Pediatric Occupational Therapy
How we help with occupational therapy: Hopeful Therapies provides Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). We do not provide or bill for occupational therapy. When your child needs it, we refer you to independent, licensed occupational therapists and, with your written permission, coordinate goals with them. This page is general information about occupational therapy.
Pediatric Occupational Therapy helps children with various types of developmental delays including coordination disorders, sensory integration disorder, autism, attention deficit disorder, dysgraphia, dyslexia, visual impairments and learning difficulties. The goal of occupational therapy is to assist the child, family, and school in maximizing the child’s developmental potential and day-to-day success. A child’s role in life is to play and interact with other children.
A pediatric occupational therapist evaluates a child’s current skills related to play, school performance, and daily activities and compare them with what is developmentally appropriate for that age group. OTs help children perform daily activities they may find challenging by addressing sensory, social, behavioral, motor, and environmental issues. Pediatric occupational therapy helps children gain independence while also strengthening the development of fine motor skills, sensory motor skills, and visual motor skills that children need to function and socialize.
Learn More & Get Started
Our experts are eager to cater to your requirements and are available to address your inquiries through phone, email, or face-to-face meetings, should that be your preference. Rest assured, you will always be in the capable hands of one of our professionals.
When occupational therapy helps
- Covering ears, melting down in loud or busy places, or seeking constant movement
- Refusing most foods, or reacting strongly to textures, tags and clothing
- Difficulty with buttons, zippers, scissors, crayons or handwriting
- Trouble learning to dress, brush teeth, use the toilet or eat independently
- Clumsiness, poor balance or avoiding playground equipment
- Difficulty staying seated and focused for school tasks
- Trouble calming down after getting upset
What an occupational therapist works on
- Sensory processing — helping your child tolerate and organize what he sees, hears and feels
- Fine motor skills — grasp, hand strength, coordination, pre-writing and handwriting
- Self-care and daily living — dressing, grooming, toileting, mealtimes
- Feeding — expanding a limited diet at a pace your child can handle
- Visual-motor and visual-perceptual skills needed for school
- Self-regulation — strategies your child can use when he is overwhelmed
- Play skills and participation with other children
Occupational therapy and autism
Many autistic children experience the everyday world at a different volume: a fluorescent light hums, a shirt seam burns, a cafeteria is unbearable. Occupational therapy does not try to talk a child out of that — it builds tolerance, gives the body ways to regulate, and adapts the environment so your child can join in. Families often notice the results first at home: an easier bath, a longer meal, a morning that does not end in tears.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between occupational therapy and physical therapy?
Broadly, physical therapy focuses on large movements — walking, running, strength and balance. Occupational therapy focuses on the skills of daily life: hands, senses, self-care and participation. Many children benefit from both.
Is therapy just playing?
It looks like play, and that is deliberate — play is how children learn. Behind every activity there is a goal and a measurement.
What should we do at home?
The therapist will give you a short, realistic home program. It works best when it fits into routines you already have rather than adding a new hour to your day.
Do I need a doctor’s referral?
Often yes, depending on your plan. Call (813) 655-8159 and we will check for you.
Occupational therapy in Brandon, Lakeland and Winter Haven
Hopeful Therapies does not provide occupational therapy. Families at our Brandon, Lakeland and Winter Haven clinics are referred to independent licensed occupational therapists serving Hillsborough and Polk counties.
Related therapies
Get started
Call (813) 655-8159 or request a consultation. También disponible en español.
Coverage and referrals
Coverage for occupational therapy depends on the provider you are referred to and on your health plan; our intake team can help you look for an in-network provider.
Our intake team at the Brandon, Lakeland and Winter Haven clinics, open Monday to Saturday from 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM, can help you with the referral. Call (813) 655-8159 during business hours and a real person will answer; we are a family working for families, and this October we complete five years of doing it.
Do I have to wait months to start occupational therapy?
Wait times depend on the independent provider you are referred to. Our intake team can help you find a provider with openings.
Can my child receive more than one therapy at the same time?
Yes, and it is usually the better choice. We provide the ABA; speech, occupational or physical therapy comes from independent licensed providers we refer you to, and with your permission we coordinate goals with them.
A credentialed, coordinated team
With your written permission, our Board Certified Behavior Analysts share goals with your child’s speech, occupational and physical therapists so the goals reinforce each other instead of competing. Coordinating ABA with the other therapies your child receives helps the goals reinforce each other. See our leadership and clinical team.
