Occupational Therapy with Strong Roots:
Growing your Child’s Body and Brain through PLAY!
What does Occupational Therapy with Strong Roots look like?
Occupational therapists empower individuals to engage in activities that are meaningful to them. For children, these activities encompass play, learning, self-care skills, and much more. When a child faces challenges in these areas, occupational therapy (OT) can provide essential support!
Skill Areas We May Address Include:
Fine, visual, and gross motor coordination
Sensory processing and self-regulation skills (such as focus and emotional regulation), including awareness of internal cues (interoception)
Integration of primitive reflexes
All sessions are crafted to be joyful, play-based, and engaging for both the child and caregiver, while incorporating research-based interventions to foster progress together.
Who Can Benefit?
We have extensive experience working with children with ADHD, autism, developmental trauma, learning difficulties, sensory processing challenges, fine or visual motor delays, handwriting issues, and more. Additionally, all children can engage in and gain from enrichment opportunities.
Our Core Principles for Therapy
Personalized Collaboration
Our approach to therapy is family-centered, incorporating the strengths of the child and family, and collaborating with the caregiver to empower their participation in the process.
We know parenting children with vulnerable nervous systems can feel lonely and fraught with questions. Our therapist provides uniquely personalized supports including quick response times for your concerns. We are dedicated to maintaining small caseload sizes to ensure that you never feel like “a number” as we team in the therapy journey.
Mobile Therapy
As a mobile or concierge therapy practice, we offer the opportunity to work with clients and their caregivers in the environments that are most relevant for their daily lives -- home or community -- to improve carry-over of skills addressed during sessions.
Individual sessions can be offered in your Perrysburg home or at our local community partner location in Perrysburg or via teletherapy, while group sessions occur in a variety of community locations. Strong Roots can also partner with private schools or preschools to provide occupational therapy supports at school, upon approval from the school.
Identifying “Root Causes”
Our therapist uses a "big picture" lens to consider root causes for concerns. These underlying core skills are the foundation layer (think base of a pyramid) for all other skills to balance on and build upon. For example, caregivers or teachers may observe an inability to sit still, focus on the task, and keep hands to self or difficulty with handwriting. We reframe these observations, offering hope and support through identifying and addressing a variety of sensory, motor, and other neurodevelopmental skill areas with room for growth.
Strengthening the Pyramid for Success!
What could be the underlying causes of a child's behavioral or learning difficulties? At Strong Roots, our occupational therapists begin their investigative process with the Pyramid of Learning, a concept developed by Taylor & Trott (1991).
When the foundational skills at the base of this pyramid are not fully developed, children expend significantly more effort to compensate for these essential abilities, which others perform instinctively. Consequently, achieving higher-level skills becomes much more challenging.
For instance, if a child often experiences emotional "meltdowns," this could be linked to an immature Moro reflex or an overly sensitive sensory system. Likewise, a child facing challenges with reading might exhibit an unintegrated ATNR reflex or visual processing issues that hinder their eye tracking abilities.
By addressing primitive reflexes and sensory processing needs first through collaborative teamwork with the family, we can pave the way together for smoother and more efficient development of higher-level skills.
The Power of Play in Occupational Therapy
Play serves as a meaningful way to engage with a child and guide them toward enhanced functioning. Occupational therapists (OTs) utilize play as a motivating intervention strategy, which research indicates brings numerous advantages for child development, including improvements in motor and sensory skills as well as self-regulation. By incorporating play, we link the skills being practiced to real-life situations, fostering children's growth and development.
Tailoring Activities for Success
During OT sessions, we employ play within a framework that considers how to adapt each activity to support the child's strengths and needs. This involves subtly adjusting the presentation, materials, or interaction style to create a “just-right challenge” that can encourage the necessary growth toward achieving treatment goals.
Connect with Strong Roots!
Get to Know Our Therapist
Have questions? Connect with us by scheduling a complimentary Discovery call which you can easily book from our Landing Page Scheduler. Simply select “Book an Appointment” at the provided link. Together, we can discuss the next steps for exploring the therapy options that suit your needs.
Enrichment Groups
Alternatively, consider joining our Enrichment groups, offered in collaboration with the 577 Foundation featuring Preschool Move, Play, and Grow themed groups; registration available on their website.
Summer 2025: Ready to Write and Regulate
Join us for active and engaging Ready to Write and Regulate! Summer camp enrichment sessions designed to energize those hands, eyes, and bodies in preparation for the upcoming school year. Unique sessions will begin June 24, August 5 (Handwriting focus), or July 22 (Sensory & Self-Regulation focus). Please see the registration form for more information.
Contact Us
One more option to connect with us — complete the form and we will reach out to you! We look forward to hearing from you. You may also request a Discovery Call through this form if you prefer.
Please either leave your phone number in the message box here for return contact by phone or save our email address (mary@strongrootskids.com) in your “safe list” to ensure your receive our reply.
