Occupational Therapy
Occupational Therapy: Who’s it for?
Our therapists help children and their families navigate their way through diagnoses and various occupational therapy challenges, including:
- Breast and bottle feeding difficulty
- Autism and sensory processing disorders
- Adaptive skills—coping with intolerance to certain tastes, smells, textures, sounds, lights, etc.
- Down syndrome, cerebral palsy and other developmental conditions
- Developmental or fine motor skills delays,
- Spinal cord and traumatic brain injuries
- Orthopedic injuries
- Strengthening/improving range of motion
- Activities of daily living: eating, dressing, simple meal prep, organizational skills
- Restrictive eating habits
Occupational Therapy: What’s it like?
The Bloom Pediatric Therapy team develops every treatment plan individually. We begin with a thorough evaluation that identifies not only the primary occupational therapy goals for your child, but the goals and expectations of the family as well. This includes understanding the rhythm and pace of your family life. By knowing your family’s daily living habits, we’re able to find creative ways to fit home exercise programs into your schedule.
How often will your child come for therapy?
The answer depends on your child’s needs, as well as the needs of your family. We understand that appointments may have to be arranged for after school or between other activities, so a typical schedule may involve visits one to two times per week. Kids with intensive treatment plans may initially need more frequent sessions. Occasionally, we may suggest taking a break from the therapy routine to allow your child a chance to apply what he or she has already learned and to work on carrying those skills over to other environments. These breaks can play an important role in maintaining a sense of accomplishment and confidence and can provide the energy and motivation to make the most of future treatment phases.
Occupational Therapy: How does it work?
Typically, your child will meet with the same occupational therapist throughout his or her treatment. We like to build strong relationships between the therapist and the child, as well as the child’s family. We consider occupational therapy to be a family affair. Involving the family helps to create a powerful, united support group during treatments and at home.
When occupational therapy sessions begin, your child should bring anything they use to aid their daily activities, such as splints, braces, walkers, wheelchairs—whatever devices they use in everyday life.
While we begin each plan with baseline tests and clinical observations, we also want to hear directly from you as caregivers. You’re able to give our team important insight that only a child’s caregiver can provide. For example, you might share lists of foods or other stimulus that cause sensory discomfort. We might also ask you to provide homework samples, artwork or other items that will give our team a clear vision of your child’s challenges and inform our treatment plan design.