Pediatric Occupational Therapy

Our occupational therapists can treat a variety of bowel and bladder disorders, including:

• Urinary incontinence (as it relates to constipation)
• Bowel incontinence
• Bedwetting (as it relates to constipation)
• Constipation

The unique role of occupational therapy treatment of bowel and bladder disorders comes from a sensory integrative perspective – awareness of the urge to use the bathroom, control to get to the bathroom, praxis impacting how to use the muscles to have a bowel movement, and core strengthening..

For more information, you can download one of the following flyers:

• Sioux Falls Bowel & Bladder Therapy Flyer

• Rapid City Bowel & Bladder Therapy Flyer

Our skilled occupational therapists strengthen and refine motor skills and use adaptations and modifications to enhance your child’s ability to participate in daily activities, which may include self-dressing, self-feeding, or writing, and so much more.

In conjunction with durable medical equipment companies, our therapists evaluate the need for specialized equipment (adaptive mobility equipment, adaptive utensils and dinnerware, bathing equipment, dressing equipment, etc) to help your child complete daily tasks independently.

For more information, you can download one of the following flyers:

• Assistive Technology Flyer
• Sioux Falls Seating & Positioning Flyer
• Rapid City Seating & Positioning Flyer

We provide specialized care for children with neuromuscular disorders and other related conditions to improve their activities of daily living. We use a variety of therapy interventions to improve their functional skills, gain new skills, and/or relearn new skills that they were previously able to do.

At LifeScape, we have a warm water therapy pool available to patients to work on strengthening, stretching, and other functional goal areas. The buoyancy of the water unweights a child and is ideal for exercising very weak muscles and addressing skills that are difficult for a child to perform on land.

Our upper extremity treatment is focused on maximizing the functional use of a child’s affected hand or arm. We use a variety of approaches, including stretching, strengthening, and improving control through age-appropriate play tasks. Additional approaches, including constraint induced movement therapy (CIMT), splinting or electrical stimulation (E-Stim) may be utilized to meet functional upper extremity goals depending on each child’s individual treatment plan. LifeScape was the first in the area to offer the specialized, evidence-based approach of CIMT to treat hemiplegia.

Following an orthopedic surgery, inpatient rehabilitation stay for neurological and/or orthopedic concerns, or after an accident, illness, or injury, our occupational therapists are ready to help patients work towards meeting their goals and returning to their prior level of function. We have a variety of equipment available and the knowledge to help patients advance their skills and transition to less restrictive equipment with a goal of returning to family, peer, and community activities.

From mild to complex, LifeScape’s interdisciplinary team of therapists assists families in overcoming feeding challenges. Our clinicians have advanced training in feeding therapy and use a variety of methods and approaches including but not limited to Sequential Oral Sensory (SOS)®, Beckman Oral Motor, TalkTools®, and Vital Stim® neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES). LifeScape has helped countless children expand their accepted foods, move away from enteral (tube) feedings, increase oral intake, and improve mealtime behaviors.

LifeScape offers support for safe and fulfilling lives through therapeutic interventions for children with autism. We have the expertise to help improve communication, behavioral, social, sensory, and learning skills to live as independently as possible.

We provide free autism screenings for children four and under at LifeScape. Our occupational therapists are part of both our autism screening and evaluation teams. We are experienced in working with children of all ages with autism and have therapists who have completed advanced training in the Early Start Denver Model for young children with autism.

Our team of occupational therapists has specialized training in the treatment of sensory processing disorders. We utilize the most recent research and use evidence-based practices throughout treatment in our extensive sensory treatment space with a variety of therapeutic equipment to fit individual needs.

LifeScape is regarded as the local leader for evaluation, treatment, and consultation for sensory processing disorders. Our occupational therapists also work hand in hand with other related disciplines as needed, including psychology, physical therapy, speech-language pathology, behavior therapy, and adaptive aquatics, among others.

Binocular vision, eye coordination, or visual perceptual issues can affect more than reading and writing. It can affect balance, self-care independence, and general gross/visual motor skills, plus self-esteem and peer relationships.

Occupational therapy addresses visual-motor difficulties as well as underlying factors including sensory integration, primitive reflexes, motor planning, and fine motor skills.

This service is covered by most third-party payers, including Medicaid. We also offer free screenings for visual-motor concerns at our Sioux Falls outpatient locations.

Our intensive therapy program is designed to provide occupational therapy services at an increased frequency over a shorter duration of time than traditional occupational therapy, applying the principles of neuroplasticity to improve a child’s functional mobility. On average, patients are seen 3-5 times per week over a 3 to 6-week duration. The time and duration of each patient’s intensive program depends on that individual patient’s needs, endurance, tolerance, and age.

Our therapists work with patients and caregivers to identify specific goals that are meaningful to the patient and family, and these goals are addressed over the course of therapy. Additional occupational therapy at a decreased frequency may be recommended at the end of an intensive to continue to address a patient’s ongoing goals. During a child’s course of intensive therapy treatment, the child may receive occupational therapy, physical therapy, or a combination of both.

A typical intensive occupational therapy session may include:

• Stretching and strengthening exercises
• Balance and coordination activities
• Transfer training
• Functional activities

Intensive programs:

• Constraint Induced Movement Therapy (CIMT)
  • CIMT is the use of casting or other limitation of the use of an individual’s unaffected/less affected upper extremity to promote use, strength, and control of their affected/more affected upper extremity. CIMT at LifeScape is typically completed with two weeks of casting for 4+ days of therapy each week to focus on improving functional use of the affected arm. An additional week of therapy for 4+ days is then completed without the cast to allow the therapist to address bilateral hand use.
  • For more information, you can download the CIMT Flyer.

• Serial Casting
• Universal Exercise Unit, or “spider cage”, which provides the following benefits:
  • Allows isolation of one specific muscle group at a time
  • Allows tasks to be broken down into isolated movements
  • Effective way to strengthen weak muscles
  • Provides the support a child needs to participate in functional activities while the therapist facilitates correct posture and positioning during these activities
  • For more information, you can download the Seating and Wheeled Mobility Flyer.

• For information on our feeding and swallowing program, you can download the Feeding Flyer.