Occupational Therapy

Occupational therapy (OT) helps people who have complex conditions and disabilities build skills they need to perform everyday functions such as playing, dressing, or taking part in daily activities.

Occupational therapists work with kids, teens, and adults to build confidence and independence through muscle-strengthening activities, visual and motor skills development, changing activities or the environment to make it easier to complete a task, providing equipment and/or technology.

The goal of occupational therapy is to help kids, teens, and adults function in their home and communities. At Gillette Children’s we work to recreate environments that people find in their everyday lives. For example, we have therapy kitchens at all locations.

• Complex, lifelong conditions, such as cerebral palsy.
• Sports related injuries, such as a broken arm or concussion.
• Orthopedic Surgery
• Disabilities that affect the hands and upper extremities, such as birth brachial plexus injuries.
• Developmental concerns
• Genetic and neurological disorders
• Feeding difficulties
• Other medical conditions that impact a person from participation in functional skills

During a therapy session, kids, teens and adults might learn how to use adaptive equipment or perform activities in new ways. With help from therapists, we can work on:

• Daily living skills such as dressing, feeding, grooming, and bathing.
• Access to environmental controls and communication devices.
• Small motor skills such as writing, using scissors, and drawing.
• Thinking and learning (cognitive) skills such as creating a schedule, learning new routines, following multi-step directions, and transitioning into the community.
• Visual motor and visual perceptual skills such as using eye movement to explore and interact with the environment.
• Determining appropriate adaptive equipment such as splinting, compression vests and tools for everyday skill (feeding, sleeping, bathing/toileting, and positioning)
• Improving functional hand skills through therapeutic strategies, adaptations and constraint techniques

In addition to occupational therapy sessions, your therapist may collaborate with other Gillette staff to provide Team based care and/or evaluations such as:

• Augmentative and alternative communication devices.
• Computer-access equipment and electronic aids to daily living.
• Constraint-induced movement therapy.
• Nutrition and feeding evaluations and therapy.
• Recommendations for equipment, custom splinting, nutrition, feeding, and other areas.
• Seating and mobility equipment evaluations.
• Upper extremity functional and intensive therapy for conditions such as cerebral palsy, birth brachial plexus injuries, and other conditions that affect the hands and upper extremities.

Many people who have complex conditions and disabilities benefit from occupational therapy. Gillette supports patients and caregivers to navigate their everyday world with confidence. Within our inpatient and outpatient programs, individuals will experience:

• A highly collaborative approach with other specialists within the community. This collaboration ensures that you will get the best possible care.
• OT collaboration in the following teams: joint seating evaluations, brachial plexus, feeding clinic, AAC clinic, and additional clinics.
• One of the nation’s top providers of pediatric inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation therapies. Gillette offers the Twin Cities’ only pediatric comprehensive inpatient rehabilitation program certified by the Commission on the Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF). Gillette is one of eight U.S. pediatric inpatient rehabilitation facilities to have CARF accreditation for both its pediatric specialty and pediatric brain injury programs.
• The latest technology, tests, and techniques.
• Access to services at multiple locations and virtual care options.

As part of their treatment at Gillette, we help you coordinate any other services or specialties that are part of your child’s care plan, including:

• Audiology
• Child Life
• Craniofacial and plastic surgery
• Complex Care
• Inpatient care (hospital units)
• Neurology
• Neuropsychology
• Nutrition and feeding
• Orthotics, Prosthetics, and Seating
• Orthopedics
• Physical therapy
• Psychology
• Radiology and imaging
• Rehabilitation medicine
• Speech and language therapy
• Social Work
• Therapeutic Recreation