Comprehensive Pediatric Rehabilitation
Occupational Therapy
Occupational therapy is skilled treatment that helps your child achieve independence and ability to participate in all facets of his or her life---play, self-care, school and community participation, socializing with family and friends. OT gives children and their families "skills for the job of living" necessary for independent, fulfilling and satisfying lives.
Their services typically include:
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Developmental (sensory, motor, cognitive, social) and performance skills evaluations;
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Comprehensive home, school, and community environmental assessments with recommendations for adaptations and supportive accommodations; Customized treatment programs to improve your child's ability to perform daily activities and participate fully with family and peers;
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Where appropriate, adaptive equipment recommendations and usage training;
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Guidance to family members, teachers, coaches, and other caregivers.
Pediatric occupational therapists are skilled professionals whose education includes the study of human growth and development with specific emphasis on the social, emotional, and physiological effects of illness and injury. They complete supervised internships in a variety of healthcare settings, and must pass a national examination in order to become certified. Most states in the U.S. also have licensure and regulatory bodies. The occupational therapist enters the field with a bachelors or masters degree. However, to function well in pediatric practice, obtaining advanced specialty continuing education and/or certifications in areas such as sensory integration, neurodevelopmental treatment, or other approaches is the expectation.
What Types of Children Benefit From Occupational Therapy? A wide variety of infants and children can benefit from occupational therapy, including those with:
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History of prematurity, birth injuries, or uterine exposure to harmful substances
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Autism/Asperger's Disorder
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Attention deficits, learning problems
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Sensory processing/sensory integration disorders
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Problems with organizing and coordinating skilled movement ("clumsiness")
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Cerebral palsy, spina bifida, or other neuromuscular conditions
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Chronic musculo-skeletal conditions such as muscular dystrophy, arthrogryposis, or osteogenesis imperfecta
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Behavioral problems, oppositional defiant disorder
Physical Therapy
Physical Therapy is a skilled treatment that helps your child improve function, independence and safety. It seeks to improve aspects of a child's development and partipation including coordination, balance, strength and gross motor skills. This can include playing sports, walking on a weight-supported treadmill, interacting with swings, pillow pits and stairs, as well as many other exciting activities in our dynamic facility. Pediatric physical therapists (PTs) are health care professionals who diagnose and treat children of all ages who have developmental, medical, or other health-related conditions that limit their abilities to move and perform functional activities in their daily lives.
PTs also help prevent or reduce conditions associated with lack of of mobility (such as obesity) through fitness and wellness programs that help children achieve healthy and active lifestyles. PTs examine children and develop plans using treatment techniques that promote the ability to move, reduce pain, restore function, and prevent disability. They provide care in clinics such as this one, schools, home-based early intervention, sports facilities, and more.
PTs must have a graduate degree from an accredited physical therapy program before taking the national licensure examination. The minimum educational requirement is a master's degree, yet most educational programs now offer the doctor of physical therapy (DPT) degree. Licensure is required in each state in which a physical therapist practices.
What Types of Children Benefit From Physical Therapy? A wide variety of infants and children can benefit from physical therapy, including those with:
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Developmental disabilities such as Down syndrome or Cerebral Palsy
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Prematurity, birth injuries (such as Torticollis), or uterine exposure to harmful substances
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Childhood obesity
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Musculo-skeletal conditions such as muscular dystrophy, arthrogryposis, or osteogenesis imperfecta
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Sports injuries and accidents
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Generalized developmental delay (delayed crawling, standing, walking) or poor coordination
Speech Therapy
Speech Therapy is a skilled treatment aimed at helping you and your child improve communication, understanding and acheiving proper nutrition. Our speech therapy sessions aim to use a one-on-one or small group approach to work on pronunciation, signing, feeding, comprehension, writing skills and much more.
Speech-language pathologists (SLPs), or speech therapists, are professionals who have studied comminication, both its development and the disorders that can hinder it. They hold at least a master's degree and state certification/licensure in the field, and a certificate of clinical competency from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA).
Speech therapists assess speech, language, cognitive-communication, and oral/feeding/swallowing skills to identify types of communication problems (articulation; fluency; voice; receptive and expressive language disorders, etc.) and the most effective ways to target these problems.
What types of children benefit from Speech Therapy? A wide variety of infants and children can benefit from speech therapy, including those with:
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Fluency disorder (Stuttering)
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Pragmatic Problems (Cognitively disorganized speech, inappropriate word choices, etc)
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Developmental Speech Delay
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Feeding Disorders
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Swallowing Disorders
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Articulation and Phonological Disorders
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Expressive and Receptive Speech Disorder
