the questions may include routines, support and what caregivers are carrying. This is not an exercise in finding fault with a parent or school. It is a way to understand the circumstances people are working within, including pressures that are not theirs to solve alone.
2:12Occupation is the centre
Occupation means the activities that daily life is made of. For a child, that includes playing, eating, sleeping, dressing, learning and being with other people. The model keeps returning to how those activities actually happen. What helps the child take part? Where is the effort unusually high? Is there enough opportunity for rest, choice and activities that matter to them? Those questions connect a broad understanding of conditions to ordinary occupational therapy work.
2:47Notice what already helps
The map should include what is going well. A familiar adult, a manageable room, an enjoyable activity or a predictable rhythm may already be supporting participation. It should also include barriers such as limited resources or access to support, without turning those barriers into a family’s failure. Before moving to part two, choose one everyday activity and ask: which conditions seem to make taking part easier, which make it harder, and what would I need to understand before deciding where to begin?