SPOTS - Suggs Pediatric Outpatient Therapy Services

05/07/2023

Hi everyone, we are looking to add to our team!

We are now hiring a Pediatric Occupational therapist with a Texas license for a position in a pediatric sensory integration based private practice. Responsibilities include evaluation, treatment, documentation, parent communication, schedule management as well as other duties requested as needed. SPOTS has been the premier provider of pediatric Occupational and Physical therapy for over 20 years in the Dallas market. SPOTS has a team of talented and passionate therapists who collaborate with each other to provide the absolute best treatment for our patients.

Job Type: Salaried full time position
Job Type: Full-time

Benefits:
-401(k)
-Continuing education credits
-Dental insurance
-Health insurance
-Paid time off
-Vision insurance

Medical specialties:
-Pediatrics

Role characteristics:
-Children

Schedule:
-Monday to Friday

Work setting:
-Private practice

If you or anyone you know would like to join our team, please email your resume to [email protected]

11/25/2022

In the spirit of thanksgiving, today we are thankful for the occupational therapy profession. Here is a graphic to show the "anatomy" of an OT. Comment below what you are thankful for, or an OT you know that has impacted your life :)

Credit to the for this awesome graphic to represent some of the things an OT does.

11/25/2022

FEELING THANKFUL! Happy Thanksgiving from the SPOTS Team. We are so incredibly grateful for our kids, their families, our staff, partner schools, and the profession that allows us to do what we do! Wishing safe travels to everyone traveling for the holidays! 🤎🧡💛

11/03/2022

The SPOTS team had so much fun dressing up this week. Our new climbing net has not only been a new motor challenge for our kiddos, but also inspired some of our OT's "Under the Sea" themed costumes. We hope everyone had a happy Halloween and are so excited to continue celebrating the upcoming holidays.

Feel free to comment a photo of your Halloween costume below. We love celebrating the creativity and interests of our kids! Til next year, Halloween! Now let's bring on the turkeys!

11/01/2021

We loved dressing up with each of you last week! We hope you all enjoyed a safe and fun Halloween weekend, and are excited to see your bright faces again this week 🎃

05/10/2021

𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐦-𝐔𝐩’𝐬

Incorporating warm-up activities before handwriting assignments can help ease tension in a child’s hands assisting them with handwriting quality and preventing fatigue. This can also be done with small children as a pre-writing/coloring warm up to increase awareness of hands and fingers!

Here are a few handwriting warm-up ideas:

✏️Have the child rub his hands together quickly or rub them in circles on a carpet
✏️Have the child stand next to their desk, hands placed palm down on desk. While keeping arms straight, have them support their weight fully on their hands for 10 seconds rocking back and forth, then rest and repeat
✏️Have the child grip their pencil with their thumb, index, and middle finger and walk their fingers up and down the pencil
✏️Have the child lean to spell a word in sign language
✏️Have the child roll a small ball of modeling clay or putty between their thumb and index fingers
✏️Have the child rotate a penny held between the thumb and index finger, clockwise and counterclockwise

04/07/2021

🖍Mini crayons
🖍Crayon rocks
🖍Peanut crayons
🖍Finger crayons

These are some of our OT’s favorite ways to promote grasp development with our kiddos!

Does you child have difficulty holding a pencil? Do they grip it tightly in their hand instead of holding it with their fingertips?

Try one of these types of crayons that are required to be held in the fingertips to develop and strengthen those muscles in the hand responsible for manipulating a writing utensil. (All of these can be found on Amazon ☺️)

03/31/2021

Simple and fun Easter Egg activity 🌸 🐣!

We are having our kiddos try to match the egg patterns. A fun activity to work on both:

1) Fine motor skills to put the eggs together

2) Visual perceptual skills to match each egg color and order

After your Easter egg hunt 🐰 this year, save a few eggs and challenge your kiddos to this task!

