About CO-OP

What is CO-OP?

Cognitive Orientation to daily Occupational Performance (CO-OP) is a therapeutic treatment approach for people who have diffiiculties performing motor-based skills. From children with DCD to adults recovering from stroke, CO-OP is a highly individualized approach designed to people in the use of metacognitive skills to reach his or her goals.

Internationally acclaimed by professional therapists and researchers, it is a therapy that guides individuals to independently discover and develop cognitive strategies to perform tasks such as writing, skipping, bicycling, typing, and other daily living skills.

Research with this new approach has shown that, given the time and right strategies, people with difficulty learning, or re-learning, motor-based skills can master a large variety of skills.

Who is CO-OP for?

Children

The CO-OP approach has benefited children with:

• Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD)
• dyslexia
• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
• Asperger's syndrome
• and other learning disabilities.

Adults

Cognitive Orientation to Daily Occupational Performance has also been successful in enabling adults with stroke to re-acquire motor skills and adapt to life with different physical abilities.

Why was the CO-OP Approach Developed?

CO-OP was developed for a number of reasons and for everyone concerned.

Developed for Individuals

Individuals learn and develop best when they succeed according to their own goals. CO-OP provides the means for people to do just that. With an emphasis on self-discovery, CO-OP enables people to develop an individualized approach to therapeutic treatment.

Families and Therapists Want Effective Interventions

Families and therapists need interventions that have been proven to be effective at improving performance of the people in their care.

Service Providers and Administrators

Administrators require cost effective and efficient interventions that are based on evidence. They need to be confident that the services they provide will meet the needs of their clients and staff, practically and comprehensively.

Contemporary Science

Current theories of motor learning and motor performance emphasize the interaction between the person, the environment, and the task for successful performance of an activity. The CO-OP approach draws upon and advances contemporary scientific approaches to rehabilitation and skill development treatment.

Objectives of the CO-OP Approach

The goal of the Cognitive Orientation to Daily Occupational Performance therapy is to enable individuals with physical coordination and motor control difficulties to improve their performance in everyday tasks and activities through self-guided discovery and strategies of "talking themselves through" performance problems.

This approach to intervention is highly verbal and consists of three important objectives:

• skill acquisition
• development of cognitive strategies
• generalization and transfer of learning

Therapists' Requirements for Learning the Approach

The CO-OP approach is designed by and for professional therapists working with children or adults with motor-based skill performance difficulties. As a professional therapeutic approach, CO-OP requires training in its concepts, background theory, and practical application.

It is recommended that the individuals applying the CO-OP approach are experienced, qualified professionals, such as occupational or physical therapists, who have  been trained in the  approach.

It is also recommended that therapists interested in using the CO-OP approach have:

• a person centred intervention philosophy
• an understanding of people with disabilities
• if working with the children, the ability to properly manage their behaviours
• effective communication skills
• skill in activity analysis
• a commitment to working with parents or significant others
• proficiency in administering the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM)

Importantly, individuals interested in using the approach should attend an official  CO-OP workshop presented by a certified instructor. It is also recommended that they should read Enabling occupation in children: The Cognitive Orientation to daily Occupational Performance (CO-OP) approach, available through the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists (CAOT).

Certified CO-OP Instruction

Please note that, only those people listed on our "Qualified Instructors" page have been certified by the CO-OP developers as having the required skills and knowledge to conduct CO-OP workshops.

These people have attended a CO-OP Trainer session, or worked in apprenticeship with the CO-OP developers, and are qualified practioners of Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, or have other relevant professional backgrounds.

Visit our "Workshops" section to see a schedule of upcoming workshops or for information about arranging a workshop series in your own community, company, or institution to learn from qualified instructors.