Developmental Therapy Center

Practicing for a rodeo? Maybe! But we’re also practicing our fine motor skills, motor planning, balance and visual motor skills! The hot dog or horse swing is so much fun but it’s also challenging as it’s cylindrical shape requires a lot of muscle activation and coordination! #dtckids #pediatrictherapy #occupationaltherapy #occuplaytionaltherapy #OT #pediatricOT #sandiego #carlsbad #coordination #sensoryplay #visualmotor #balance #motorplanning #finemotor #bilateralcoordination

Speech fun with Ms. Ariana and our trusty piggy bank! Today’s session was all about imitation of play noises, expected and unexpected play actions, appropriate protests, turn taking and trialing simple signs. Thankfully our piggy bank is a great way to target all of these, here’s a few ways how: Making pig noises or making your own coin noise as it drops in the piggy bank. Rolling the coins away, putting them down a ramp, feeding the coins to something to facilitate expe...cted vs unexpected play actions. Giving an item that doesn’t fit in the coin slot and modeling no, not that one. Taking turns putting the coins in. Modeling the sign for open before opening the piggy bank and modeling the sign for more before retrieving more coins. #speechlanguageplaythology #speechlanguagepathology #SLP #dtckids #playallday #carlsbad #sandiego #pediatrics #pediatrictherapy #pediatricSLP See more

Take it Home Tuesday! As the pandemic continues sensory bins have decreased but that doesn’t mean we can make things to target tactile sensory play. Here’s one to try at home: MOONSAND Swipe to see and follow the steps When you’re done add in some favorite toys and have fun with this awesome new texture! ... #occupationaltherapy #occuplaytionaltherapy #OT #playallday #dtckids #tactile #tactileplay #textures #sensoryplay #makeyourown #sandiego #carlsbad #pediatrictherapy #pediatrics See more

Happy Thursday! We wanted to share this fun activity... tiny finger bowling! It’s great to facilitate a tip pinch or tripod pinch to pick up the small bowling pins and place them in order. Then we use the small bowling ball to work on fine motor skills, increasing those inner finger muscles and also work on grading our force in order to knock those little pins down. Add in doing this activity on our stomach and now we’re targeting core strengthening too! #dtckids #playallday #occupationaltherapy #occuplaytionaltherapy #pediatricOT #carlsbad #finemotor #gradationofforce #corestrengthening #tinybowling #fingerbowling #sandiego #pediatrics

We hope everyone had a HAPPY HALLOWEEN! We loved having our spirit week and we were so excited to see our families dressed up in their costumes, PJs, mismatched outfits and crazy hair! Thank you to all who participated, swipe to see a couple highlights #dtckids #dtckids spirit week #playallday #OT #SLP #PT #pediatrictherapy #happyhalloween

Superhero (or supervillain) Friday! #dtckids #playallday #OT #PT #SLP #pediatrictherapy #sandiego #carlsbad #DTCSpiritWeek #dtcspiritweek2020 #superheroday #supervillainday

Spirit week has begun! Monday began with PAJAMA DAY #halloweenweek #dtcspiritweek #dtckids #playallday #pajamaday #slippers #OT #SLP #pediatrictherapy #sandiego #carlsbad

Thursday’s Crazy Hair Day in San Diego and Carlsbad! #pediatrictherapy #dtckids #sandiego #carlsbad #crazyhairday #OT #PT #SLP #playallday #spiritweek #dtckidsspiritweek

Happy Monday! Somethings been brewing for the last few months... our San Diego office has officially opened our NEW LOBBY SPACE! Perfect timing for our Halloween festivities and decor Our new lobby space has a parent coffee/ tea station (currently closed due to COVID precautions) and a new designated Kids Corner We’re excited to share our new space with all our families! Please note all treatment rooms and gym space has remained the same. #sandiego #dtckids #playallday #speechlanguagepathology #occupationaltherapy #physicaltherapy #pediatrictherapy #pediatrics #kidscorner #newlobby

Wacky Wednesday at its finest in our San Diego office! #DTCSpiritWeek #sandiego #carlsbad #occupationaltherapy #occuplaytionaltherapy #speechlanguagepathology #speechlanguageplaythology #physicaltherapy #OT #SLP #PT #dtckids #playallday #wackwednesday

Check out our friends over at The Whole Child Learning Company San Diego. They’ve got some fun, educational and STEM based classes that are great for after school activities, like this sewing class! Go check them out to see what other classes they offer

Tuesday is Halloween Day! We’re so excited to see everyone dressed up today... your DTC team is full of emotions #emojis #fullofemotions #dtckids #OT #SLP #PT #pediatrictherapy #playallday #halloween2020 #sandiego #carlsbad

Can anyone guess who this is... It’s MATMAN! Matman is part of the handwriting without tears curriculum. Our OTs use this program quite a bit to teach and work on letter formation and target handwriting with a sensorimotor approach. ... Swipe to see it in action! #handwritingwithouttears #HWT #matman #OTs #occupationaltherapist #occuplaytionaltherapist #playallday #sensorimotorplay #dtckids #sandiego #carlsbad