03/10/2021

❤️🧡💛 A fine motor filled St. Patrick’s Day craft you can do at home! 💚💙💜

We love these mini hole punchers for working on fine motor and grasp strengthening! To work on a more refined grasp, have your child put their thumb on top and 2 fingers on bottom to squeeze the hole punch (instead of using all fingers to help).

Hole punching also required two hands to work together — one to hold the paper steady and one to manipulate the hole punch — this is called bilateral coordination which is an essential skill!

Try this one at home and let us know how it went!

03/04/2021

UPDATE!

02/24/2021

Back to our regularly scheduled 𝑭𝑼𝑵 this week in the clinic!!

We hope everyone stayed safe and warm during the winter storms ❄️ and our hearts go out to all those affected!

Forming letters or numbers with play dough is a great, multi sensory way to learn recognition and formation! Is your child having difficulty learning their letters or numbers? Try having them build the letter/numbers themselves using a fun material (play dough, clay, pip cleaners, blocks, etc)!

02/10/2021

17 Valentine's Day Crafts for Kids - Lolly Jane

So many cute Valentine’s Day crafts for your little ones that also work on fine motor skills 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻

https://lollyjane.com/valentines-day-crafts-for-kids/

We love all the themed crafts at SPOTS! What’s better than improving fine motor skills while having fun?!? 💗❤️💗❤️

17 ridiculouslyl cute Valentine's Day crafts for kids. Lots of easy to make Valentine's Day kids crafts! Love all these simple kids craft ideas.

02/03/2021

𝑾𝒆𝒍𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎!!

We are so excited to welcome Ms. Shelbi to the SPOTS team👏🏻👏🏻!! Shelbi is our newest physical therapist! She has her doctorate in Physical Therapy from Texas Tech University. She loves working with kids, spending time outdoors, and her puppy Milo 🐶 .

We love growing our team so that we can continue to serve more families in DFW!

01/13/2021

- 𝑸•𝒃𝒊𝒕𝒛 -

A much beloved game at SPOTS that we wanted to share with you!

A great game for kiddos who struggle with visual perceptual skills! This game combines multiple components of visual perceptual skills such as visual discrimination, visual closure, form constancy, and spatial relations for a visual challenge. It contains simple to complex designs which is great for a variety of ages! Try it at home 🏡!

12/16/2020

Need some ideas on how to keep your little ones busy over ❄️ 𝒲𝒾𝓃𝓉ℯ𝓇 ℬ𝓇ℯ𝒶𝓀 ❄️ ?!?

We’ve got you! Check out these cute, sensory friendly craft ideas from Easy Peasy and Fun!!

Cotton ball crafts, ripped paper crafts, finger painting, q-tip painting, and cookie cutter painting! These ideas are simple enough to do with a toddler and can be modified to do with older kids as well! Check it out 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻

https://www.easypeasyandfun.com/winter-crafts-for-toddlers/

12/02/2020

Let’s talk 🅡🅔🅢🅞🅤🅡🅒🅔🅢!

“Ready Body Learning Minds” is an all-time favorite resource at SPOTS.

For parents, teachers, or therapists, it simply lays out how children learn and what components might be missing from a child who is having a challenging time learning at the same rate as his peers. It goes over our foundational systems:

•Reflexive patterns
•Tactile system
•Vestibular system
•Proprioceptive system
•Visual system
•Auditory system

And gives 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 activities to address each area in the “Activity Guide”. An AMAZING resources for understanding your child’s development and practical exercises to address foundational skills!

11/20/2020

S•T•A•F•F SPOTLIGHT

“Mrs. Savannah, what is your favorite thing about being an OT?”

“𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆, 𝒔𝒐 𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔!”

11/18/2020

All sorts of Thanksgiving crafts happening at SPOTS 🦃🍁. How fun is this foldable, Thanksgiving Joke Teller!

Making this with your child can help them work on skills like following directions, precision folding, bilateral coordination (using 2 hands at once), and manual dexterity (moving fingers in a coordinated fashion).

