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Occupational Therapy

BENEFITS OF OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY

  • Improves fine motor skills – enhances the ability to grasp, write, draw, and manipulate small objects.
  • Strengthens gross motor skills – supports balance, coordination, and overall body strength.
  • Enhances self-care abilities – helps children become more independent with dressing, eating, grooming, and hygiene.
  • Improves sensory processing – assists children in responding appropriately to sensory input like sound, touch, or movement.
  • Supports attention and focus – helps improve concentration for learning and completing tasks.
  • Encourages problem-solving skills – teaches strategies to handle challenges in daily life.
  • Improves handwriting and school readiness skills – prepares children for academic success.
  • Develops social skills – fosters positive peer interactions and cooperative play.
  • Promotes emotional regulation – helps children manage frustration, anxiety, and other emotions.
  • Increases confidence and self-esteem – builds a sense of accomplishment through mastering new skills.
  • Adapts the environment for success – recommends tools, modifications, or strategies to make daily activities easier.
Our Occupational Therapists will help your child gain independence while also strengthening the development of fine motor skills, sensory motor skills, and visual motor skills that children need to function and socialize. Our occupational therapists can help your child with delays in fine motor skills, handwriting, developing visual motor skills, problem-solving, memory and attention, sensory integration, and self-care tasks.
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Primitive Reflex Integration Therapy

Primitive reflexes are the automatic movements babies are born with to support early survival and development. These reflexes typically fade within the first year of life as children gain more control over their movements.

When a reflex remains active beyond that first year—known as a retained primitive reflex—it can interfere with a child’s development, learning, coordination, and behavior.
 
Through primitive reflex integration therapy, targeted movement exercises help the brain and body build new neural connections, allowing children to move from automatic reflexes to purposeful, organized movements.
 
At Lori Kilpatrick Pediatric Therapy, a Certified Primitive Reflex Clinical Specialist provides comprehensive assessments and individualized treatment plans to support integration and overall development.
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Common signs of retained reflexes may include:
  • Reading or handwriting difficulties
  • Poor concentration or posture
  • Sensory sensitivities
  • W-sitting or toe walking
  • Trouble with coordination or visual tracking
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Possible causes include:
  • Premature birth
  • Cesarean delivery
  • Limited tummy time or floor play
  • Prenatal or birth trauma
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Conditions often linked to retained reflexes:
Autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dysgraphia, auditory processing disorder, and sensory processing disorder.
 
If you suspect your child may have retained reflexes, contact our office to schedule a comprehensive reflex evaluation and learn how integration therapy can support your child’s progress.

Contact Us

Do you have questions or want to set up an appointment? Reach out to us using the contact form or give us a call at 228-334-5035, and one of our staff will be happy to help!

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