Infancy through the teen years
Pediatric occupational therapy at Best Day Ever Therapy is centered on meaningful function — helping children develop or adapt the skills they need to participate more fully in play, self-care, mealtimes, and school. Care may include support for autistic and neurodivergent children when occupational therapy is the appropriate service. Treatment begins with an office evaluation. The plan of care may combine office sessions, home visits, and selected sessions at The Play Studio next door.
Sensory processing is how the nervous system receives and organizes information from the body and the environment. When that process is inefficient, children may have difficulty with regulation, attention, or participation in daily routines. Occupational therapy addresses sensory processing as it appears in occupation — dressing, mealtimes, play, classroom work, and community outings.
Fine motor and visual-motor skills support handwriting, dressing, play, tool use, and school participation. When these skills are delayed or inefficient, everyday tasks require more effort than they should. Treatment develops the motor and visual-motor components needed for those occupations.
Feeding and mealtime participation involve oral-motor skill, sensory tolerance, and the routines around eating. Occupational therapy may address the motor, sensory, and environmental factors that make mealtimes more manageable at home and in the community.
Activities of daily living (ADLs) — including dressing, toileting, grooming, and other self-care routines — are a core concern of occupational therapy. When these tasks are difficult, family life and independence are affected. Treatment targets the skills and adaptations that help a child participate in self-care with greater independence.
Handwriting and school participation depend on fine motor skill, visual-motor integration, postural control, and the ability to manage classroom routines. Occupational therapy supports those components, including school readiness and kindergarten transition. Private OT does not replace school-based occupational therapy when a child is eligible.
Play is how children practice the skills they need. Therapy often uses play to work on movement, sensory, and social goals. Some sessions use The Play Studio next door when more space to move is helpful.
When occupational therapy is the appropriate service, treatment may address sensory processing, regulation, daily living skills, and participation in play, school, and family routines for autistic and neurodivergent children. This is occupational therapy. It is not applied behavior analysis, and it does not replace school-based services when a child is eligible.
Parents and caregivers are included in the plan of care. Pediatric treatment includes coaching so strategies can continue between visits. Caregiver coaching without the child present is also available as a scheduled service. Some sessions use The Play Studio next door when more space to move and play is helpful. Their space fee is billed at their published rate.
If your child receives or may be eligible for occupational therapy through public school, you have a right to those services at no cost. Private services are supplemental and do not replace school-based OT.
