The SMILE Center strives to provide the highest quality of pediatric occupational, physical and speech therapy services with a strong emphasis on sensory integration (SI), neuro-developmental treatment (NDT), and DIR®/Floortime. With solid foundations in these treatment models, The SMILE Center’s therapists treat the whole child by addressing the systemic sensory and postural needs, as well as supporting social-emotional, communicative and affective development. The goal of The SMILE Center is to facilitate optimal functional outcomes and autonomy in all of the children that they serve. They see each child for their unique set of strengths and challenges and provide them with the opportunities to develop the skills necessary to achieve their potential as individuals and members of a family and a community. The staff of the SMILE Center takes great pride in their dedication to ongoing training and education in order to maintain solid fundamental pediatric treatment skills and expertise in the latest techniques and specialty therapies.
Their interdisciplinary approach utilizes a fundamental framework of treatment that bridges occupational therapy, physical therapy and speech-language pathology. Each of their therapists received the training to address both the sensory and motor components in order to more rapidly achieve the functional goals specific to their discipline. Sensory issues and motor impairments are so frequently intertwined with the children they see, that no single approach is sufficient. SI, NDT, and the specialties within the two models, paired with Floortime-based interactions, provide the means for sensory motor integration and speech/language development.
At the SMILE Center, they also believe that it is their responsibility to empower and facilitate the involvement of family members and caregivers. For this reason, they strongly believe in family training for optimal carryover into the child’s natural environment. They provide home programming and home modification consultations in order to create sensory-friendly and enriching learning environments. Their trained Floortime team provide individual sessions as well as various Floortime-based groups including social and sibling groups. Their social groups facilitate improved social-emotional, communication and play skills in order to support richer and more sustained peer interactions with appropriately grouped children. The SMILE Center’s unique sibling groups help brothers and sisters develop more playful, engaging, and rewarding relationships with their siblings on the spectrum through DIR®/Floortime supported sessions. This helps to empower the brothers and sisters as they become active Floortimers at home and get trained to assist in carrying out sensory diet activities when possible.
The SMILE Center staff work closely with nationally renowned clinicians of all disciplines, with specific expertise in the areas of SI, NDT, and DIR® /Floortime. The SMILE Center consistently hosts leading clinicians for conferences, as well as specific trainings, intensive treatment sessions and ongoing consultations. This further supports their mission to provide the highest quality of care, as their staff continually receives training and mentorship from leading instructors of each discipline. These relationships also provide unique opportunities for the families and children of The SMILE Center to participate in conferences and enroll in treatment intensives and trainings. Their strong commitment to continuing education also strengthens the quality of care being provided to children with special needs elsewhere in the community, and helps to strengthen the networking of clinicians in their area.
Please click here for more information.