Occupational therapy is concerned with the child’s ability to participate in desired daily life activities or “occupations.” The Occupational Therapists at Kiddos’ Clubhouse use their unique expertise to help children prepare for and perform important learning and developmental activities. Occupational therapists support the achievement of developmental and learning outcomes for children with and without disabilities, by facilitating social skills development, motor development, emergent literacy, and the development of adaptive and self-care skills.
Occupational therapists hold two broad goals for the children they serve. These goals are to improve a child’s functional performance and to enhance the child’s ability to interact within his/her physical and social environment. Through the facilitation of an occupational therapist these skills can be taught to further your child’s level of independence.
Occupational therapy is concerned with the child’s ability to participate in desired daily life activities or “occupations.” Occupational therapists use their unique expertise to help children prepare for and perform important learning and developmental activities. Occupational therapists support the achievement of developmental and learning outcomes for children with and without disabilities, by facilitating social skills development, motor development, emergent literacy, and the development of adaptive and self-care skills. Occupational therapists are particularly skilled in helping children access curricular activities by contributing to the design and planning of activities, including identifying any needed accommodations or modifications. Additionally, they play a key role in training parents, caregivers about the development of children with diverse learning needs. * Taken from American Occupational Therapy Association.
Occupational therapists hold two broad goals for the children they serve. These goals are to improve a child’s functional performance and to enhance the child’s ability to interact within his/her physical and social environment. Through the facilitation of an occupational therapist these skills can be taught to further your child’s level of independence.
Traditional occupations of the child are self-care, play, and school and work activities. Occupational therapists evaluate a child’s fine motor skills, cognitive skills, visual perceptual skills, visual motor skills, handwriting skills, self-help skills, play skills, motor coordination and sensory processing abilities. Children who have needs in any of these areas would benefit from a formal evaluation by an occupational therapist to determine strengths and deficits.
Below is a list of the most prevalent conditions that require occupational therapy. For further information on these and other conditions, please contact the professional therapists at Kiddos’ Clubhouse.
Pediatric physical therapy is concerned with the examination, evaluation, diagnosis, prognosis, and intervention of children, aged birth through adolescence, who are experiencing functional limitations or disability due to trauma, a disorder, or disease process.
The goal of treatment is to diminish impairments and functional limitations to prevent or decrease disability. Treatment may be focused on improving developmental tasks, motor planning, manipulation skills, posture, endurance, strength, balance, and/or coordination. The affected child may present with difficulties with ambulation, positioning, and/or motor function. All of these problems need to be addressed, as they can result in the inability to keep up with peers or perform work at school.
Pediatric physical therapists provide services to children or youth who have genetic, congenital or acquired conditions that affect motor development and motor function, including positioning, sitting and walking. Pediatric physical therapy addresses the mobility and gross motor needs of infants, toddlers and adolescents. Physical therapists work with children to assist them and their families in achieving the child’s highest level of independence. Pediatric physical therapists are trained to assess the gross motor and sensory functions of children and to develop individual treatment that emphasizes improved functional skills, or prevention of further disability. In addition to assessing range of motion, strength, posture, and gait, a physical therapist will also assess motor planning, how a child accomplishes a given task; and the sensory system, how a child interprets and responds to data. This focus enhances the gross motor function of a child, and promotes independence and safety at home and in the community.
Intervention encompasses the coordination and documentation of care, specific treatment procedures, and patient/family education. Physical therapists also must be skilled in recognizing the need to refer a patient back to a physician or recommend the services of other professionals as necessary. The physical therapist usually plays a key role in making recommendations or sometimes participating in the fabrication and fitting of orthoses, walking aids, and wheelchairs. In addition, the physical therapist is instrumental in choosing appropriate adaptive equipment, such as seating devices or standing frames, for the classroom or home.
Intervention involves the interaction between therapist and patient. It also includes communication with the family and other professionals as needed, including physicians, nurses, psychologists, occupational therapists, speech and language pathologists.
Below is a list of the most prevalent conditions that require physical therapy. For further information on these and other conditions, please contact the professional therapists at Kiddos’ Clubhouse.
Daniel Webster is quoted as saying “… if all my possessions were taken from me with one exception, I would choose to keep the power of communication, for by it I would soon regain all the rest.”
Language is our most human characteristic. It is essential to learning, working, and enjoying family life and friendships. There are many ways to express language. Speaking, using sign language, writing, and using computerized communication devices are some of the most common ones. The professionals who are educated to assess speech and language development and to treat language and speech disorders are speech-language pathologists (sometimes informally referred to as speech therapists). Speech-language pathologists can also help people with swallowing disorders. *Taken from American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
Speech-language therapy is the treatment for most children with speech and/or language disorders. A speech disorder refers to a problem with the actual production of sounds, whereas a language disorder refers to a difficulty understanding or putting words together to communicate ideas.
Speech disorders include the following problems, according to Diane Paul-Brown, PhD, director of clinical issues in speech-language pathology at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA):
Language disorders can be either receptive or expressive.
Speech-language pathologists assess individuals and create a plan of care based on the individual strengths and weaknesses. Treatment goals should focus on an individual’s needs. Treatment can be play based or instructional and should be motivating to the child. Everything should be individualized to the person. For instance if a child is demonstrating a receptive language disorder with specific deficits in the area of spatial concepts, treatment would include activities where the child can put things in, out, on, over, under, and through. If a child has oral sensory-motor deficits or feeding-swallowing deficits, direct stimulation of the oral and pharyngeal muscles may be indicated.
Children require speech-language therapy for a variety of reasons; the following conditions may need speech or language therapy:
Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is an empirically-based teaching methodology involving the application of basic behavioral principles to teach socially significant behaviors, including language, play, academic, motor, self-help and adaptive living skills. One such behavior principles is positive reinforcement, when a behavior is followed by a reward then the behavior is likely to increase or occur again. The strategies can be effective in reducing challenging behaviors such as aggression, destruction, self-injurious behaviors, etc. ABA includes a broad range of techniques that are effective with individuals of all ages and individuals with Autism and other developmental disorders. The methodology utilizes teaching techniques such as incidental teaching, discrete trial teaching, verbal behavior, pivotal response training, as well as many other scientifically proven strategies.
The ABA services offered at Kiddos’ Clubhouse include:
Social Skills Groups –The groups are designed to meet the individualized needs of each child and to build lasting friendships. Groups consist of two to three children similar in age and with similar needs. Each child is assessed for their specific social skill needs and sessions are structured specific to those needs. Such skills may include conversation skills, eye contact, joint attention, listening, expressing feelings, cooperative play, etc.
ABA is offered at the Kiddos’ Clubhouse Alpharetta location.
In the vision of Kiddos’ Clubhouse, we wanted to create an environment that emphasizes the treatment of the whole child. In doing so, we did not want to have such a broad range of treatment modalities. We want to be able to work with your child in the best way possible. We evaluated what we feel are primary needs of the children we are serving and…
Our therapists have advanced training in the areas of:
In addition to traditional OT, PT, & ST evaluations, Kiddos’ Clubhouse offers team-based developmental assessments to babies between the ages of 0-24 months who are at-risk for developmental delays. These developmental assessments will include screenings by a member of each discipline to monitor developmental progress with early milestones and identify any areas needing further intervention. The developmental assessments typically take 45-60 minutes to administer, and parents will receive a clinical summary of the child’s developmental status, based on standardized assessment tools. Assessments will be offered at 4, 8, 12, 18, and 24 months to provide ongoing consultation with the family on their child’s progress on necessary early developmental milestone mastery.
Developmental Assessments are offered at the Kiddos’ Clubhouse Perimeter location.
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