SEARK Children’s Clinic opened in June, and provides pediatric services to area children. Of these services, one is fairly new to our area. Pediatric Occupational Therapy is now available in southeast Arkansas.
The purpose of Occupational Therapy is to work with children and trying to determine where any delays or limitations are coming from, especially in the areas of fine motor skills, cognitive skills, social development, and establishing self care routines.
Therapists strive to make these sessions feel like play, because children don’t like to just sit in therapy. Children are encouraged to play board games, do crafts, and build obstacle courses. They are developing skills while having fun.
At SEARK these services are provided by Bentley Hopper. Bentley is a Monticello native. She graduated from Monticello High School 2013, and then continued her education at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, where she received her Bachelor’s Degree and Doctorate in Occupational Therapy (OT).
“I always knew that I wanted to do something in healthcare. I like working with people and for people,” Hopper said. “I was led toward healthcare just by my personality. After observing all three areas of therapy, I fell in love with OT because there is so much variety in the field. It is awesome that we have so much variety, but it also makes it hard for people to understand the profession.”
There are a lot of misconceptions that OT only deals with fine motor skills, but in reality, OT deals with anything that prevents the child from completing their “occupations”.
Hopper said that a lot of the therapy she does is play based, like board games. She said this would be helpful for a child who has visual difficulties, because they are required to scan the board to determine where to move next, and they have to continually jump from one field of vision to the next as they survey the board, and read the rules.
“I hand select everything to make sure it fits into the child’s goals in a fun and motivating way,” Hopper added.
Hopper said that her services are for children from birth up to the age of 21. Hopper also said that she provides a lot of services to children who fall on the Autism Spectrum because there is a great need for that in this area.
One of Hopper’s best tools, and considered by some to be the star of the show, is her therapy dog, Honey. Hopper said that a lot of people come in to see Dr. Atkins and will ask to see Honey before they see him. Honey is a good source of comfort, and we use her as a calming presence for a lot of the children. Not only is she there for comfort, but she is also there to assist the children in performing some of their therapy activities, like playing hide and seek to teach the children what “over”, “under”, etc. mean. Honey is also very helpful in working on desensitization strategies for the kids who deal with pain issues.
Hopper said that the process of getting a child into OT has to be done through a physician’s referral. If a parent, teacher, doctor, or anyone else see any potential issues they can consult their physician for a referral. This referral will lead to an OT evaluation which generally take about an hour. The chief complaints will be addressed in the evaluation, and Hopper will try to breakdown what is truly going on. There will be some tests performed to get a clearer picture of the issues, and once the scores come in it will be determined if the child qualifies for OT. If the child’s score indicate a need, they can be seen for one to two hours per week until their goals are met. For those whose delays are less severe, Hopper can tailor an intensive home program for the parents to work with the kids.
Should your child need these services, one thing is certain, you will be greeted with a smile, and Honey will be glad to see you.
