Occupational Therapy

How Occupational Therapy Supports Your Child’s Development

Occupational therapists (OTs) help children with a wide range of challenges—including developmental delays, learning disabilities, genetic and neurological disorders, sensory processing difficulties, ADHD, and autism spectrum disorder (ASD)—by supporting the development of essential skills for daily life.

OTs help to strengthen fine and gross motor skills, motor coordination, and upper body strength. We work to integrate retained primitive reflexes, which if retained can have an impact on posture, movement, focus, and learning. By using targeted exercises and activities to help integrate them your child can move more freely and confidently.

Our work also focuses on improving sensory integration, helping children better process and respond to the sensory information around them. We may incorporate vestibular and ocular motor rehabilitation to support balance, coordination, and visual skills that are important for everyday activities.

In addition to physical development, we address attention, executive functioning, and emotional regulation, helping children manage transitions, follow routines, and cope with big emotions. We also work on important activities of daily livingsuch as oral motor development, feeding, toileting, dressing, and handwriting—all essential for growing independence at home, at school, and in the community.

Occupational therapy helps your child reach their fullest potential by supporting them in mastering the everyday tasks that make life meaningful.

What OTs Work on:

OT modalities:

• Sensory based interventions
• Whole body vibration
• Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation (NMES)
• Non-Invasive Spinal Electrical Stimulation (NISE Stim)
• Astronaut program
• The Listening Program
• The Zones of Regulation
• Social Thinking Curriculum
• Handwriting Without Tears
• Primitive reflex integration

At SMILE, PT and OT work hand-in-hand to help children build strength, coordination, and confidence in daily life. While PT focuses on gross motor skills such as balance, walking, gait training, and posture, OT complements this by supporting sensory processing, body awareness, primitive reflex integration, upper body and core strengthening, and fine motor development. Together, PT and OT help children integrate movement, improve motor planning, and gain independence in both play and self-care — helping them thrive in all areas of growth and participation.