Creating opportunities for occupation: an intervention to promote the self-care independence of young children with special needs.

OBJECTIVE The relationship between opportunities for occupation and the skill performance of young children with special needs was explored, using a multiple baseline across subjects design. METHOD Three caregivers self-monitored the frequency with which they were able to create opportunities for their child to practice emerging self-dressing or self-feeding skills. RESULTS Two caregivers quickly promoted self-care independence in their child by restructuring daily routines to provide more opportunities for the child to independently engage in the targeted occupation. One caregiver was unable to use the intervention techniques effectively. CONCLUSION Opportunity for occupation can influence the child's skill performance and can be used as a treatment modality by some families.