Discover how Occupational Therapy can help your family.
Connecting you with us.
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What are you looking for?
Book a free 15 minute consultation call to discuss your family’s needs.
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Personalized suggestions.
We’ll review your needs and share how we can best support you. If we’re not the right fit, we will help you find someone who is.
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Choose your path.
Decide how you’d like to proceed. If that’s with us, you’ll choose your next steps with the therapist that is right for you.
“In nature, children learn to take risks, overcome fears, make new friends, regulate emotions, and create imaginary worlds.”
— Angela J. Hanscom, Balanced and Barefoot: How Unrestricted Outdoor Play Makes for Strong, Confident and Capable Children
Mission, Vision, Values
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To nurture growth and development in children through nature and play, their most important occupation. We aim to increase access to OT services, as well as transform the service by grounding it in nature.
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We envision a world where children are thriving in their home and school environments because they are active and engaged in hours of outdoor play each day, thus reducing the need for OT services. This requires a home and school environment that value unstructured outdoor play; we promise to advocate for this and provide education and evidence to support this movement.
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Roots: Returning to our OT roots by remaining occupation focused in our work, using play as our modality. Returning children to their roots of outdoor play to promote health and wellness. And finally, rooting people around us by enabling them to connect with the Earth and each other.
Growth: Being innovative, thought leaders and visionaries in our field. We think outside the box to provide OT in a way that makes sense. We will continue to seek evidence to support this. We are seeking to transform the field of paediatric OT, but also the children in our care. We will provide them the time, space and support to blossom into themselves, no one else. We value each child and their uniqueness, while supporting growth in their strengths and supporting their needs. We do not support philosophies that try to elicit compliance, but rather advocate for the child’s needs to be met by the adults around them.
Nature based therapy is evidence based and just makes sense.
Playing outdoors offers a myriad of therapeutic benefits for individuals of all ages. The natural environment provides sensory stimulation, fostering a sense of calm and well-being. Engaging in outdoor activities promotes physical health, as it encourages movement, strengthens muscles, and improves coordination. Being amidst nature also positively impacts mental health, reducing stress, anxiety, and depression. Additionally, outdoor play often involves social interaction, promoting communication and collaboration skills. Overall, the outdoor environment creates a holistic and nurturing space for individuals to enhance their physical, emotional, and social well-being. Best of all, when therapy is done through outdoor play, carry over can happen at home, in the community and at school too!
FAQs
What is Occupational Therapy?
Occupational Therapy is a profession dedicated to enabling people to do all the things they want to do and need to do in the day. OTs have a Bachelor or Master’s level education in Occupational Therapy and are trained to assess and intervene when people have difficulties in their daily life due to disability, illness, injury or because of the environment around them. For a child this may look like challenges at home (dressing, toileting, sleeping, chores), at school (printing, focus, behaviour), or during play (social, gross and fine motor skills). We have an expertise in sensory issues, as well as fine motor and focus difficulties while focusing on function in daily life.
Do I need a doctor’s referral? Is this service covered?
As we are a private pay service, you will need to pay directly and no referral is required. All of our services are covered by the Ontario Autism Program funding. Some insurance plans cover Occupational Therapy services, so please check with your service provider. They may require a referral from a physician to cover the services so this is a good question to ask. You will also want to check how much coverage you have per visit for an assessment and for a treatment visit, as well as what your yearly coverage is. The frequency and duration of your services will be determined with your therapist to see what works best for your situation. Some families opt just for the initial assessment package, while others may require hands-on therapy for more intensive support. This link has some resources for determining extended health insurance coverage for OT services OSOT Resource
Can OT services help with diagnosis, school issues or IEP development?
Yes! A comprehensive assessment can support diagnosis for autism, ADHD, developmental coordination disorder and more through a physician, psychologist or paediatrician. An assessment and support from an OT can also help advocate for a school health referral (OHIP funded OT services), as well as bridge the gap during the waitlist period. Most children in Ontario are on a waitlist for school health OT services for years, so many families opt to privately pay for an OT assessment/intervention. The ‘Comprehensive Initial Assessment and Report’ can help provide recommendations for both the school and family to manage challenges and improve function so your child can flourish in their environment.