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Kid's Creek is a specialized pediatric rehabilitation clinic, offering speech, occupational, and physical therapy services. In addition to our services offered in the home and clinic, we are also excited to offer aquatic therapy and hippotherapy services as well. This section will provide you with a brief overview of the services we provide. Please contact us at info@kidscreektherapy.com if you have any questions or would like to speak with one of our therapists regarding your child's therapy needs.
To further meet the needs of our families and the medical community, Kid's Creek expanded its facilities to accomodate 6000 square feet of medical space for our pediatric rehabilitation services, including speech, occupational and physical therapy. We are now able to provide additional in-house therapies such as Aquatherapy in our indoor pool.
 Speech and Language Pathology/Therapy: Is your child lagging behind other children when it comes to talking? Combining age-appropriate play therapy and language-development education, our speech therapists work to ensure that each child's language skills reach his or her appropriate levels.
Speech and communication are the most important skills children need to develop. Early intervention for children with speech and language delays can play a key role in preparing your child for academic success. Speech and language skills are critical for following directions, communicating in the classroom, and developing peer relations. Speech and language competency is also an early predictor for reading readiness.
How can speech therapy help your child? Speech and Language therapy can help your child: Improve understanding and expression of language; Improve speech/sound production; Improve swallowing patterns to reduce tongue thrust; Improve reading skills; Improve communication through the provision of augmentative communication systems; Improve eating and swallowing skill development; Promote age appropriate play skills
Common Speech/Language Diagnoses include:
- Expressive language disorders or delay
- Receptive language disorders or delay
- Articulation and phonological disorders
- Voice
- Fluency
- Social communication skills
- Swallowing disorders
- Auditory processing disorders
- Language-based learning disorders
- Oral-motor disorders
- Resonance / airflow disorders
Motor speech disorders (apraxia, dysarthria)
- Aural rehabilitation
Signs your child may need speech therapy include:
- Inability to put together simple, two-word phrases by age 2
- Not being easily understood by family members by age 3
- Inability to talk in fairly complete sentences or to be easily understood by strangers by age 4
Physical Therapy: Do you have a child that wiggles, slumps, or just can't sit properly in his/her chair at school or home? Does your child frequently fall, seem clumsy or uncoordinated? Does your child tire easily while playing physical or recreational activities, or have difficulty keeping up with peers his/her age? Your child may have gross motor delays or delays with sensory processing which may be inhibiting him/her from performing many age appropriate gross motor activities. Physical therapy addresses strength, balance/coordination, endurance, and sensory integration for children with special needs. Diagnoses commonly treated include: Developmental delay, Cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, Autistic spectrum disorders, and genetic disorders.
Physical therapy can help strengthen trunk muscles for sitting extended periods of time. Stronger trunk muscles will assist your child with fine motor activities such as handwriting, drawing, or coloring as well as possibly increase their attention to task in school or at home. A strong trunk can also enable your child to breathe, communicate, and use their extremities more effectively. Physical therapy can help strengthen upper and lower extremities to assist with age appropriate gross motor functional and recreational activities such as running, jumping, and ascending and descending stairs safely.
Do you have concerns regarding your child's gross motor development? The following list of gross motor developmental milestones is based on an average, typically developing child. Please note that these milestones may not apply to every child.
Gross-Motor developmental milestones:
- Rolls from tummy to back: 4-5 months
- Rolls back to tummy: 5-6 months
- Sitting independently: 7 months
- Creeps (Crawling): 8 months
- Cruises on furniture: 11 months
- Walks independently: 12-13 months
- Runs and jumps: 24 months
Occupational Therapy: Occupational therapy is the use of purposeful activity to maximize the independence of a child who is limited by a physical injury or illness, neurological or cognitive impairment, a developmental or learning disability, or sensory integration dysfunction. For a child, purposeful activities such as swinging, climbing, jumping, buttoning, drawing and writing are their "occupation." Under the guidance of a therapist, the child actively takes in movement and touch information in playful, meaningful and natural ways that may facilitate the brain to modulate these fundamental neural messages. The child responds favorably to SI treatment, because his/her nervous system is pliable and changeable. Occupational therapy helps the child build confidence and learn to succeed- and children love it!
Aquatic therapy combines the benefits of physical and occupational therapy with the advantages of water. The aquatic environment provides buoyancy, increased resistance, and warmth, therefore providing an environment that allows ease of active movement, trunk stabilization, relaxation of spastic muscles, improved circulation, and strengthening and functional activity training.
Aquatic therapy programs are effective for the following:
- Neurological disorders
- Developmental delays
- Sensory processing/integration disorders
- Orthopedic injuries or bone, joint, and muscle disorders
Benefits of Aquatic therapy:
- Improved sensory feedback and body awareness
- Decreased pain, stiffness, and/or muscle spasm
- Improved posture, balance, and coordination
- Increased range of motion, strength, and endurance
Requirements:
- Current Physical Therapy or Occupational Therapy Evaluation
- Prescription for Physical Therapy or Occupational Therapy from your child's primary care physician
Kids’ Creek is excited to introduce the formation of three new social skills groups. Our new groups include a Pre-school Playgroup, a Middle School Dinner Club, and a High School Life Skills Group. In addition to our Friend’s Club for younger children, and our Creek Club for older elementary children, we are now able to provide quality social skills experiences for children ages 2-18 years. Each of our groups are led by two therapists gifted in fostering social skills in children, Mrs. Barbi Ward, an occupational therapist, and Mrs. Marla Mann, a speech-language therapist.
