Occupational Therapy
Occupational Therapy
Contact the Occupational Therapy Clinic
From the smallest babies to young adults, we have the expertise and specially sized equipment to care for your child.
Seattle Children’s has the largest team of occupational therapists (OTs) in the Pacific Northwest who specialize in the care of infants, children, teens and young adults.
Occupational therapy helps children when a health problem affects their ability to do tasks of daily living. Our therapists focus on upper body strength and muscles that make small movements used in fine motor skills, like eating, bathing and writing. We also provide and other positioning devices to children who need support to keep their bodies in alignment. If your child had an injury, we help them return to activities they enjoy, which sometimes means learning new ways to do them.
Occupational therapy is part of our Rehabilitation Services Program.
Why choose Seattle Children’s for occupational therapy?
- Care custom-made for your child: We work closely with doctors and surgeons at Seattle Children’s to develop a plan of care just for your child or teen. As part of your child’s comprehensive evaluation, an occupational therapist who specializes in working with children (pediatric OT) will talk with you and your child to set treatment goals.
- Therapy that balances fun with results: To help your child get the most from their therapy, we create a fun, inviting and playful atmosphere, while also safely pushing them to overcome their current limits.
- Evidence-based approach: We offer brief courses of therapy aimed at specific, short-term goals. Research shows this approach is the best way to get results. As your child’s goals evolve, we may provide further therapy or refer you to OTs in the community for ongoing care.
- Advancing occupational therapy for children: Our therapists offer specialized care families typically cannot find in the community, such as feeding therapy, , for , , and custom hand .
Conditions We Treat
We care for babies, children, teens and young adults with a wide range of conditions, including these:
- Hand and limb differences like trigger thumb or finger, , , syndactyly, polydactyly, , and
- Hand, wrist and arm pain or injuries, like broken bones, injuries, , cuts (including cut ) and nerve injuries
- Feeding and swallowing concerns
- Lymphedema
- diseases, such as
- injury
- Stroke
- Torticollis
- conditions
Our Treatments and Services
Seattle Children’s OTs have extensive experience evaluating and treating children using the most effective methods. Our treatments and services include:
CDT is used to manage swelling that occurs because of a problem in the lymph system (lymphedema). There are 4 parts to this therapy:
- Skin care
- Manual lymph drainage
- Compression therapy
- Exercise
Seattle Children’s has certified lymphedema therapists on our Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy teams to provide CDT. They also teach you and your child to manage lymphedema at home.
CIT — also known as constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT) — is a motor therapy program for children with limited motor function in 1 of their arms. The program provides intensive training of the arm with limited motor function. We put the nonaffected arm in a cast or splint so your child cannot use that arm. Read more about the Constraint Induced Therapy Program (PDF) (Spanish).
Our OTs provide evaluations to help you decide on bathroom equipment, specialized beds, car seats and activity chairs for your child. To help make sure your child gets the right equipment, we:
- Ask about and evaluate your child’s needs
- Choose the right equipment to improve their function
- Set up a visit with the equipment provider so you can try it out
- Manage paperwork between the doctor, the equipment provider and your insurance company
Seattle Children’s is a regional center for the treatment of infants through young adults who have trouble eating and swallowing.
We evaluate young people (newborns to 21-year-olds) on their ability to take foods and liquids safely (oral motor skills). Based on your child’s needs, our OTs recommend ways to make eating safer and more successful. We provide training for children who:
- Are reluctant or refuse to eat
- Are making the transition from getting nutrition through tubes or an line to eating by mouth
Our OTs evaluate your child’s fine motor skills and provide training to improve control of the muscles that make small movements, for example, during handwriting. Our therapists help your child work on dexterity, strength and function. When appropriate, we provide training in techniques that require the use of only 1 hand.
We have pediatric-certified hand therapists. They have extensive experience and extra training in treating hand and arm (upper extremity) orthopedic conditions, including injuries.
Our therapists provide rehabilitation services for children with pain, injuries or differences in their hand, wrist or arm, including children who are recovering from surgery. We also make custom to help with positioning, support, fracture management and pain control.
We evaluate and treat babies from birth to 1 year old who are either in the hospital or patients at our clinics. To assist even the youngest children, we provide:
- Positioning equipment
- Treatment to help your child’s strength, range of motion and development
- Feeding therapy
- Parent education
When pain limits your child’s activity, our OTs use a variety of treatments to decrease pain and get your child to be active again. Our programs range from daily, intensive exercise sessions guided by an OT to home exercise programs designed just for your child.
If shortened muscles and tendons (contractures) make a child’s arms very stiff, we offer a therapy that uses casts to stretch muscles and improve movement. Over several weeks, your child wears a series of casts to stretch their muscles a little bit at a time. After serial casting, we often help with getting devices ( and splints) to help with elbow, wrist and hand position and movement. We also provide therapy to work on strength and movement after casting is complete.
In some cases, or other positional equipment can support your child to increase function and provide protection while healing structures. Our OTs are experienced in designing and making splints and equipment tailored to your child.
Our OTs are part of a team of providers from many areas of healthcare who evaluate children with tight, stiff muscles (spasticity) or other muscle tone problems. We design therapy for your child to help them move and function as well as they possibly can. Read more about the Tone Management Program.
Our OTs work with your child to help build skills for daily activities, such as dressing, grooming, bathing and going to the bathroom. We help children learn these skills for the first time or relearn them after injury or illness. When needed, we use adaptive equipment and assess the places your child spends time to help them master these life skills.
Sometimes children are weak or have limitations due to injury, illness or a period of not being able to move. When this happens, our OTs use stretching, strengthening and conditioning techniques to help children get stronger and improve range of motion. We also use casting and splinting to maximize function.
This is a special form of exercise-based therapy to reduce , dizziness, , balance problems and fall risk. It can also help with problems that might develop due to a vestibular condition, like muscle weakness, trouble walking, coordination issues and others. VRT uses specific activities to help your child move in safe ways. Based on the cause of the condition, your child might see an OT, (PT) or sports PT.
We were treated very kindly. My son does not speak at age 11, and our care provider quickly learned that he likes to be sung to, so she sang.
Parent from Snohomish, Washington
Meet Your Occupational Therapy Team
Our OTs provide services at several Seattle Children’s clinic locations as well as at our hospital in Seattle, where they work with children in outpatient clinics, Inpatient Rehabilitation, the intensive care units, the Cancer and Blood Disorders Center – Inpatient and other acute care areas.
Leadership
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Heather Browne, MS, OTR/L
Manager, Inpatient Rehabilitation Therapies
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Beth Clark-Alt, OTR/L
Manager, Ambulatory Rehabilitation Therapies
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Kristie Bombaro-McCollum, PT, MPT
Supervisor, South Clinic Therapies
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Caryn Deskines, MS, CCC-SLP
Supervisor, Inpatient Rehabilitation Therapies Acute/Consult Service
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Whitney S Marois, PT
Supervisor, Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic Therapies – Central District and Othello
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Rachel Reichow, MS, CCC-SLP
Supervisor, Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit Therapies
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Madelaine Stoer, MS, OTR/L
Supervisor, Inpatient Cancer and Blood Disorders Center Therapies
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Cheryl Thorndike, PT, DPT, ATC
Supervisor, North Clinic Therapies
See the full Occupational Therapy team.
Occupational Therapy Resources
Contact Us
Contact Occupational Therapy at 206-987-2113 for an appointment, a second opinion or more information.