Serving Butte, Helena, Bozeman, & Dillon, Montana.
Teletherapy always available!
NOW HIRING:
Occupational Therapist & Speech Therapist in all locations,
we'd love to have you join our team!
Occupational Therapy
Evaluations & Sessions
It is our goal to help your child develop new self-help, fine motor, and emotional and sensory regulation skills while engaging in activities that they enjoy.
Our Approach
Evaluations
Pediatric occupational therapists provide treatment to help children meet developmental milestones, overcome sensory challenges and improve self-care, play and self-regulation skills. Occupational therapy can help your child in the following areas:
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Moving (fine motor skills like using the small muscles of their hands).
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Learning (cognitive skills).
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Playing (social and emotional skills).
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Activities of daily living (dressing and feeding).
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Skills needed for their education (pre-writing, writing and scissor skills).
By providing services in the community instead of a clinic location, it allows therapists to proactively work on them in their surroundings
Your occupational evaluation will begin by establishing trust with your child so they are comfortable engaging in the evaluation. OT evaluations will include:
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A parent or caregiver interview
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Review of your child's medical and developmental history
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Child observations
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Direct engagement in play
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Conversation with your child
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Play-based and informal assessments
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Formal standardized testing
The goal of this session is to gain an understanding of your child's current skill levels and areas of need so we can develop a plan to help them achieve their goals.
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Following the evaluation, you will receive a written report with our findings and recommendations. If your child qualifies for occupational therapy services, we will determine a time and frequency for therapy sessions that work for your family!
Self Regulation & Sensory Regulation
Self-regulation is a child's ability to regulate their own emotions and responses. This includes emotional awareness, coping strategies, and managing emotions.
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Sensory regulation is closely tied to self-regulation as children experience emotional and behavioral responses when faced with aversive stimuli such as non-preferred foods and textures​, sensitivity to lights, sounds, or noises, and/or touch.​
We will focus on sensory-based activities through fun and play, as well as education to help your child:​
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Identify, label, and understand their emotions
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Recognizing emotions in others
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Develop coping strategies to manage their responses
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Manage conflict
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Interpreting social situations
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Increase comfort with aversive stimuli such as during dressing, feeding, etc.
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Greater emotional and sensory regulation will have a positive impact on your child's social skill development, empathy, and interactions with peers and family.
Executive Functioning
Occupational therapy for executive function skills will include a mix of child education, practice through play-based activities, and parent education. If your child experiences difficulty with areas such as planning, attention, organization, memory, self-control, time management, or starting and/or completing tasks, occupational therapy can help your child learn these important skills.
With the use of games and fun activities, your child will help your child:
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Develop greater independence in daily routines such as toileting and dressing
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Attend to activities for longer periods of time
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Develop problem-solving, organizational, time management, and planning skills
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Learn self-advocacy skills
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Increase their independence with school and homework
Your occupational therapist will also provide you and your child with strategies to implement at home.
Fine Motor Development
Occupational therapy for fine motor skill development will help your child to engage in a variety of age-expected skills and "occupations". Your occupational therapist will work on skills such as:
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Visual motor skills and visual perceptual skills
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Grasp for holding pencils and crayons
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Coordination for using two hands together, manipulating objects, using utensils, and writing
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Developing strength and endurance for fine motor activities
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Ability to manage fasteners such as buttons, zippers, etc.
We will work on these fine motor skills through a variety of play-based activities while also providing parent education on how to further the development of these skills at home.
Social Skill Development
Occupational therapy focused on social skill development sessions will help your child learn skills to engage with others, play games, and play. Your child's occupational therapist will teach and model social skills through games and interactive activities. We will also focus on building confidence, and self-esteem, and managing any anxiety your child may be experiencing surrounding social interactions.
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Occupational therapy for social skills will help your child:
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Develop confidence and increased self-esteem
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Learn skills for engaging in games with others
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Develop and implement positive coping skills and sportsmanship when things don't "go their way"
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Managing peer interactions and friendships
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Learn self-advocacy skills
Speech Therapy
Evaluations & Sessions
It is our goal to help your child develop communication and language skills, addressing issues like articulation, fluency, and understanding, as well as oral motor skills, and social interactions.
Our Approach
Pediatric speech therapists provide treatment to help children meet developmental milestones, overcome language challenges, difficulties with speech articulation, language comprehension, fluency (like stuttering), voice quality, and sometimes even feeding and swallowing issues, by creating personalized plans to help them improve their communication skills effectively. ​​​By providing services in the community instead of a clinic location, it allows therapists to proactively work with each patient in their surroundings
Evaluation
An evaluation is an important first step in the therapeutic process. We perform comprehensive assessments of your child’s communication and feeding abilities, including: Expressive Language, Receptive Language, Pragmatic Language, Feeding and Swallowing Skills, Literacy Skills, and Sound Production. The evaluation includes a parent interview, where we discuss your child’s areas of strength and growth. During the in-person session, we use dynamic assessments and clinical observation. A detailed report with findings and treatment recommendations is provided. We prioritize your child’s strengths and interests, using flexible, child-led methods to build meaningful relationships based on trust and engagement.
Individual Therapy
We provide individualized in-home, community-based, and virtual speech and language therapy tailored to your child’s unique needs. Our sessions are play-based and child-led. Treatment Areas and Populations:
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Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)
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Autism
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Childhood Apraxia of Speech and other motor speech disorders
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Expressive and Receptive Language Disorders
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Feeding Disorders
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Gestalt Language Processors
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Late Language Emergence
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Speech Sound Disorders
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Written Language and Literacy Difficulties
Augmentative & Alternative Communication (AAC Devices)
Augmentative & alternative communication (AAC) helps individuals express their thoughts, feelings, and ideas through lite to high-tech designs, such as picture communication symbols and boards, switches, and speech-generating devices.AAC devices come in all shapes and sizes, from lite-tech printed picture symbols to high-tech speech-generating devices. Everyone can benefit from AAC. There are no prerequisites, and we presume competence and potential in every child. AAC does not interfere with speech-language development; it only encourages enhanced communication!We collaborate with each family to make personalized recommendations for an appropriate AAC system for your child. We can assist in acquiring a speech-generating device for your child through insurance, the Department of Education (DOE), or private funding. We provide parent counseling on implementing AAC in your home, connecting authentically with your child, and encouraging and expanding your child’s communication through AAC.
Phone
406-498-8481