Occupational Therapy Services
Sensory Processing • Social-Emotional • Fine & Gross Motor • Feeding Therapy • School Performance • Social Skills • Handwriting • Infant Treatment • Self-Regulation • Executive Functioning Skills • Interoceptive Processing • Program Development
Individual Therapy
Individual sessions take place in home, school, community & clinic-based environments. Each child receives an initial evaluation. A treatment plan with individualized goals is provided & each session focuses on working towards the identified goals. Home programs are provided and collaborative efforts can be made with the child’s school, if preferred.
Group Therapy
Group therapy treatments are often offered to focus on building a particular skill in a group environment. Social interactions and friendship skills are often the focus for group sessions, but other areas can be addressed dependent on need: feeding, emotional regulation, school performance, attention and focusing, for example.
Family Training
Individualized parent-support and family-centered training services are available for families looking to further integrate OT concepts and strategies into their daily routines and activities!
Program development & written resources
Colleen provides expert-level consultative services for programs and educational organizations who are seeking to further incorporate OT concepts and strategies into their protocols and framework. Inquire below to learn more about our program development services and individualized written resources!
our specialties
Fine motor & gross motor skills
Children explore and learn through use of their hands and bodies. Optimal fine motor (hand) and gross motor (large body movement) skills are essential for participation in play and learning activities. Important fine and gross motor skills:
Use of hands for pre-writing/writing activities
Self-feeding and getting dressed
Sharing toys with peers and manipulating various objects
Moving bodies during play
Running, jumping, climbing, crawling!
Feeding Therapy
Some children may be picky eaters due to various underlying challenges such sensitivities to textures, smells, sights, and other sensory systems. Other times, there may be oral motor skill challenges and/or decreased strength in the mouth & jaw areas, creating challenges with eating.
Through our feeding therapy support, each child will receive a comprehensive evaluation identifying which areas to focus on to improve their food intake.
Feeding sessions are often done in the home and with parents as collaborators.
At times, Growing Butterflies OT also offers feeding therapy groups - a fun way for children new skills with same-aged peers!
Social-emotional and self-regulation skills
Everyone experiences ‘big feelings’, but are your child’s ‘big feelings’ so big that they are interfering with functioning in the home, school and/or community environments? Are tantrums frequent and challenging to recover from? Are small inconveniences a big deal with reactions quickly going from 0 to 100?
Growing Butterflies OT specializes in optimizing a child and family’s overall self-regulatory skills so they can thrive in any and all settings and environments.
Individual skills and concepts are practiced in-session
Home programs are provided using the strategies that have been helpful for each child
Interoceptive processing & toileting
Interoceptive processing refers to our ability to sense and regulate our internal bodily processes, functions, and systems (i.e. understanding the need to use the bathroom, regulating hunger/thirst, understanding our energy levels and fatigue). Services are provided to:
Increase independence and self-efficacy with toileting
Understanding and appropriately responding to body cues
Numerous materials and learning concepts adapted to reach various learning styles!
School performance & handwriting skills
Occupational therapy services specialize in evaluating & treating various aspects necessary for school performance (i.e. handwriting, visual processing, ability to sit & attend to activities, spatial awareness, executive functioning skills, etc.).
Our handwriting services include:
Individualized evaluations identifying specific aspects of handwriting to be addressed
Multi-sensory treatment plans, school collaboration, and home programs to enhance learning
Inquire about our services available to support typing skills!
social interaction skills
Often times, children may have some challenges with higher-level social functions and/or interacting with peers in a social setting (sharing toys, playing group games, navigating peer conflict, and understanding when and how to ‘be flexible’).
Social skills can be addressed during individual sessions, building and fostering underlying skills that can be generalized in social settings.
Group sessions are also offered - focusing on building such skills in a small group environment!
executive functioning & attention/focus
Growing Butterflies OT provides fun and engaging strategies to optimize focus and attention during all activities.
Does your child have challenges attending to some activities? Are multi-step sequences challenging to follow? Are materials often scattered and/or disorganized?
Strategies to help optimize attention, focus, and overall mindfulness:
Self-regulatory strategies to bring more attention to internal processing and focus
Strategies that can be carried over into all environments to optimize attention, processing & focus!
Professional Development
Are you looking to incorporate various OT-strategies into your organization and/or train your staff to better assist children with various learning needs?
Topics of previous trainings (with more available upon request):
Supporting children’s self-regulatory skills & the concept of ‘co-regulation’
Feeding therapy: basic information for professionals & strategies to support parents
Fine motor skills in the classroom: optimizing performance while supporting teachers
Sensory-friendly classroom supports