Occupational Therapy

The occupational therapists at Oak Tree Developmental Center are equipped with a well versed knowledge base in evaluation and treatment areas of sensory integration, fine motor and handwriting skills, visual-motor and perceptual skills, Therapeutic Listening™ and the Alert Program™. 

When a child is having difficulty processing or filtering the sensory demands (tactile, auditory, smell, taste, visual, proprioception and vestibular) of their environment, it can be overwhelming for the child and can lead to emotional, behavioral and motor struggles that make it difficult to meet the demands of everyday life.  Observed challenges may include difficulty interacting with peers or adults, aggression, poor attention, poor body coordination (clumsy) and poor sitting or standing posture, emotional irregularity, avoidance of certain textures or food, grinding teeth or chewing on clothes, difficulty with fine-motor or oral motor skills, and excessive seeking or avoidances of movement.

Our OTs work to provide their patients with a safe and positive environment and treatment that allows the patients to learn the sensory, motor and life skills they need to meet these challenges.  Other treatment areas OT may address include life skills (performance of activities of daily life), social skills, handwriting skills and feeding skills (in collaboration with our speech therapist).  Our OTs collaborate with the child’s family, other therapists and members of the team in order to provide treatment ideas that can be carried over to all areas of the child’s life.  OTs provide individual treatment as well as social and motor group treatments in Oak Tree’s “big gym” or in smaller treatment rooms depending on the needs and goals of the child.