Occupational therapy for kids with ADHD

What OT does that meds don't

Stimulant medication (when it works for a kid) handles a slice of the ADHD picture — attention duration, impulse control, working memory. It doesn't teach:

• Organisation skills — how to plan a multi-step task
• Routine-building — how to make a morning run on autopilot
• Sensory regulation — what to do when the brain is over- or under-stimulated
• Self-monitoring — noticing the warning signs before a meltdown

OT teaches those. It's complementary to medication, not a substitute.

For families who can't or don't medicate, OT carries more of the load — especially around environmental design (visual schedules, body-doubling, sensory tools) which is often more effective than asking the child to "try harder."

Common cross-discipline plans

ADHD rarely shows up alone in our intake:

• ADHD + anxiety is the most common combination — needs OT + psychology.
• ADHD + autism (~30% overlap in our experience) — needs OT + psychology + sometimes speech.
• ADHD + learning difficulties — needs OT + speech pathology (the language and literacy side).

Hey Sprout's intake catches all of these and routes you to a coordinated plan in one go — you don't fill out three separate forms.

NDIS funding

ADHD on its own is not yet a stand-alone NDIS access criterion, but most kids who access NDIS for ADHD do so because of a co-occurring or associated condition (autism, intellectual disability, learning disability, anxiety). OT is funded under Capacity Building → Improved Daily Living for eligible children. For privately-paid families, OT sessions are $193.99/hr matching the NDIS rate.