 What is Occupational Therapy?
Occupational therapy helps children develop the skills they need to be successful during play, socialization, activities of daily living, and learning experiences. By using purposeful and motivating activities, occupational therapists help children develop enhanced sensory processing skills, organizational skills, motor planning, visual motor skills and adaptive play skills. Occupational therapy promotes the skills needed to perform important day-to-day activities at home, in school, and in other social environments.
 At Milestones our occupational therapy staff is comprised of well-experienced, highly trained and extremely committed pediatric therapists. Our occupational therapists have specialized knowledge and training in the area of sensory integration, feeding, Neuro-Developmental Treatment, Therapeutic Listening® and other auditory interventions, Kinesio Taping®, neuromuscular electrical stimulation, Theratogs™, and other manual therapy approaches. We utilize the most current treatment methods and up to date strategies in order to meet the needs of each individual child. Milestones occupational therapists provide individual therapy within our state-of-the-art facility, in the home, in the school and in community environments.
 Our Occupational Therapists work with children who have a variety of diagnoses including developmental delay, feeding/swallowing disorders, sensory processing disorder (SPD), autism spectrum disorders (ASD), cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), visual motor deficits, fine motor delays, coordination disorder, fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS/FASD), spina bifida, neurological and musculoskeletal disorders, failure to thrive (FTT), apraxia and brachial plexus injury.
The following are general indicators that a child may benefit from an OT evaluation:
- Weak, stiff or uncoordinated movements
- Awkward grasp or clumsy use of crayons, pencils, scissors or other tools and utensils
- Excessive seeking or avoidance of movement or touch
- Absence of hand preference after age 6
- Difficulty with age appropriate self-help skills such as dressing and toileting
- Attention and organizational problems with school tasks
- Difficulties with social interaction
- Difficulties with feeding, food aversions or a very limited diet
- Poor balance skills
- Difficulty tolerating touch, such as brushing hair or brushing teeth
- Difficulties in sports, such as catching or throwing a ball
- Unable to ride a bicycle independently by age 8
- Poor organizational skills
- Difficulty regulating activity level
- Frequent emotional outburst or “meltdowns” in behavior
- Lack of age appropriate play skills
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