What is occupational therapy?
Occupational therapy helps people of all ages do the things they want and need to do through the therapeutic use of daily activities (occupations). Occupational therapy practitioners enable people to live life to its fullest potential by helping them promote health, and prevent—or live better with—injury, illness or disability.
Common occupational therapy interventions include helping children with disabilities to participate fully in school and social situations, helping people recovering from injury to regain skills and providing support for older adults experiencing physical and cognitive changes. Occupational therapy services typically include:
- An individualized evaluation, during which the client/family and occupational therapist determine the person’s goals
- Customized intervention to improve the person’s ability to perform daily activities and reach set goals
- Periodic evaluations to ensure that the goals are being met and/or make changes to the intervention plan
Occupational therapy practitioners have a holistic perspective, in which the focus is on adapting the environment and/or task to fit the person, and the person is an integral part of the therapy team. It is an evidence-based practice deeply rooted in science.
Who benefits occupational therapy?
A child may benefit from an occupational therapy evaluation if they are having difficulty with one or more of the following:
- Paying attention at school
- Sitting still when expected
- Following directions (one-step or multi-step)
- Transitioning between environments (i.e., difficulty leaving the house)
- Accepting change in environment or routine
- Emotional regulation (i.e., anger outbursts, aggression towards self or others)
- Sleep regulation
- Behavior
- Eating (i.e., being overly picky)
- Handwriting
- Pencil grasp
- Participating in table-top activities
- Buttoning, zipping, shoe tying, etc.
- Meeting developmental milestones on time
- Core strength
- Dyslexia
What is unique about our occupational therapy?
Highest Potential Therapy offers occupational therapy incorporating hippotherapy as well as traditional therapy in a treatment room.
Hippotherapy is a treatment tool that utilizes the movement of a horse to help achieve functional goals. The pelvis of a horse moves in the same three dimensions as a human pelvis, simulating approximately 3,000 repetitions of a normal, human gait in a 30-minute session. Equine movement promotes improved strength, balance, coordination and flexibility. The rhythmic and repetitive motion provides sensory input which is effective at helping individuals with autism, ADHD, sensory processing disorder and other sensory integration challenges. While on a horse, a client engages in a wide variety of activities to address their individualized goals. For example, a client might reach out of their center of gravity to drop a ring down a pole to help increase their core strength or place clothespins in the horse’s mane to improve their fine motor skills.
Most of our clients spend half of their time with us in the treatment room and the other half on the back of a horse.
What can I expect?
During your initial visit a therapist will perform an occupational therapy evaluation. The occupational therapist will discuss concerns and goals with the family and evaluate the child using clinical observation, parent-reported information and standardized assessments. If occupational therapy treatment is recommended, the child may return for occupational therapy treatment sessions.
What is the cost?
Private in-network insurance plans typically require co-pays and cover the rest after deductibles have been met. Out-of-network insurance plans may be able to be billed out-of-network. Discounts for paying in advance or at the time of service are offered to lower costs for clients paying out-of-pocket.
How to start:
If you or a loved one is interested in occupational therapy services, please visit our “Contact Us” page to get in touch.
