Physical Therapy
At The Therapy Place, physical therapists identify and treat
problems with movement, posture, and body position. Damage
or abnormalities of the nervous system can affect a child’s
movement skills, including rolling, sitting, crawling, and
walking. Physical therapists help children improve these physical
movements with special exercises, handling techniques, and
constant encouragement. Children may become more self-sufficient
as they become proficient at a variety of movement skills,
including rolling, sitting, crawling, and walking.
Occupational Therapy
Occupational therapists at The Therapy Place help children
with special needs develop and build skills important for
independent functioning, health, well-being, security, and
happiness. The occupational therapist’s focus is on a child’s
main responsibilities-playing and learning and his or her
role as a student, friend, sibling, and son or daughter. Therapy
is designed to seem like play, yet the therapists are actually
creating a controlled environment that stimulates the sensory
systems and provides the “just right” challenge
for the child to move about and interact with his/her environment.
Therapists at The Therapy Place have extensive training in
determining challenging therapeutic activities aimed at assisting
children to reach their greatest functional independence.
Comprehensive evaluations are offered in areas including:
gross and fine motor skills, cognitive function, visual perception,
self-care skills, neurosensory processing skills, and social
skills. Therapists are certified to administer the Sensory
Integration and Praxis Test, as well as developmental and
motor proficiency tests.
- Sensory Integration. When our senses are integrated, the
many parts of the nervous system work together so that we
interact with the environment effectively. A child with
inaccurate feedback about his sense of touch, body position,
movement, or gravity struggles to perform tasks common to
his peers and does not feel the usual security, safety,
confidence, and enjoyment other children do. In therapy,
the child engages in activities that provide an appropriate
amount of sensory input-sound, touch, pressure, and movement.
The child’s responses become more automatic as his nervous
system becomes more organized. This allows for accurate
perceptions needed for building more complex skills.
- Fine motor coordination. Fine motor skills involve coordinating
precise, controlled hand movements to perform an activity.
Many functions contribute to fine motor skills, including
muscle control, hand-eye control, and coordination. For
children, fine motor coordination is essential to performing
daily tasks such as using pencils, tying shoes, and opening
and closing backpacks. Treatment includes activities and
exercises that strengthen certain muscle groups, offer repetitive
practice of tasks, or introduce adaptive equipment.
- Gross motor skill development. Gross motor skills involve
the child’s large muscle groups, which enable the child
to accomplish physical challenges (climbing, running, swinging).
Occupational therapists provide treatment activities based
on the child’s special needs. Issues such as balance, equilibrium,
varying muscle tones, and overall coordination are addressed.
- Activities of daily living. The level of independence
experienced by a child with special needs is greatly enhanced
when he or she can accomplish self-care and other daily
living skills on their own, including toileting, eating,
dressing, and hygiene. Children delayed in these areas may
benefit from occupational therapy, which includes instruction
and practice, adaptations, and guidance for parents and
caregivers.