SERVICES
Various Occupational Therapy services are available:
• Evaluation
• Therapy (individual and small group)
• Presentations
• Professional Consultation

Occupational therapy is a rehabilitation profession dedicated to promoting health and well-being. Specifically, occupational therapists assist people in participating to their highest potential in daily life activities that occupy their time. For adults, work, leisure, or family activities may be the focus. For children, these commonly include:
• School Activities: handwriting, coloring, drawing, cutting, organizing materials, staying calm & alert
• Following routines
• Transitioning to different activities
• Family/Community Activities: handling meal times, grocery stores, parks, fast food restaurants, birthday parties, etc.
• Play: object manipulation, motor/physical skills, social skills
• Self-Care: dressing, eating, brushing teeth, bathing

Evaluation
An evaluation examines the difficulties a client is having with performing daily activities in relation to relevant factors such as his/her skills, environmental conditions, disease/disability, and habits/routines. Assessment tools may include a combination of the following:
• Family Report (Interview/Questionnaire)
• Teacher Report (Interview/Questionnaire)
• Observations of Performance in Daily Activities
• Clinical Observations
• Touch Inventory for Elementary School-Aged Children
• Beery Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual Motor Integration, Fifth Edition (VMI)
• Peabody Developmental Motor Scales-2nd Edition (PDMS-2) Client Interview
• Review of Medical/Educational Records
• Review of Work Samples
• Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency
• Test of Visual-Perceptual Skills, Revised (TVPS)
• Quick Neurological Screening Test, 2nd Revised Edition (QNST-II)
• Sensory Integration and Praxis Tests (SIPT)
• Sensory Profile questionnaire
• Sensory Processing Measure

A report is written to document the findings of the evaluation process. Dr. Spitzer is available to review the report and findings with the family/client.

With an initial evaluation, you will obtain quality:
• answers for why you or your child struggles with daily activities,
• suggestions & strategies for making life easier, and
• plans to target the core problems, to build skills and abilities, and to compensate for weaknesses.

Therapy
A course of therapy is decided with the family based on the evaluation results. To meet your needs, a variety of therapy options are available:
• Ongoing direct treatment with the child, usually 1-3 times per week with home and school visits in the local area as needed
• Short-term intensive treatment during school breaks/vacations, 3-5 times per week
• Individual consultation to set up home strategies and a program the child will carry out at home with ongoing monitoring & follow-up consultation available as needed

Common intervention strategies include:
• Therapeutic Activities to Improve Function in identified areas of need
• Sensory Integrative Techniques--providing the child with controlled combinations of sensory input in ways that challenge the child and playfully motivate the child to actively engage
• Cognitive Skills Development/Training to build insight and ways to compensate for weaknesses
• Therapeutic Exercises
• Neuromuscular Re-education to retrain balance, etc.
• Self-Care Training
• Family/Client Training for home program (practice/carry-over)
• Adaptive Equipment/Materials as needed
• School and Home visits as needed

Presentations & Community Outreach
Dr. Spitzer speaks to community organizations on topics including:
• Learning/Improving Writing Legibility and Speed
• Organization Strategies
• Attention Strategies (sensory-based)
• The Foundation of Sensory-Motor Activities for Being Ready to Learn

Professional Consultation to Schools, Clinics and Occupational Therapists
Dr. Spitzer is available to consult with organizations and professionals for program and staff development.