Q: When should a child start occupational therapy?
A: A child might need occupational therapy if they have challenges in motor skills, sensory processing differences, or difficulty performing tasks like feeding themselves, dressing, or participating in school activities. We see children as young as 6 months of age all the way up to age 24.
Q: How does occupational therapy help autistic children and families of autistic children? (neurodiversity-affirming language used purposefully here)
A: Occupational therapy can support autistic children by improving their family’s understanding of their child’s sensory processing patterns, motor planning/praxis challenges, regulation capacity, and exploring developmental supports for fine motor, gross motor and daily living skill challenges. These services are provided through interest-specific activities tailored to a child’s unique needs.
Q: What conditions can pediatric occupational therapy treat?
A: Our goal is to help families help their children grow within their capacity. Occupational therapy can help support children with a wide range of conditions, including developmental delays, autism spectrum disorder, sensory processing disorders, ADHD, genetic disorders and physical disabilities. While a diagnosis gives us a tiny bit more information, a diagnosis isn’t necessary to benefit from occupational therapy services. Clumsy kids, gifted kids and quirky kids often benefit, as well as kids waiting for a diagnosis or “gray area” kids who don’t quite meet certain criteria for a formal diagnosis. We have therapists who specialize in certain conditions, such as childhood trauma, mental health conditions and connective tissue disorders.
Q: Can occupational therapy help with behavioral issues?
A: Yes, occupational therapy can help children develop strategies to manage behaviors related to sensory processing difficulties, frustration, or anxiety, leading to better regulation reserve, capacity, flexibility and emotional regulation. We often find there may be more than meets the eye when it comes to behavior issues- sensory issues, retained reflexes, ocular motor and vision challenges, to name a few, often go overlooked “under the iceberg” of observable behavior outbursts.
Q: Do you take Kaiser
A: We are a Kaiser affiliate and accept Kaiser when families are referred “out of house”. Kaiser ultimately decides which clients will be seen at Kaiser and which ones are referred out to other local affiliate providers. Please contact your Kaiser case manager for more information. All Kaiser members need a “letter of authorization” for services, which requires a visit with your pediatrician, a formal referral, and an evaluation with a Kaiser OT.
Q: Do you take insurance?
A: We provide families with a “superbill” ( a unique medical receipt) for out-of-network reimbursement. This means families pay upfront for services and submit to their insurance company for reimbursement. It’s important to call your insurance company to understand your individual and family benefits for out-of-network reimbursement.
Q: What specific questions do I need to ask my insurance about for out-of-network reimbursement?
A: What is my reimbursement rate for out-of-network outpatient occupational therapy? What is my remaining deductible? How long do reimbursement checks take to process?
Q: Do you take Medi-Cal?
A: We do not take Medi-Cal. We recommend Valley Children’s Outpatient Therapy for families who are Medi-Cal recipients.
Q: Do you offer scholarships, or sliding scale services?
A: We do! Scholarships are given on a limited basis for evaluations and consultation packages. We prioritize kids who are in the foster care system, foster-adopt, or kinship guardian placement for scholarships. Please schedule a consult and include “interest in scholarship” in the byline.
Q: What settings do you work in?
A: We are a community-based practice, which means we serve kids in their homes. We see exponential progress when kids are provided with therapy services in their natural environment and when families can use items they already have in their homes. On rare occasions when families are traveling from rural areas or when kids need intensive sensory integration, we offer services at our small gym, located at the TALK Team (Cedar and Bullard).
Q: Do you do school contracting for school districts that need school-based OT staffing?
A: Yes. Playwell specializes in charter and hybrid model schools. We do both in-person and telehealth school-based occupational therapy services. We also offer support to local districts for evaluations and IEEs.
Q: What does play-based mean? Is that a good fit for my child?
A: A Play-based approach means we follow the child’s lead. While it may not look like we are working, it takes an incredibly skilled therapist to adapt and make activities meaningful within a child’s unique special interests and achieve specific goals at the same time. The research shows that the brain learns faster and makes more connections through play vs rote learning. Every session we will debrief our therapeutic approach and skills practiced for the day.
Play-based therapy may not be a good fit for a child who needs high structure and routine, who doesn’t have imitation skills yet, or who has a self-injurious stress response. For these kids, DIR Floortime or ABA may be a better fit for developing reciprocal engagement skills first (DIR Floortime) or basic safety skills (ABA). A consultation package is a great option for children in these early interaction stages to help their teams better understand sensory needs and structure the environment.
Q: I’m on the waitlist for feeding therapy. What can I do to help my child while I’m waiting for services.
A: Families on the waitlist for feeding therapy are highly encouraged to take this free course from the Chicago Feeding Institute (premier feeding therapy center). There are many low-cost feeding courses for families on this website, including a parent support group.
Q: Do you offer feeding therapy for ARFID (aversive restrictive food intake disorder) or for kids who are “failure to thrive”?
A: We recommend families seek out an intensive program for ARFID treatment. While we can support many kids who are problem feeders (have just a few foods in each food group), the research shows that kids and teens with ARFID (very restricted diet and particular eating habits) need eating disorder treatment from a comprehensive team. A comprehensive team usually includes a psychologist, pediatrician, dietitian, specially trained feeding therapist (OT or SLP), and sometimes other specialists such as GI Doctor, psychiatrist, and more. ARFID treatment centers in California are located at Children’s Hospital Orange County, UCLA, Stanford. Some offer hybrid programs. For feeding therapy related to weaning from a G-tube, we recommend Valley Children’s Hospital.
Q: How do I find a good pediatric occupational therapist?
Look no further! Playwell Collective therapists are seasoned OTs who have worked in schools, clinics and outpatient settings with years of experience. When you call for a consultation, an OT takes each call, ensuring we can match your child to a therapist with the right skills and continuing education. Playwell therapists have extra certifications in many different interesting areas including sensory integration, trauma-informed therapy, DIR Floortime, Safe and Sound Protocol, Integrated Listening Focus Program, Handwriting Without Tears, Interactive Metronome, ADHD coaching, Masgutova Reflex Integration, Interoception Curriculum, Zones of Regulation Curriculum and so much more! See our therapist bios for more individual information.
Q: What does neuro-diversity affirming mean?
A: We are on the neurodiversity-affirming learning curve, along with many other therapy practitioners. That means we are not perfect (but striving to improve) our approach with families of autistic children and other neurodivergent populations. Being neurodiversity affirming means our staff have taken continuing education courses and are involved in active discussions and learning about the following (but not limited to):
- Compassion over compliance: seeking to understand behavior through sensory needs, environmental supports, communication, and praxis/motor planning challenges.
- Using a strengths-based approach, which incorporates a person’s unique strengths and special interests
- Affirming autistic acceptance; Using affirming language in validating autism as a lifelong experience that impacts a person’s identity and culture; asking families if they prefer affirming language or person-first language
- Validating all forms of play and multi-modal communication
- Seeking perspectives of autistic adults and researchers; Parsing out research that uses quality of life indicators
- Using the Dunn model of sensory processing (adapting the environment; reducing sensory-exposure based therapeutic approach)
- Focusing on mental health and wellness for neurodivergent kids, which often includes finding interest-based groups, reducing masking and shame, finding ways to self-advocate for sensory and communication needs; Helping families understand and find common language for capacity and energy demands related to sensory processing
- Rejecting “this is how we’ve always done it” for social skills that result in a person losing sense of self and autonomy (ex. forced eye contact)
- Conducting assessments and writing goals that are empowering and affirming
Playwell Collective Inc. 