Pediatric Group Therapy

A study at the University of California, Los Angeles found that nearly 90% of children with developmental challenges who received intensive treatment in their preschool years improved their social, self-help, play, and communication skills. By first grade, nearly half were indistinguishable from their classmates. That's the reason behind Pediatric Group Therapy, the cornerstone program of Saint Luke’s Hospital of Kansas City The Children's SPOT.

Overview

Pediatric Group Therapy serves children up to age 6 with genetic and developmental disorders through their transition to school and other support services. The program is led by licensed and certified occupational and speech language therapists who help children develop learning, speech, language, pragmatic, social and emotional regulation, sensory, and fine and gross motor skills. With a 3:1 child-to-therapist ratio, Pediatric Group Therapy includes individualized plans of care based on evaluation results and family input. 

• Meets two hours a day, three days a week, 50 weeks a year.
• No classes on New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.
• Morning and afternoon classes available.
• Placement is based on age, availability, and developmental level.

Features

• Sensory-friendly classrooms with a variety of toys and materials for large and small group activities.
• Classrooms with direct access to pediatric bathrooms for those who are independent or working on toileting skills.
• Indoor playground with slides, trikes, scooters, and bikes that offers opportunities for sensory integration, social skills, and gross motor skills.
• Gross motor room with a rock-climbing wall, zip line, trampoline, therapy swings, and other equipment to engage children of all ages.

Curriculum 

• Receptive and expressive language development: Understanding directions, receptive and expressive vocabulary, verbal problem solving, role playing, picture recognition and naming, attention and listening skills, and asking and answering questions.
• Multimodality: Visual supports, American Sign Language, and augmentative alternative communication device (e.g., touch chat).
• Socialization and pragmatics: Sharing, helping, taking turns, developing relationships, and joint attention skills.
• Emotional regulation: Identifying emotions, coregulation, self-regulation, and sensory supports.
• Articulation: Phoneme discrimination and sound productions.
• Fine and gross motor skills: Hand manipulation, hand-eye coordination, overall strengthening, crossing midline, coordination, and bilateral integration.
• Sensory exploration: Auditory, tactile, olfactory and oral, visual, and proprioception.
• Oral motor and feeding: Self-feeding, oral awareness, exploring new foods, and tooth brushing.
• Self-help: Dressing, toileting, and hygiene.
• Vision: Ocular motor and visual perception.
• Pre-readiness skills: Counting and number skills, color recognition and naming, alphabet recognition and naming, shape recognition and naming, matching, pre-writing, visual sequencing, pre-reading, memory development, paper and pencil tasks, calendar, and time skills.
• Music: Singing, listening, playing instruments, dancing, gesturing, rhythm, regulation, and peer engagement.

Enrollment

• Parents may call The Children’s SPOT at 816-932-3832 to inquire about enrollment and sign up for a tour of our facility.
• If there is a waitlist for Pediatric Group Therapy, you will be added to the list and contacted once we reach your child’s name.
• A plan of care will be developed based on speech language and occupational therapy evaluations. If a current evaluation is available, your child will not require further evaluation.
• The Children’s SPOT staff will obtain a doctor’s order for therapy. Parents will complete additional paperwork prior to starting Pediatric Group Therapy.
• Your child will be subject to a trial period of two to three weeks. This allows opportunities to assess transportation reliability, establish attendance expectations, and ensure the placement is appropriate for the current classroom dynamic.

Insurance

• Coverage is dependent upon your policy. Please confirm Saint Luke’s Hospital is in your provider’s network.
• You may have a deductible or copay for services and there may be exclusions to your plan regarding covered therapies.
• View accepted insurance list.

Family Assistance Program

At The Children’s SPOT, we believe all children deserve the best possible start in life. Our Family Assistance Program provides support to families who are uninsured or underinsured and is made possible by gifts and grants from individuals, corporations, and foundations in the Kansas City area.

Attendance

Your child’s success depends on attending every therapy session and arriving on time. If you are unable to attend a scheduled appointment, please call us at 816-932-3832 as soon as possible to cancel or reschedule. We have many children in need of services. Multiple cancellations may result in termination of services.