Meet the Occupational Therapist

For a child, "occupations" aren’t jobs—they are the meaningful daily activities that make up their world. A child’s occupations include playing with friends, exploring environments, learning at school, eating family meals, and winding down for sleep.

When a child has trouble participating in these everyday routines due to sensory, motor, or developmental challenges, it can lead to frustration for the child and stress for the whole family. Occupational Therapy (OT) looks at the whole child to figure out why a routine is difficult. By building a child's underlying skills and adapting the environment, OT empowers children to navigate their daily lives with genuine autonomy, confidence, and joy.

Every child develops at their own unique pace, but sometimes everyday challenges begin to impact family life, school, or self-esteem. You might consider an occupational therapy evaluation if you notice your child navigating any of the following:

• Sensory Big Feelings: They seem frequently overwhelmed or distressed by everyday sights, loud sounds, clothing textures, or transitions between activities.
• Frequent Meltdowns or Burnout: They have a difficult time calming their body down, switching tasks, or coping with minor frustrations.
• Motor Hurdles: They seem clumsy, trip frequently, have trouble with balance, or struggle to figure out how to physically coordinate their body for a new playground game or toy.
• Fine Motor Frustration: They strongly avoid or struggle with drawing, writing, using scissors, buttoning clothes, or manipulating small toys.
• Highly Selective Eating: Mealtime is a battleground because they are intensely sensitive to food textures, smells, or appearances, or they struggle to sit at the table.
• Routines Feel Impossible: Routines like getting dressed in the morning, brushing teeth, or settling down for bedtime consistently feel chaotic or exhausting for the family.

If you walked into our clinic during an occupational therapy session, it would look like pure play!

Children learn, connect, and grow best when they are actively engaged and having fun. Because we practice neurodiversity-affirming and child-led care, every session is customized in real-time to your child's interests, energy levels, and sensory needs. Depending on your child's goals, a typical session might include:

• Sensory and Movement-Based Exploration: Bouncing on a therapy ball, crashing safely into crash pads, climbing, or navigating obstacle courses to build core strength, body awareness, and self-regulation.
• Playful Fine Motor Challenges: Building with blocks, squeezing therapy putty to find hidden treasures, manipulating sensory bins, or practicing handwriting through motivating, creative drawing games.
• Real-Life Routine Practice: Practicing dressing through fun dress-up play, exploring new food textures in a low-pressure sensory food play activity, or practicing organizing tools for a "classroom" task.
• Collaborative Co-Regulation: Learning alongside a therapist who models and guides your child through deep breathing, heavy work exercises, or taking a quiet break, teaching them how to read and advocate for their body’s unique needs.

You are the expert on your child. Because true progress happens within the context of your family, parents and caregivers are an active part of our OT process. We wrap up sessions by sharing practical, low-friction strategies and environmental tweaks you can easily blend into your family's existing routines at home.