Before beginning occupational therapy, an initial evaluation will be schedueld with one of our pediatric occupational therapists. The evaluation includes a variety of standardized tests specifically designed to identify your child’s therapeutic needs. You will also be given information forms to complete which will assist us in developing an individualized treatment plan for your child.

AREAS AND PROBLEMS ADDRESSED IN THERAPY

In each session, a therapist will work with your child to address specific problems your child may be having in different areas of development. The following list identifies some of the areas and/or problems which may be addressed:

Behavior Issues – Behavior Modification Techniques are used during all therapy sessions and are individualized to the child’s age and needs. These may include using a picture schedule with positive reinforcement, various reward systems, and contracts for older children. Home programs are often recommended as well. Consistency is of upmost importance therefore we aim to utilize the same techniques in the clinic, home and school.

Dyslexia – A vestibular disorder. Children who have reading problems secondary to poor ocular motor coordination often times respond very well to sensory based therapy with emphasis on activities which address balance. Tutoring alone or practicing alone is limited. The treatment needs to focus on the underlying issues for success.

Fine Motor – Ability to use hands to perform age appropriate activities, such as writing, cutting with scissors, using utensils, manipulating fasteners when dressing, for example.

Gross Motor – Most of the children we treat have some type of coordination difficulty which vary depending upon diagnosis. Areas of concern may include: bilateral integration, brain lateralization (left/right confusion), muscle tone, muscle strength, midline crossing disorder. They may have tonal issues and easily fatigue. They may also have problems sitting still or sitting upright for functional periods of time.

Ocular Motor Testing – The inability to coordinate both eyes to visually track in all planes causes reading limitations. If a child is having difficulty tracking an object horizontally across midline, they may experience left to right reading problems. Additionally, if they have difficulty tracking an object in a vertical plane, they may have difficulty copying from a blackboard, or looking up at teacher and back to book. They often times lose their place, have to use fingers to follow words and are often frustrated when they are to read. In our clinic, we have witnessed multiple children who were unable to read and had difficulty following and keeping track of the words and sentences on the page, respond very favorably to therapy.

Sensory Processing Disorder – Sensory Modulation, Sensory Discrimination, Tactile Sensitivity. Deficits in the ability to assimilate sensory information from the environment can cause multiple problems and often times make a child’s world feel threatening and unpredictable. Negative behaviors often result and the entire family unit may be affected.

Visual Motor and Visual Perception – Ability to write and use appropriate sizing, and spacing, building models from drawing, puzzles for example