“Children learn as they play. Most importantly, in play children learn how to learn.”
– O. Fred Donaldson
About Pediatric Occupational Therapy at the Therapy Tree
Pediatric Occupational Therapists are trained to help your child reach their full potential in any area of life that they may be struggling in. Our Pediatric Occupational Therapy Team provides a holistic approach in helping children gain independence, support the development or improvement of fine motor skills, sensory motor skills, oral-motor and feeding difficulties, and the visual motor skills needed to perform daily living activities successfully and with more independence, while improving socialization in their family, school, and community environments.
How do I know if my child needs Occupational Therapy?
Pediatric Occupational Therapists are trained to help your child reach their full potential in any area of life that they may be struggling in. Our Pediatric Occupational Therapy Team provides a holistic approach in helping children gain independence, support the development or improvement of fine motor skills, sensory motor skills, oral-motor and feeding difficulties, and the visual motor skills needed to perform daily living activities successfully and with more independence, while improving socialization in their family, school, and community environments. There are many reasons children are referred for occupational therapy. Our pediatric occupational therapy team take a truly holistic approach to healthcare, considering all factors that contribute to growth and development including the physical, cognitive, psychological and emotional aspects of each child.
We treat children with or without a medical diagnosis who exhibit delays in the following:
- Gross and Fine Motor Coordination
- Body Awareness and motor planning
- Muscle strength and endurance
- Sensory Processing
- Social-emotional development
- Cognitive development
- Visual-motor and visual-perceptual development
- Self-regulation and coping skills
Developmental Milestones & Red Flags
Below are both standard developmental milestones and signs you can look for to determine if your child might need occupational therapy. Occupational Therapy helps with various needs including fine motor, cognitive, physical, and sensory skills. Children develop at different rates, which is why these are general milestones and the overall health and well-being of a child should always be taken into consideration.
Our occupational therapists provide evaluation and direct therapy services for ages birth to young adult. We provide Free Developmental Screening for children ages birth to five years of age. If you are interested in a screening or evaluation for your child, email us at info@thetherapytree.org, or call The Therapy Tree at (847)265-7300.
What happens after the Screening?
Once we complete a developmental screening, our therapists will provide you with a Screening Summary Sheet. If the therapists who performed the screening feel that a full evaluation is needed, they will request in writing, that your pediatrician prescribe an occupational therapy evaluation on the Screening Summary.
What happens if a full evaluation is suggested?
Your child will be evaluated to determine if occupational therapy would be of benefit and what areas of development need improvement. Each child presents with a unique set of strengths, and a unique set of struggles. Our team considers all factors that contribute to growth and development including the physical, cognitive, psychological and emotional aspects. The evaluation can provide you with the insight and clarification you need in order to feel confident that you are doing everything possible to support your child and the health and happiness of your family as a whole.
We strive to provide you with the most comfort, knowledge, and confidence in understanding what occupational therapy will accomplish. After the evaluation, if it is determined that therapy is necessary, we will address in-depth, specific obstacles that are occurring with your child’s and work to develop an individualized treatment plan along with teaching tools for parent/caregiver to continue skill-building in the home, to improve or eliminate these problem areas. The use of different techniques, both traditional and complimentary, along with collaboration across multiple specialties available at The Therapy Tree, provide children the best possible outcome for increasing growth, independence, confidence, and overall life skills.
The type of therapeutic methods used and length of services are dependent on varying issues such as what problems are being addressed, who willing participants are and what their desired goals are, and also influenced by the strength and help of their support systems, and level of needs to be met. Sometimes sessions are set on a weekly basis, taking learning step by step and at a steady pace. Other times sessions can be more or less frequent based on the client’s particular needs at the time.
Techniques Used in Pediatric OT
Our Pediatric Occupational Therapy (OT) Team is trained in traditional techniques and have continued intensive training in additional complimentary techniques that offer the most comprehensive efforts towards total mind and body connection and wellness.
The OT team at The Therapy Tree assess and treat children using a variety of techniques and methods including:
The use of different techniques, both traditional and complimentary, along with collaboration across multiple specialties including speech and language therapy, physical therapy, or counseling services available at The Therapy Tree, provides children the best possible outcome for increasing mobility, independence, confidence, and overall life skills.
Our Pediatric Occupational Therapy Team
This specialized discipline requires at minimum a Master’s in Occupational Therapy, State licensure, and continuing education courses throughout licensure. Professional certification by passing an additional examination allows pediatric occupational therapists to use the Occupational Therapist Registered (OTR) credential.
The Therapy Tree pediatric occupational therapists are responsible for evaluating patient conditions and needs, develop a treatment plan for patients, determining activities and specific goals to be accomplished, and determining the need for collaboration with other therapists here, including speech and language therapy, physical therapy, and/or counseling services.
When necessary our therapists work with outside healthcare professionals and school systems, to help facilitate any additional needs and solidify all care and communication.
For more information on the therapeutic services we offer adults, families, and others, including massage therapy, yoga, and other wellness classes, please visit our Adult Services and our Wellness Center pages.
