Why North Star Kids Therapy?
Therapy Options
In addition to the traditional 1:1 therapy session that most clinics offer, we also offer small group sessions and lifestyle enrichment programs.
Small Group Sessions are a cost-effective option as the “per child” cost goes down as the size of the group goes up. Additionally, placing children together in small groups for their therapy sessions allows opportunity for supporting growth in peer interactions and social skills with the guidance of an occupational therapist.
The Lifestyle Enrichment Programs provide opportunities for participation in community-based activities of your
choice with one child or small groups of children with parents/guardians/family members present, allowing the therapist to guide the child and family members through the activity by using occupational therapy strategies while taking into consideration specific areas of need identified in your child’s therapy plan. If you
were ever hesitant to take part in any type of activity in the community because you were unsure if it was a right fit for your child’s unique needs or you wondered, “What if my child cannot handle it?” or, “What if I can’t handle it?” then this is a great option to bring to your child’s therapist so that both the child and the family is supported and participation in those desired activities becomes possible for everyone.
Individualized Progression Evaluation
Our evaluation process involves observing a variety of activities in the areas of gross motor coordination & motor planning; hand-eye coordination; strength & balance; fine motor coordination; visual motor & visual perceptual; self-help; social, emotional, & attention; and sensory processing. We offer a personalized evaluation where we provide a score for each task observed with an opportunity to add in tasks that are relevant for you. The scores obtained are not compared against any norms or expectations. We simply come up with a baseline score when we do the initial evaluation and customize your child’s therapy plan based on the scores. Then, whenever your therapist recommends or you as the parent/guardian requests an update to the therapy plan, the exact same evaluation would be used, and we would track the specific skills and developmental areas that have seen improvements. This would then allow us to not only see specifically where progress has been made but also to make appropriate upgrades to your child’s goals and therapy plan. Say goodbye to comparative evaluation assessments and hello to an individualized progression evaluation!
Personalized Therapy Plans
We build a personalized therapy plan based on a natural progression of developmental skills in collaboration with your identified needs and goal areas for your child. We strive to steer clear of focusing on what
your child “should” be doing at a certain age but rather progressing from one developmental milestone to the next. We believe every child’s developmental journey is unique. We respect each individual journey, identifying and working with your child’s strengths to help build on the areas needing growth.
Nature-Based Occupational Therapy Integration
At North Star Kids Therapy, we understand the benefits of integrating
outdoor play and nature into children’s lives. We make every effort to offer therapy outside and incorporate nature into as many therapy sessions as possible.
Qualifications
- Doctor of Occupational Therapy
- Experience as a pediatric occupational therapist since 2016
- Trained in “Handwriting Without Tears” program
- Certified in both Youth and Adult Mental Health First Aid
- First Aid and CPR Certified
- Licensed & Registered Occupational Therapist in WI & IL
- Certified ADHD-Rehabilitation Services Provider
- Developed resource manual to integrate supportive strategies for various diagnoses into programming for the
Greater Green Bay YMCA