Our social skills groups have been developed to address the unique developmental needs of each age group. It is our desire to present programs that are fun, interactive, and offer each child the opportunity for growth. We believe that functional and practical social experiences will provide the most benefit for children. That is why we include opportunities to practice and apply skills learned in our groups out in the community for ages 8 & up. We also encourage and invite typical peers to participate in all groups. All groups run in six-week cycles and meet weekly.
The Creek Adventure: This is a new playgroup for children ages 2 ½ to 3 ½ years of age. The group will include fun, structured activities including music, crafts, and games. This will be a great socialization experience for children with special needs and typical developing children. The group will run on Tuesday mornings from 9:00-10:00. Cost: $250 for 10 weeks.
The Kid’s Creek Friend’s Club: This group is offered for two age groups, 4-5 year olds and 5 ½ to 7 ½- year olds. Skills addressed include: eye contact, appropriate greetings, initiating conversation, conversation skills, phone etiquette, party etiquette, reading facial expressions, feelings and emotions, bullying, teasing, personal space, restaurant etiquette, tone of voice, turn taking, and appropriate play interactions. These groups may offer occasional outings to allow children to practice skills in community environments. Groups run on Thursday evenings for 6 weeks from 4pm-5pm for the 4-5 year olds at a cost of $300 and 5pm-6:30pm for the 5 ½-7 ½ year olds at a cost of $350.
The Creek Club is for children ages 8-11 ½. It provides children the opportunity to practice their social skills in community settings. Each week a new community location is visited to practice skills. Sessions are 2 hours in length. The first hour is held in the clinic learning appropriate social skills interactions through role-playing, video examples, and coaching from the therapists. The second hour of the group will be off-site at a designated location in the immediate community to practice the skills that have just been learned. Participation in this group requires a commitment from the parent to arrange for transportation between locations. Examples of topics covered include bullying, stranger danger, telephone skills, appropriate interactions while shopping, conversational skills, eating at a restaurant, and attending a birthday party. The Creek Club meets on Thursday evenings from 4-6pm for 6 weeks at a cost of $400.
The Kid’s Creek Dinner Club is for Middle School aged kids. It is designed to address the hesitations and concerns that students face during these trying years. Individual student concerns are addressed in addition to phone skills, peer pressure, bullying, and increasing independence. Each week the Dinner Club meets at a new restaurant to provide a relaxed atmosphere to discuss and learn how to handle to pressures of the pre-teen years. The Dinner Club meets on Mondays from 6-7pm for 6 weeks at a cost of $350.
Kid’s Creek Life Skills Group is for High School students. The group meets at a variety of community locations to learn vocational skills needed for a wide range of employment possibilities. This group will accomplish pre-vocational activities such as applying and interviewing for jobs, phone skills and customer service skills. Examples of locations include: grocery and retail stores, restaurants, and office settings. The Life Skills Group meets on Mondays from 6-7pm for 6 weeks at a cost of $350.
Registration Information: All groups require a non-refundable $50 deposit which is applied toward your total cost for the groups. Balances are due the first day the group meets. Group fees include all supplies, activities and meals on outings. All groups are limited to six participants. A minimum of four participants are required for all groups to be held. To register, please call Lindsey in our office at 770-888-5221.
Hippotherapy is defined by the American Hippotherapy Association (AHA) as "a term that refers to the use of the movement of the horse as a tool by Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, and Speech-Language Pathologists to address impairments, functional limitations, and disabilities in patients with neuromusculoskeletal dysfunction. This tool is used as part of an integrated treatment program to achieve functional outcomes" (AHA, 2000).
Medical Conditions in which Hippotherapy may be indicated:
- Sensory Integrative Dysfunction
- Autism/Autistic Spectrum
- Cerebral Palsy
- Developmental Delay
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- Down Syndrome
- Traumatic Brain Injury
- Learning or Language Disabilities
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Impairments that Hippotherapy addresses:
- Impaired balance responses
- Impaired sensorimotor function
- Impaired communication
- Impaired coordination
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- Abnormal tone
- Decreased mobility
- Poor postural tone
- Postural asymmetry
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Clinical Implications:
Hippotherapy provides continuous vestibular, somatosensory, and visual feedback to the child, which contributes to increasing body awareness, base of support, body alignment, and center of gravity.
The significance of the horse's movement:
- The movement provided during the horse's gait cycle is similar to the movement of the human pelvis during ambulation
- Changes in speed and direction require increased muscular control to sustain balance and postural control
Requirements:
- Current Physical Therapy Evaluation
- Prescription for Physical Therapy from your child's primary care physician
Resources:
The Interactive Metronome (IM) is an advanced brain-based treatment program designed to promote and enhance brain performance and recovery. This is accomplished by using innovative neurosensory and neuromotor exercises developed to improve the brain's inherent ability to repair or remodel itself through a process called neuroplasticity.
The IM program provides a structured, goal-oriented process that challenges the patient to synchronize a range of hand and foot exercises to a precise computer-generated reference tone heard through headphones. The patient attempts to match the rhythmic beat with repetitive motor actions.
IM training has been used for years with children diagnosed with ADD/ADHD and other learning deficits as well as developmental disorders such as Sensory Integration Disorder, Asperger Syndrome, Autism Spectrum Disorder, and Cerebral Palsy.
IM has undergone scientific trials and has been shown to improve:
- Attention and Concentration
- Motor Control and Coordination
- Cognitive Processing
- Reading and Math Fluency
- Control of Aggression/Impulsivity
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