Occupational Therapists Like No Other

At Move U, our sessions likely look different than those of other occupational therapy services you’ve experienced. The clinic is inviting with its bright colors and various equipment. The open gym space is designed to be adaptable, allowing your child and the pediatric occupational therapist to create a unique environment for that session. There are endless ways in which we can plan new ideas and explore sensorimotor challenges within this space. Start to finish, you’ll see your child having fun and seemingly playing with the OT. Any play idea is possible at Move U—from a fierce dragon battle to searching for treasures in the ocean to driving the muddy car through the car wash. In collaboration with your child, we use our imagination and truly go all in with the play. And yes, it is play, but it’s so much more than that. As occupational therapists trained in sensory integration, we use a skill coined by Dr. Jean Ayres as “Artful Vigilance.”

During all the fun, the OT is actively and intensively observing, assessing, and responding to your child’s performance. The OT is carefully watching how your child responds to each challenge and how the body’s sensory systems are organizing the sensory inputs. While your child’s full attention is on the exciting play, the OT is constantly using their clinical eye to analyze the session (the “vigilance”). Upon interpreting what the OT sees, they will seamlessly adjust aspects of the play idea (the “artfulness”) to better support sensory integration. All while this clinical analysis is occurring in our minds, we, too, are immersed in the play!  This is exactly what Artful Vigilance all about. As described by Dr. Ayres, a great session includes a “balance of structure and freedom” to optimally support your child’s growth and development (1979). Achieving this balance requires not only a clinically skilled therapist but one who can foster trust and confidence with each client. We want the play to be joyful and motivating yet also challenging and tailored to your child’s unique goals. Artful Vigilance allows us to truly be client-centered at every moment of the session. It is a dynamic, ongoing process requiring flexibility and creativity. Though it may look effortless, it takes someone who is well trained in sensory integration. The OT must be highly sensitive to the smallest of changes in behavior or performance and skillfully modify the play to be at the “just right” level.

At Move U, we pride ourselves in making every session a fun, motivating opportunity to challenge oneself. With our expertise in sensory processing challenges and application of Artful Vigilance, we create sessions that really feel like play, yet also address sensory, motor- coordination, emotional, and behavioral challenges. If you’re looking for a pediatric occupational therapist that is different from the rest, reach out today to request an appointment for your child.