The help provided to a person by others is defined as scaffolding. Gradually a child will master skills needed in order to perform a task with minimal help from others. For example, Rebecca cannot successfully swing on the monkey bars, she needs help from others. She is able to do a set with another person supporting her trunk, which means she doesn’t have the upper body strength to successfully do it on her own but as she practices she will begin to need minimal help and eventually just need normal supervision on the playground while on the monkey bars (Cronin & Mandich, 2016, p. 47).
Understanding theories of development are important because it helps us learn about the cognitive, affective, social, and physical growth that begins from birth to early adulthood. It not only helps us understand why children behave a certain way but it will help us recognize if the behavior relates to and link to personal and environmental factors. Theories provide the basis for our frames of references used in Occupational therapy practice which is why it is important to understand them as they help guide our clinical reasoning. Also, this observation helped to identify good observation skills needed that will be vital to help detect information that will make treatment implementation when working with our clients more