Updated Policies during Covid
Therapeds Works has updated its Health and Safety to policy to comply with the new directive 7 for Bell county making mask mandatory for business and its customers. This directive will be in effect June 26, 2020 through July 13, 2020. Please read the directive attached and our policy for face coverings. As we understand not all of our patients will be able to wear a mask due to medical reasons please speak with your therapist or the front desk about concerns with your child and their ability to wear a face mask. Thank you for your continued support and patience as we offer our therapies and comply with all safety regulations.
We are looking forward to seeing all of our friends back in Clinic!
Although we have remained open during the Covid-19 emergency we were also able to provide teletherapy sessions along with in clinic session. Beginning May 4, 2020 we will be resuming all in-clinic ST, OT, and ABA appointments.
Things will look a little different in the clinic as we establish a “new normal” for ourselves. We will continue to practice social distancing and will have no toys available in the waiting rooms at this time.
Please do not bring toys from home into clinic. We are asking that parents continue to wait in their cars, when appropriate, while their child attends therapy sessions.
We will allow one parent back with the child during therapy but are asking that siblings not attend the therapy sessions at this time. If this is a concern please speak with your therapist or a supervisor. We are happy to work with you!
We will also be asking therapist to wear mask during therapy sessions (as recommended by Gov. Abbott and the CDC) for the next few weeks. Patients will be washing hands at the start and completion of each session with their therapist. Session length will be a few min. shorter as we will allow for cleaning time between each patient. We will ask that no outside food or drink be brought into the waiting at this time. Food will be allowed for our feeding therapy sessions and we will only be using disposable utensils at this time.
We are continuing to follow strict cleaning guidelines throughout the clinic. If you have any questions please reach out to us! Thank you for your understanding and working with us through out these changing times.
Resources:
1. Return to work guidelines. Click here to read
2. Wash your hands poster. Click here to read
3. Wear a mask social story. Click here to read
We’ve Added TeleTherapy To Help Reduce Exposure
Therapeds Works remains open however we are offering TELETHERAPY to those that qualify. Please contact your therapist for more information. As we continue to remain open we ask that parents attend the session or wait in cars when available to limit the number of people in our waiting room at one times. We continue to clean and sanitize and follow precautions as usual!
We have a mix of therapist deciding to stay in clinic or go telehealth so I want families to know both are acceptable.
Below is the Bell County FAQ and it shows our medical facility can remain open...
COVID-19 Update
At this time, our office remains open. We take the health of our families very seriously, and are taking every precaution necessary to keep staff & your family safe. Please read below for more details about the precautions we have put into place.
1. Our office is deep cleaned twice a week by a professional cleaning staff. Every morning before families arrive, we disinfect our whole office, including all waiting room toys. Additionally, our therapy rooms are disinfected between every visit. As a precaution, we will be removing most toys from the waiting room to decrease the transmission of germs. We are being very diligent about cleaning, you might need to wait a few extra minutes before your session starts to allow time for the cleaning.
2. We will be washing our hands and clients hands at the beginning and end of each session.
3. If, prior to your session start, you prefer to wait in your car to avoid the office waiting room, please make sure your therapist has the best phone number to reach you. That way, your therapist can text you when they are ready for your session to start.
4. For the month of March, we will be waiving our cancellation fee for any families that calls to let us know if they are running a fever or not feeling well. We work with some immunocompromised children and their safety is our first priority. No shows will still be billed as usual so please be in contact with us should you need to cancel.
5. If our therapists suspect a client attending a session is sick, the therapist will immediately send the client home as a precaution.
6. We will be conducting therapy sessions in our private treatment rooms as usual and will limit contact with others present in the clinic by allowing no more that 2-3 patients in the gym or a room at a time as best we can. (ABA will be doing our best to limit the number of patients in a room at a time.)
7. If parents feel uneasy about bringing their child to therapy, please call to cancel with no penalty per the attendance policy.
Sensory Processing
I often receive questions from parents and friends about sensory processing in children. Sensory Processing is becoming more of a topic discussed in doctor appointments, daycares, and between parents as we begin to understand how our bodies and our children’s bodies work.
Sensory processing refers to the way the nervous system receives messages from the senses and turns them into responses (https://www.spdstar.org/basic/understanding-sensory-processing-disorder). We tend to think of our senses as taste (gustatory), touch (tactile), smell (olfactory), sight (visual), and hearing (auditory). We also now consider additional sensory systems including our vestibular system and proprioception. Our vestibular system provides our brain with information about head position, motion, and spatial orientation. It is also involved with motor functions that allow us to balance and stabilize our head and body during movement as well as maintain posture (https://www.spdstar.org/basic/understanding-sensory-processing-disorder). Proprioception (kinesthesia) refers to your perception or awareness of the orientation of your body in your environment (https://www.verywellhealth.com/proprioception-2696141). Proprioception can be thought of as a constant feedback loop within your nervous system, telling your brain what position you are in and what forces are acting upon your body at any given time. An example of this is knowing that you can tell your arm is raised above your head even when your eyes are closed.
How all this information from our senses is received and processed is essentially sensory processing. To keep it simple, lets divide sensory processing into two types: hypersensitive and hyposensitive.
Hyper means excess or exaggeration (oversensitivity). Hypersensitive children tend to avoid sensations. This can be seen in kids who avoid touching the wet, sticky, slimy foods because their sensory system can register the feeling of that texture as unpleasant leading to avoidance of that texture. They can refuse to wear certain clothing because it feels scratchy, avoid hugs and cuddling, or be fearful of swings and playground equipment.
Hypo means under or beneath (under sensitivity). Hyposensitive kids can appear sensory seeking because their sensory systems require a lot of stimulation to register the feeling and process it. Sometimes these kids will want to touch everything in view, need to move around a lot or be fidgety, and partake in more than usual rough and tumble play.
The question is: How does sensory processing affect us and our children?
Sensory processing disorder (SPD) is a condition in which the brain has trouble receiving and responding to information that comes in through the senses.
Kids with sensory issues may exhibit extreme behaviors when we wouldn’t necessarily expect them. This could look like screaming when their face gets wet, lashing out or becoming aggressive while getting dressed because the feeling of the clothes on their bodies it too overwhelming, or agitation/fear at the grocery store because the lights and noise are too much to handle. This can lead to tantrums and troubles with transitions.
Who can help?
Occupational Therapists (OT) are the specialists who can help children with sensory issues. OTs will engage kids in activities that are designed to help regulate their sensory input. When kids are better regulated, they feel more comfortable and are able to focus and complete tasks they enjoy or that are required. Some examples of therapy activities might be riding a scooter board on your stomach across the floor, jumping on a trampoline, swinging in a specialized swing, or desensitization while finding a buried toy in sand. OTs can create “sensory diets” or maps to help kids throughout the day with regulating their sensory systems, giving breaks at intervals and times of need.
To learn more about how Occupational Therapy can help your child with sensory processing concerns give us a call today!
References:
Miller, Lucy Jane. “Understanding Sensory Processing Disorder.” Sensory Processing Disorder – STAR Institute, www.spdstar.org/basic/understanding-sensory-processing-disorder.
Miller, Lucy Jane. “Understanding Sensory Processing Disorder.” Sensory Processing Disorder – STAR Institute, www.spdstar.org/basic/understanding-sensory-processing-disorder.