Buttoning can be a lot of fun! Our OT created this awesome ice cream buttoning activity... there’s different flavors that you can put on and take off. When your child can see both sides of the button it makes it a little easier to practice. Here our friend is buttoning together a delicious ice cream cone for our bugs! #occupationaltherapy #occuplaytionaltherapy #OT #playallday #dtckids #sandiego #carlsbad #buttoning #icecream #pediatrics #pediatricOT

Happy Wednesday! We’re half way through the week and wanted to introduce our speech student, Ms. Mallory! She’ll be completing her internship with DTC until December and we are so excited to have her with us! #speechlanguageplaythology #speechlanguagepathology #SLPinthemaking #speechstudent #DTCkids #SLP #sandiego #playallday #speechtherapy #pediatrics #speechies

Keep and eye out and you might catch your therapist in one of our new DTC masks! #dtckids #dtcmasks #dtcswag #pediatrictherapy #sandiego #carlsbad #masksarecool #playallday

PARENTS: Ever wonder how to make your meal work for everyone in the family? Here’s a great example of how you can create mealtime for everyone using the same ingredients, portion control, extra cook times, appropriate sizing and more. Check out @playfully_occupied for more information and tips and tricks specifically for feeding! #dtckids #feeding #occupationaltherapy #occuplaytionaltherapy #pediatric #pediatricOT #sandiego #carlsbad #pediatricfeeding #pickyeaters

Today’s topic is on WATER PLAY! Here our friend practicing supination and pronation, the scientific terms for the movement of the wrist when scooping and pouring. If a child is unable to scoop with a spoon it could be because manipulating their wrist is hard for them (transitioning between supination and pronation). A great way to target this? Water play! Add in various items such as cups, bowls , spoons, measuring utensils and of course try it with your hands! Each container can help your child gain that movement and increase their scooping skills! #waterplay #scooping #supination #pronation #occupationaltherapy #occuplaytionaltherapy #OT #pediatricOT #pediatricoccupationaltherapy #dtckids #sandiego #carlsbad

Our August newsletter featured a little tid bit on self- care... and this ones for you PARENTS! Special thanks to @blessingmanifesting for these great visuals... Here’s a list of different types of self- care and a little challenge for you to try at home. During these unprecedented times it’s important that YOU (our parents) feel supported and loved. Make sure you’re leaving room for SELF-CARE because remember you can’t help your family if you’re running on a low battery, so charge up! #selfcare #dtckids #supportingparents #recharge #pediatrics #pediatricspeechtherapy #pediatricoccupationaltherapy #sandiego #carlsbad #parents

Superflex, the thinkables and the UNTHINKABLES! Learning emotional regulation and social strategies is more fun with these characters... Swipe to see and guess which unthinkable we were talking about today. The Brain Eater!! Making our own brain was a fun fine motor craft while we talked about the brain eater and what he does. @socialthinking has great books and resources on how to use these characters with your children, check them out to learn more! #occupationaltherapy #occuplaytionaltherapy #speechlanguagepathology #speechlanguageplaythology #OT #SLP #SLPA #socialthinking #theunthinkables #superflex #thethinkables #braineater #thebrain #pediatrics #sandiego #carlsbad #dtckids #dtcsummerseries

No better way to end the day then with a little foot painting... we’re working on lots of skills with this activity: Tactile tolerance to the feet Motor planning including initiating the task, sequencing each step and terminating the task Direction following and being able to stay within the tarp boundary Washing off our feet at the end of activity ... Balance (especially when 1 foot is painted and the other is not) Not to mention this is a fun activity that you can do at home! #dtckids #dtcsummerseries #occuplaytionaltherapy #occupationaltherapy #OT #sandiego #carlsbad #playallday #tactileplay #footpainting #motorplanning #sequencing #washing #directionfollowing #balance

Sometimes finding your voice means using an AAC device... it’s AMAZING what our clients learn to do once they have the tools. This morning Ms. Ariana was helping this client engage in sing song play using a sing along book and he was all about it! #oldmcdonaldhadafarm #speechlanguagepathology #speechlanguageplaythology#AAC #AACdevice #findyourvoice #singalong #dtckids #playallday #SLP #pediatricspeech #pediatric #sandiego #carlsbad

Wishing a very special Happy Birthday to our Director and Occupational Therapist, Stacey! Your drive and dedication inspire us all, but most importantly your passion for our clients and their families is unparalleled. We are fortunate to have a great leader, wonderful mentor, and just the most incredible thoughtful person. May all your dreams come true today and everyday. The DTC Team #occupationaltherapy #speechtherapy #speechlanguagepathology #occuplaytionaltherapy #speechlanguageplaythology #SLP #OT #dtckids #playallday #bubbles #sandiego #carlsbad