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At Smart Start we are committed to providing occupational therapy services that help children who are experiencing difficulties with the integration of their developing sensory systems. We are a relationship-based setting and we tailor our services to address the individual needs of each child. Our goal is to look beyond behavioral manifestations and dig deeper, to find the “core deficits” that explain why the child maybe having difficulties in: sitting, attending, calming, staying engaged in an activity, is rough with friends, is clumsy, has feeding problems or is a “picky eater”, is slow to warm up, has difficulty in new situations, doesn’t like changes in routines, is too passive and quiet, cannot process verbal directions, difficulty going to sleep or staying asleep, texture sensitivities and aversions. Some children have a few of these symptoms and some have quite a number.
All of us have sensory issues, and we have learned to make accommodations, but some children are having difficulty and need the support of therapy to help them climb the developmental ladder. In some children the issues may be mild and for some more extreme, but in either case therapy helps children get better, better able to learn and grow and to get to the JOB of being a kid!
Occupational Therapy services are delivered here at SmartStart in our Gym and on our outdoor play equipment or in a group in their classroom environment. The sessions are 50 minutes in length and are most often delivered once or twice per week. In addition, our therapist will provide you with a “Sensory Diet”, these are things to do at home that will bring the skills learned here to your home. If you are also receiving other services at SmartStart be assured that your therapists are coordinating and collaborating to ensure that your child is getting a cohesive therapy package.
Our goal is to stimulate interest and provide internal motivators for each child in order to enhance communication through joyful and pleasurable experiences. It is our highest priority that communicative opportunities occur across multiple contexts and environments as well as involve direct collaboration with parents. Building strong communication involves facilitating interactions around eating, dressing, playing, problem- solving, reading, routine-based community outings as well as family trips and experiences. It is our belief that all children are unique; they are all reachable, and deserve to be understood and heard!
It is designed to support a child’s development, identifies the child’s unique sensory processing profile and deficits, and captures the child’s heart and drive by harnessing their internal drivers (the loves of the child’s heart), enabling them to willingly climb the developmental ladder. Our model recognizes that children must have a warm connection with all the important people in their lives, and this includes their teachers, if they are going to climb this developmental ladder. The learning environment looks and feels different; there is an intense focus on mobilizing children’s interests, supporting their unique sensory systems, and wooing children into interactive experiences.
It is an integrated curriculum that addresses all areas of: neural-sensory development, comprehensive language development and integrates all core academics: Reading, Writing, Mathematics, Science, Social & Community Studies. It not only meets but exceeds all California State standards. We accomplish this by integrating: arts, music (instrumental & voice), drama, dance, multi-media art, sports-from a developmental perspective, character development, self-possession, core values, moral intelligence, positive community, family and peer relationships and remains focused on the fact that Emotional Quotient drives Intelligence Quotient!
We believe in an intensive developmental-sensory-based curriculum and offer an active language-rich experiential classroom. This is our “Launch-Pad” classroom, we offer your child their first opportunity to be part of a social group, to begin to make friends and “learn how to learn”. There is a significant focus on language development and process-based, hands-on learning. Our Luminaries team is led by an Early Intervention Teacher and 2 teaching assistants who are passionately committed to launching the children into their next classroom.