Here is the website where you can print one yourself:

https://brendid.com/thanksgiving-joke-teller/

And follow the photos below for how to fold! 𝑻𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒖𝒔 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒆𝒏𝒕!

11/04/2020

Parents— never underestimate the power of Google to find free, online, skill building worksheets and activities for your kids ✏️ ! Have a quick couple minutes at home while you’re cleaning or cooking? Or while waiting at a restaurant for your food? Here are a few of the websites our therapists love to grab Fall activities from to keep your kiddos busy with skill-building material:

All Kids Network- https://www.allkidsnetwork.com/worksheets/fall/

Education.com https://www.education.com/worksheets/autumn-fun/

Busy Bee Kids Crafts http://www.busybeekidscrafts.com/Fall-Activities-for-Kids.html

Happy Fall y’all!! 🍂🍃🍂🍃

10/27/2020

Happy world OT day 🌎✨

Occupational therapy helps people across the lifespan engage in the things they want or need to do through the therapeutic use of daily activities! We are so thankful for the ways we get to serve each of you through this profession!

What’s your favorite thing about OT?

10/21/2020

We hope you'll join us as we get in the halloween spirit next week! We invite everyone to share in the fun by wearing their costumes to SPOTS throughout the week!

10/14/2020

ᔕᑭOOKY crafts happening at SPOTS this month 🎃 👻 !

Feel free to try this spooky house at home. Skills required:
🟣Drawing shapes (visual motor integration)
🟣Precision cutting (fine motor precision)
🟣Coloring (fine motor precision)
🟣Creativity (executive functioning and expressive language)
🟣Tearing (grasping skills and hand strength)
🟣 Visual perception to arrange shapes
🟣 Many more!

10/07/2020

𝑯𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒐 ⓈⓅⓄⓉⓈ 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒚!

We are OPEN and are doing so many things here at SPOTS to help keep you and your kiddos safe!

Here a few of the changes we have made:

🔵 We have closed our waiting rooms and are picking kiddos up from the car.
🔴 We are taking your child’s temperature and asking screening questions before entering the clinic.
🟡 We are limiting the number of children per space. Only one child and therapist per small fine motor room and 2-3 children in our large gym.
🟢 We are cleaning all equipment, toys, and surfaces between each child.
🟣 Therapists and staff are always wearing masks. Masks for children are optional depending on age, tolerance, medical conditions, and sensory concerns.

We look forward to seeing you!

If you would like to make an appointment, just give the clinic a call at 972-404-1718!

07/22/2020

We can’t wait to share our S M I L E S with you all once again, thanks to the support of Kat Schwaberow!! ☺️

07/20/2020

Here's another fun summer activity to help beat the heat!

I C E P A I N T I N G

Materials required:
- A large piece of ice, frozen in your choice of plastic container
- Watercolors
- A plastic tray to catch the puddles

https://teaching2and3yearolds.com/ice-painting-for-kids/

06/22/2020

We have been having 'sprinkles' of F U N with this activity!!

Did you know hole punching can provide so many benefits?

+ Bilateral Coordination (using both hands together for a task)
+ Hand Strengthening
+ Helps develop the arches of the hand for proper grasp pattern

06/15/2020

How to Do Aquatic Therapy in Your Own Pool! - Mama OT

Want to know one of our top recommendations when parents ask us what kinds of activities their kids should be doing during the summer?

S W I M M I N G

Swimming helps to encourage:
+ Sensory Integration
+ Motor Planning
+ Spatial Awareness
+ Bilateral Coordination
+ Improved Core
+ Overall strengthening
and so much more!!

Mama OT has some great recommendations for activities to play in the water. Check it out!
http://mamaot.com/how-to-do-aquatic-therapy-in-your-own-pool/

+

An occupational therapist shares fun ideas for how to play with your child and do aquatic therapy with them in your own pool.

06/08/2020

Up next on our S U M M E R sensory activities: Kinetic Sand!!

Did you know you can make your own Kinetic Sand with a few simple ingredients?

