Families often ask us, “Why do you only do occupational therapy here?”
That’s an excellent question!
There are two ways you can approach treatment for kids. You can have separate clinics, where you go to one place that does behavior therapy, and another for counseling, etc. Or, some places have developed a “one-stop shop,” where all those services are included inside one facility.
There are upsides and downsides to both. We started out doing occupational therapy because we really wanted to master the best possible therapy. And to do that, you really have to focus, because each one of those therapy areas is a huge endeavor. There are people who are absolutely wonderful at it, and then there are therapists who are just okay.
Occupational Therapy is our focus:
We really strove to create a center that we thought could offer optimal occupational therapy with a sensory focus. To do that, we narrowed our approach so that we could develop that program optimally.
There are other places that do one-stop shops. Some of them do one-stop shops where one company owns all of it, and some have a one-stop shop in which three or four companies do various parts of the therapies.
As a parent who drives to therapy, there’s an advantage to having just one place to go! But sometimes the one-stop shops have one or two areas that they’re excellent at, and they’re simply okay in the other areas but not as developed. It’s really difficult to multitask that way unless you’re a large conglomerate.
The downside of a one-stop shop:
Also, if the one-stop shop is made up of separate companies, it’s still all separate billing. That certainly won’t save you time or trouble.
It might seem like more work to drive around town to different therapies, but by doing that you can find the absolute best providers in each area of therapy your child needs. We know that can leave you feeling like you spend your life on the road! But if you get the best providers, you’ll see progress quicker. You might be doing a lot of driving at one time, but you won’t have to be driving for as long if your child is getting the very best in therapy.
One thing to keep in mind:
When you do travel to different offices for therapy, you, the parent, need to work to be the conduit to keep the different providers communicating with each other, making sure they’re all on the same page. Those high-level providers who do a great job are very welcoming and work with other providers to get on the same page. We do that here—we work with other providers who do speech, vision, etc. We share reports. We’re developing the Therapy Intensive Network and many of us are working together—we’re separate companies, but we specialize in our one area.
These are just a few points for you to think about. We certainly understand the ease of a one-stop shop, but it’s really important that you find the best facility and the best therapist to work with your child. That’s ultimately your goal. We know you don’t want to be driving to therapy for the rest of your life!
If you have any questions about this or anything else, you’re more than welcome to come by, or send us an email! We’d be happy to talk to you.
