Pediatric Services
Printing
Does your child struggle with printing? Occupational therapy can help with letter reversals, letter formation, sizing of letters, spacing and neatness. I use a multi-sensory approach to make learning to print fun and effective.
Self-Regulation
Children are not born with a natural ability to calm themselves down when excited or to energize themselves when they are feeling low. Most children learn these skills over time; however, for some children these skills are very difficult. If your child is not able to self-regulate, occupational therapy can help identify a program to help your child learn these life-long skills.
Sensory Processing
We all have sensory systems that gather information about our world and send it to our brain. This is how we see, smell, taste, hear and touch. For some children, these systems do not work properly and send too much information, or not enough information, to their brains. When this happens it can be very challenging for a child to engage in their daily activities. Occupational Therapy can help you identify which of your child's sensory systems may not be integrated properly and provide recommendations based on the results.
Primitive Reflex Integration
Primitive reflexes are a set of movement patterns that are present in birth and should be integrated by one year of age. Sometimes these movements do not get integrated for a variety of reasons and they can cause functional issues later in life. Decreased attention, poor motor skills, bed wetting and a constant need to move can all be related to retained primitive reflexes.
Anxiety & Trauma
Many children suffer from daily anxiety, interfering with their daily routines. Children react to stress differently than adults, which can make it challenging to identify. They may avoid certain situations, become easily upset or disruptive. Occupational therapy can provide your child with the skills necessary to manage their anxiety.
Children can experience trauma through various events - adoption, spending time in the foster system, experiencing a traumatic event, abuse or neglect. Trauma changes the brain which can lead to behavioural issues and learning disorders. Occupational Therapy can help make your child feel safe again.
Fine Motor
Fine motor skills refers to how a child uses their hands to draw, cut, eat, get dressed and brush their teeth, to name a few. There are many reasons that a child may be struggling with these tasks and Occupational Therapy can help to determine why. Fine motor interventions are play-based and fun!
Developmental Milestones
There are many reasons why an infant, toddler or child may be struggling to meet their developmental milestones. Perhaps they experienced a difficult birth, or they are diagnosed with a developmental disorder. Occupational Therapy can help your child meet their developmental milestones by assessing their current skills and tailoring a program to meet their needs.
Kindergarten Readiness
Children are expected to have a set of skills before entering kindergarten - things like knowing their colours, shapes, letters and numbers. If you are concerned about your child's entry to kindergarten, contact adaptABLE OT to schedule an assessment.
Picky Eating
Many children are picky eaters and there are many reasons for this. If you have a picky eater on your hands, Occupational Therapy can help.
Outdoor Therapy
The great outdoors is a powerful regulator and full of amazing sensory experiences. I love incorporating outdoor play and exploration into my treatment sessions.
Daycare and School Visits
One of the best ways to truly assess a child to see them in their daily environment. Classrooms are wonderful places but they can be overstimulating to many children, causing them to have challenges with focus and attention. I'm able to work with school staff to put tools into place to help your child function at their highest level possible.
Safe and Sound Protocol
The SSP has been touted as a way to decrease anxiety levels which provides the foundation for other therapies to be more effective. The goal of the SSP is to "switch" the nervous system from a constant state of fight or flight to social engagement. This is achieved by listening to engineered music for one hour a day for five days in a row. The music has had low frequencies (i.e: drums and bass guitars) removed. Evolutionarily, low frequencies are often associated with threat and predators. With repeated exposure to higher frequencies, the middle ear muscles begin to attenuate to these frequencies, which correspond to human voice and; therefore, improved socialization.