Greater Chicagoland

Services in Pediatric OT and Early Intervention

No matter what challenges your family is facing, we are here to help. Whether that’s enjoying a trip to a restaurant, playing with toys, or independently getting dressed. We address the physical, medical, developmental, and behavioral needs of your child.

What is pediatric occupational therapy?

Our focus is on building everyday skills for children and their families. Occupations are the activities your child does every day. From using their hands, getting dressing, navigating emotions, and learning.

Play is one of the most important things your child does. So we tap into the magic of your child’s play and interests. We observe what they are choosing to do on their own, and join them in a therapeutic way. Encouraging them to plan, initiate, collaborate, and build developmental skills.

Ultimately, when your child enjoys and wants to do something, they are going to work harder and be more likely to repeat the skill later.

And before you know it, your child is celebrating a new skill (no matter how big or small).

What is developmental therapy?

In addition to OT, we also provide developmental therapy as needed for families participating in early intervention. This unique service looks at the big picture of developmental milestones for a child – with the intention of getting ready with the skills they need for preschool or kindergarten.

This could be:

Following structure in preparation for school routines

Practicing skills for participating with peer groups

Basic developmental milestones like color and shape recognition

Partnering with parents so you can understand and support your child’s development 

Developmental therapy is about pulling everything together in support of learning because we know that intervention at a young age makes a big difference for future success.

What to Expect

Evaluation

We start with an evaluation where we learn about your child and which skills or activities pose a challenge. We do this through standardized assessments, observation, and interviewing caregivers. After we have an understanding of strengths, weaknesses, and areas of concern, we provide our recommendations and collaborate to develop goals for ongoing therapy.

Intervention

We meet in your home or other community locations to work towards goals and maximize everyday life. We strive to make sessions meaningful and fun! We engage the parent and the child as equal partners and participants in the process. We provide updates on the progress and priority of goals as we go along.

Sign up for a free (no obligation) screen

Infants

With our expertise in early intervention, we’ve seen a lot of infants. Our experience and education have demonstrated consistently that small changes in routine and everyday tasks have a big impact immediately and in the long run. 

Infant massage: Using massage techniques to help calm babies and encourage bonding. We love teaching parents these massage techniques. 

Sleep: Addressing routines, physical comfort, and environment to promote a sleep routine for both baby and parents.

Bonding and attachment: We teach you specific strategies to connect and care for your baby.

Everyday routines: Developing a solid routine reduces the overwhelm of those challenging early months, particularly the needs of a baby with a medical condition. 

Milestones: Understanding your baby’s unique development and providing tailored suggestions to promote motor, social, and sensory development. 

Addressing specialized needs such as splinting, muscle tone, or stretching when working with infants with neurological or orthopedic conditions. 

Specialized equipment: We’re here to make sure you get the right specialty items with expert recommendations, assist with ordering, and access to our equipment loan program.

It can be lonely and overwhelming as a parent to an infant with extra needs. We are here to support you and give you practical answers to reduce your stress and give you every available tool to meet your baby’s needs. 

Ready to take the first step? Sign up for a Free Screening Today.

Small Children

You’re watching your child transition from baby to curious child. Support emerging skills during this exciting time of growth that gets them ready to attend school. Helping your child do the things of childhood – playing, moving, learning, and growing.

DIR Floortime: This is a researched-based approach, where we follow the lead of your child to improve skills for play, social engagement and movement. 

Emotional regulation: Working with you and your child to learn how to identify, respond, and control emotions for fewer meltdowns and less anxiety. 

Feeding issues: Supporting those with difficulty eating due to sensory or medical problems. 

Building motor skills: Understanding typical development and providing individualized opportunities to practice movements to be able to pick up toys, start drawing, or play on the playground. 

Problem-solving for potty training: Reducing the overwhelm of where to start and what to try when attempting to potty train with a child with disabilities.  

Don’t wait to see if they catch up on their own later. We’re here to calm your worries and give ideas for encouraging emerging skills. 

Ready to take the first step? Sign up for a Free Screening Today. 

School-Aged

There’s a wide range of reasons that school-age children benefit from occupational therapy. Whether they have a diagnosis such as cerebral palsy, ADHD, autism, or just struggle with typical childhood tasks, a little extra help could make a big difference.

We frequently address:

Childhood anxiety: Reducing avoidance which causes problems with home and school routines

School difficulties: Addressing underlying skills such as visual perception, following directions, and attention

Sensory difficulties: Improving ability to navigate the noise, sights, and experiences of home, school, and public places

Motor skills: Developing coordination of movements big and small for playing on the playground, cutting, drawing, and clothing fasteners.

Self-care: Helping your child become more independent with dressing, eating, bathing, and basic chores

Social skills: Practice with responding to emotions, turn-taking, sharing, and communication.

Executive function: Reducing impulsivity, and improving attention and problem-solving to decrease frustration and behavioral problems in the classroom and home.

You don’t need to keep feeling frustrated by not knowing how to help your child at home or at school. We come up with a plan and implement it together as a team. And will we celebrate right alongside you as your child reaches each goal.

Ready to take the first step? Sign up for a Free Screening Today. 

Advanced Specialty

We’re proud to offer advanced speciality areas

There are some pretty special and unique children out there. And not every therapist can provide services to every child. Especially when encountering some more challenging cases.

We know results are improved with practice, so we’ve pursued advanced education and gotten hands-on experience to provide services in the following specialized areas:

Infant massage

Pediatric limb differences

Splinting for orthopedic conditions

Providing support to children with medical complexity including ventilators

Post NICU

Childhood mental health including anxiety

Hemiplegia

Cerebral Palsy

Sensory Processing

Ready to take the first step? Sign up for a Free Screening Today. 

Access Services Privately or through Illinois Early Intervention

We provide the same high-quality therapy services in your home no matter how services are being covered.

Early Intervention

This program is provided and funded through the state of Illinois. Available to children 0-3 who need extra support due to medical or developmental concerns. These are critical years in a child’s development and focusing during this time can make a huge difference down the road.

Occupational Therapy and Developmental therapy are both covered services through this program.

Not sure if you qualify? We can help you get connected with your local Child and Family Connections office.

Private OT Services

Using your own payment sources whether that is through insurance or private pay. The process starts with a screening or evaluation and a physician’s authorization will be obtained for you if services are recommended.

Sign up for a free (no obligation) screen

Our Telehealth Services

We are licensed to provide telehealth occupational therapy to children in the state of Illinois. We provide telehealth to families seeking OT through early intervention or private pay with insurance.

All telehealth sessions are provided through a computer platform, allowing us to see each other and interact through video conferencing. Telehealth enables us to reach people outside of our geographic area. It also helps maintain health and safety for those who need to limit exposure to outside germs.

The focus is on coaching and advising you as the parent and caregiver. Giving you suggestions to elevate your expertise at the parent. So, while we can’t do the hands-on work, we can teach you the hands-on skills that you can use any day, anytime.  We find that the biggest transformations occur when parents learn the tools to address the challenges of the moment.

Curious if our services meet your needs?

Speak with one of our therapists and we’ll help you determine if we’re a good fit for your family.