OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
OUR OCCUPATIONAL THERAPISTS WORK TO HELP CHILDREN DO THE THINGS THEY NEED AND WANT TO DO THROUGH THE THERAPEUTIC USE OF DAILY ACTIVITIES (OCCUPATIONS).
Children’s Therapy Place provides pediatric occupational therapy services to children so they can live life to its fullest by helping promote health, and prevent or live better with injury, illness, or disability.
Special Programs
Handwriting Without Tears
Sequential Oral Sensory (S.O.S.) Approach to Feeding
- Sequential Oral Sensory (S.O.S.) Approach to Feeding– Children’s Therapy Place now offers feeding therapy using Dr. Kay Toomey’s Ph.D. Sequential Oral Sensory (SOS) Approach to Feeding, a systematic desensitization program respected and used worldwide to treat feeding issues. It can also be used to treat oral motor delays. We offer individual and group feeding sessions.
Some of the red flags that may indicate a child is in need of feeding therapy include:
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- Ongoing poor weight gain
- Weight loss
- Ongoing choking/gagging
- Coughing during meals
- Inability to transition to baby food purees or solids
- Family is fighting about food with child
- Parent repeatedly reports the child as difficult for everyone to feed
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Therapeutic Listening®
Astronaut Training
- Astronaut Training– A specially designed program which addresses 3 different and very important sensory systems: the vestibular, visual, and auditory systems. Functional improvements in the child are seen with spatial awareness, general movement coordination, sensory regulation, attention, visual tracking, and locating and perceiving sound in their environment.
The program uses a rotary board to test a child’s responsiveness to rotary movements. When a child is positioned in sitting and lying, the head is positioned to activate the inner ear hair cells while the eyes are closed to create a post rotary nystagmus (flickering of the eyes). The rotary board is rotated in counterclockwise and clockwise directions for up to 10 seconds with directional music input provided. Post rotary, the nystagmus of the eyes is assessed to determine the child’s response to the input. Most children’s response should last up to approximately 7 seconds. When it is determined that a child has an atypical response, various treatment protocols are implemented to assist the child in integrating their vestibular, visual, and auditory processing.
Zones Program for Self Regulation
Specialty Areas
Fine Motor Development
Sensory Processing
Motor Coordination
Handwriting
School Function & Participation
Visual Perceptual Skill Development
ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder)
Autism Spectrum Disorder
Pervasive Development Disorder (PDD)
Down Syndrome
Self-Regulation
Self-Care Skills
Social Skills
Feeding
Sensory Diets
MEET OUR OCCUPATIONAL THERAPISTS
Elisa B. OTR/L
Location: Schools
Megan K., OTR/L
Location: Boise
Originally from Declo, Idaho, Megan received her education from Idaho State University. In her free time, she enjoys games, walks, hiking, reading, audiobooks, and learning new activities and information about the world around her!
Tara P., COTA/L
Location: Twin Falls
Tara has been a COTA for 23 years! She graduated from Twin Falls High School in 1992, College of Southern Idaho 1994, and American Institute of Health Technology with an AAS in Occupational Therapy 1997. Tara has worked in the Boise, Meridian, Nampa area for 12 years and then moved back home to Twin Falls for the last 11 years. Her favorite areas of therapy are birth to 5 year olds, she loves to do aquatic therapy and especially horse therapy (aka Hippotherapy). In her spare time since her kids are older, Tara has found a love for kayaking and going to her family’s cabin to chill and read books.
Stephanie S., COTA/L – OT Department Lead
Location: Boise
Erica W., MS, OTR/L
Location: Meridian
Erica grew up in San Diego, CA and moved to the Bay Area of Northern California to attend college. She graduated from San Jose State University with her Bachelor of Science degree in Occupational Therapy in 2014, and Master of Science degree in Occupational Therapy in 2015. Shortly after, she moved to Idaho with her husband to enjoy the slower pace of life! As an OT, she has worked in subacute rehab, home health, acute rehab, and most recently, pediatrics. She loves helping children achieve their goals through play! Erica feels fortunate she is able to work part-time and spend so much time raising her two young daughters. In her spare time, she loves spending time with her family, traveling, and enjoying activities her kids love!
Location: Boise
Location: Boise
Lauren received her Bachelors of Science in Health Science in 2015 and her Masters of Occupational Therapy in 2018 from Idaho State University. She is registered with the National Board of Certification in Occupational Therapy and has completed fieldwork in a variety of settings such as pediatrics, inpatient rehabilitation, acute care, and outpatient neurorehabilitation. She has completed the STAR Institute for Sensory Processing- Advanced Intensive Mentorship Level I and additional sensory integration training through the University of Southern California.
She spent the initial part of her career working in outpatient pediatrics and adult neurorehabilitation in Washington state before moving back to Idaho. At Children’s Therapy Place she currently treats from birth to 18, with a primary focus on helping children and families be as independent as possible with daily activities. She enjoys working with pediatric clients on self-care skills, fine motor skills, and sensory needs.
In her free time, she enjoys gardening/house plants, baking, crafting, reading, and hiking with friends, her husband, and her dog.
DISCOVERING ABILITY IN EVERY CHILD
