Pediatric Occupational Therapy

 
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As a pediatric occupational therapist, Erica can provide you and your family with the skills to address issues related to developmental delays, feeding, sensory-motor skills, emotional development, and self-care. Her years of experience and expertise will take your family from just surviving to thriving!

What is Pediatric Occupational Therapy (OT)?

OT employs therapeutic daily life activities (occupations) to help people function and engage with their world. Whether it’s personal care, feeding, play, how we interpret the world or interacting with others, OT can help us regulate, cope and thrive in each task.

Common occupational therapy interventions include helping infants and children with feeding, sensory, regulatory, or developmental challenges to master the foundational skills needed for healthy development. OT practitioners have a holistic perspective, in which the focus is on adapting the environment and/or task to fit the child, and the family is an integral part of the therapy team. It is an evidence-based practice deeply rooted in science.

Occupational therapy services typically include:

  • An individualized evaluation, during which the client/family and occupational therapist determine the infant or child’s goals,

  • Customized intervention to improve the child and family’s ability to perform daily activities and reach developmental milestones, and

  • An outcomes evaluation to ensure that the goals are being met and/or make changes to the intervention plan.

Some ways Erica can assist as a Pediatric Occupational Therapist…

 

Feeding

  • Breastfeeding

  • Bottle feeding

  • Solids

  • Transition to food from NG or G tube feeding

  • Oral motor concerns

  • Food aversions

 

Social-Emotional Development

  • Begins with healthy attachment and bonding, which are foundational to trust and reciprocity

  • Play skills - foundational to healthy development and learning

  • Coping and problem solving

Sensory- Motor Skills

  • Gross motor skills necessary for daily activities like play and exploration including rolling, sitting, crawling, walking, running, jumping, climbing, etc

  • Fine motor- the need for effective hand use for grasping toys, self-feeding and exploring the world

  • Sensory regulation and integration-developing the skills to calm the nervous system to assist with attention, sleep, organize movement.  Helping the nervous system to work in sync.

  • Managing sensory aversions and sensitivities

 

Self-Care for Daily Living

  • Potty training

  • Dressing

  • Feeding

  • Hygiene tasks like bathing and brushing teeth