Supplies:
1 Cup dried milk powder
Up to 3/4 Cup oil
Sensory play tools
Small sand tools

*Idea provided by https://alittlepinchofperfect.com/sensory-play-taste-safe-kinetic-sand

06/01/2020

☀️ H A P P Y S U M M E R ☀️

We are kicking off our summer series today with our first summer sensory activity, frozen legos!! Check out the link to this super simple way to add hours of fun while building those free play and fine motor skills!

https://happytoddlerplaytime.com/frozen-lego/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=pinterest&utm_campaign=tailwind_smartloop&utm_content=smartloop&utm_term=18248546

05/25/2020

🇺🇸Happy Memorial Day! 🇺🇸

Thankful for a time to honor and remember!

We hope you are all having a wonderful day off! ⭐️

05/21/2020

What’s the best way to help little hands eventually develop a proper pencil grasp?

➡️ Let them PLAY ⬅️

“Play is our brain’s favorite way of learning.” -Diane Ackerman

+ Climbing
+ Swinging
+ Hanging on playground equipment
+ Crawling through tunnels or under objects
+ Painting
+ Working on an easel
+ Playing with Play Doh

All of these activities and more help develop the skills and muscles those little hands need!

05/14/2020

Need some gross motor ideas to keep your kids active while at home? We love the idea of incorporating letters to promote letter identification or writing at the same time! These alphabet exercises have been a hit recently!

Need some gross motor ideas for the kids? Want to work on spelling words or letter writing? Use these alphabet exercises to get the kids active and moving with a letter theme!
https://www.theottoolbox.com/alphabet-exercises-for-kids/

05/06/2020

Pediatric Outpatient Therapy Services | SPOTS | Home | Dallas TX

We are back in the clinic! We have put very specific precautions in place in order to minimize interactions, sanitize surfaces and keep our patients and staff safe! We will continue to offer Telehealth services for the foreseeable future for those who do not wish to return to the clinic at this time!

If you would like to resume in-person treatment, please call our office at 972-404-1718. We look forward to seeing some of your faces in the coming weeks!

Please visit our website regarding further details and precautions!

https://spotstx.com

04/30/2020

Happy OT Month!! 🥳

We are so thankful for each of our wonderful OT's and the way that they serve our kiddos every day!

🌟To celebrate the last day of OT month, hear what some of our OT's love about their jobs!🌟

04/27/2020

We Wear Masks - A Social Story about the coronavirus

Has your child had questions about why they have to wear a mask or why others may be wearing a mask? Socials stories, such as this one, may be helpful in answering their questions! 💙😷

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnP-uMn6q_U

Download a FREE PDF version of this book here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/We-Wear-Masks-Coronavirus-Social-Story-about-Wearing-a-Mask-542598...

04/22/2020

Telehealth occupational therapy makes a big difference for one local family

🌟Check out this shout out for occupational therapy in the news this week🌟

What a way to spend OT Month!! 💙

https://www.news8000.com/telehealth-occupational-therapy-makes-a-big-difference-for-one-local-family/

Health professionals have faced a lot of challenges to continue serving patients, but they're not giving up on their efforts.

04/22/2020

We miss seeing each of your faces in person, but have loved the progress we continue to make and skills we have gained through Telehealth services! 💙

If you are interested in resuming services via Telehealth during this time, please reach out to your therapist or our office staff at 972-404-1718!

04/17/2020

Happy Friday! Up next on our Calm Body Strategies and Activities we have:

Blowing Bubbles
+ Blowing bubbles helps you stop and focus on your breathing patterns.

Drinking Through a Straw:
+ provides sensory input, called proprioception, which can be calming and organizing for a child.

04/16/2020

Have a child who's getting restless at home? We will be sharing some calming body strategies and activities to try out at home!

First up are slow rhythmic movements:
+ This input stimulates the vestibular system, our sense of motion.
+ It helps the body focus by stimulating the cerebral cortex in the brain
+ This movement also promotes improved body awareness, balance and muscle control.

Tell us how you are getting your vestibular input today!