Frequently Asked Questions

We are the UK’s leading paediatric occupational therapist practice and we assess, treat and provide families, schools and carers with the specialist skills they need to ensure children and young people live quality, independent, inclusive and fulfilling lives.

We also advocate for our clients – working with local authorities, solicitors and case managers to ensure life shaping, life changing occupational therapy becomes an integral part of Personal, Education, Health and Care Plans.

Occupational therapy helps you live your best life at home, at work – and everywhere else. It’s about being able to do the things you want and have to do. That could mean helping you overcome challenges learning at school, going to work, playing sport or simply doing the dishes. Everything is focused on increasing independence and wellbeing. It’s also a science-based, health and social care profession that’s regulated by the Health and Care Professions Council.

An occupational therapist helps people of all ages overcome challenges completing everyday tasks or activities – what we call ‘occupations’. At Children’s Therapy Solutions we specialise in children and young people. We see beyond diagnoses and limitations to hopes and aspirations. We create a plan of goals and adjustments targeted at achieving a specific set of activities. The plan is practical, realistic and personal to you our clients, helping all our children and young people achieve the breakthroughs they need to elevate every area of their lives.

Occupational Therapy is usually activity-based through play, group or individual sessions which are integrated into the child’s environment at home, at school and in a clinic setting.

We offer a comprehensive range of services, taking into account a child’s circumstances, personality, aspirations as well as complying with clinical requirements. You can trust our expertise to make a difference.

Service delivery

Parents and carers:

We can help your child improve their quality of life and develop their independence in the following ways:

• By adapting the home and/or school environments to allow access to amenities more effectively and independently
• By supporting preventative care and postural management to provide comfort and quality of life
• By teaching self-care – to get dressed, clean teeth, use a knife and fork
• With learning to play techniques - encouraging children and young people to use their imagination, turn taking, share toys and play as a team member
• By developing fine motor control and coordinating upper and lower limb movements to support functional everyday activities such as sitting, dressing, writing, bike riding and cooking.
• By supporting emotional wellbeing to develop trust and the ability to accept co-regulation within the family home and school environment.

Case managers and solicitors

We can help in the following ways:

• Consultancy - where a second opinion is required or to clinically support Occupational Therapist requirements.
• Clinical assessments at home, school and in clinic.
• Professional reports for families, GPs, tribunals and insurance companies.
• Therapeutic treatments, tailored programmes and specialist advice for children and young people.
• Regular reviews to re-evaluate needs including liaison with family members and other professionals involved in care and treatment.
• Expert witness for SEN tribunal and Medico-Legal hearings.
• Community support to develop independent life skills.

• Northwest - Manchester, Liverpool, Chester, Wirral, Merseyside, Sheffield, Preston
• North Wales - Wrexham, Flintshire, Llandudno, Conwy, Denbighshire
• West Midlands - Stoke on Trent, Birmingham, Coventry. Warwick. Telford. Worcester, Hereford, Shrewsbury, Stratford upon Avon, Rugby
• East Midlands - Derby, Nottingham, Grantham, Lincoln, Rutland, Leicester, Northampton
• East England - Peterborough, Cambridge, Bedford
• South West - Bristol, Bath, Gloucester, Cheltenham, Weston Super Mare, Wiltshire
• Home Counties - Buckinghamshire, Milton Keynes, Oxford

Yes, we are paediatric Occupational Therapists and support children and young people from birth to 25-years-old. By choosing to work exclusively with children and young people, we have become experts in this field and can channel all our energy into changing children’s and young people’s lives for the better.

No, we are an independent, private organisation and pride ourselves on this. We accept referrals either directly or through solicitors, case managers, schools, Local Education Authorities, Social Services, NHS Authorities, Housing Associations, insurance companies and other accredited agencies.

Simply get in touch. We will do everything we can to help and, if we aren’t what you need, we will support and signpost you to the organisations that are.

Our costs depend on the specific support that is required.

• For families we equally divide assessment and treatment package payments over a number of months
• For the education sector, we provide assessments and weekly, monthly and termly interventions usually on an annual or biannual agreed contract
• For Case Managers and Solicitors, we provide Initial Needs Assessments, specific interventions/ treatment and specialist reviews e.g. Motability, wheelchairs and housing adaptation support
• For Post-Settlement, we provide specialised packages

We are always open to discuss your requirements and happy to cater for individual needs.

This depends on your insurer. We recommend contacting your insurance provider to find out whether any occupational therapy costs are covered.

Yes, absolutely. Just get in touch. You don’t need a referral letter to see one of our Specialist Occupational Therapists. While many GPs and Case Managers choose us to help support children in their care, you can approach us directly, and we will be happy to arrange an appointment. If you’re in any doubt, call us for a chat.

Sensory processing influences the way your child concentrates, co-ordinates and joins in, at home, in school and out and about in the community.

For many children, sensory integration develops in the course of ordinary childhood development through exposure to differing experience. When it does not develop as efficiently as it should, the result is that a child may experience problems in learning, development and behaviour.

Sensory Integration Intervention/Sensory Processing is a theory pioneered in the 1960s by Dr A. Jean Ayres, an Occupational Therapist and educational psychologist.

Although Sensory Processing difficulties cannot be diagnosed as a dysfunction, our Sensory Integrative Therapists can provide support through treatment, sensory diets and programmes at home, in school and at our clinic. This will develop your child’s nervous system and maturation of the brain, reducing SI difficulties and improving purposeful performance in everyday living and learning.

We will assess your child’s sensory difficulties and find ways to support your child in receiving, processing and making sense of information from the world around them.

Your child will receive a tailored treatment programme incorporating the most appropriate techniques and tools to overcome those difficulties.

For any other questions, please call us on 01664 567917 or get in touch.

Your child’s skills will be reviewed in specific areas:

• Sensory processing skills – how your child understands and behaviourally responds to the outside world through their senses: touch, taste, hearing, seeing, feeling, balancing, knowing where they are
• Co-ordination skills – posture, upper movements, using their arms and legs together through functional activity
• Self-care and domestic skills – getting dressed, using a knife and fork, eating, grooming, cleaning, shopping
• Play skills – taking turns, sharing, recreational activities
• School skills – handwriting, perception and praxis skills

This helps us to tailor a programme that’s exactly right for your child and will make a positive difference to their life. We focus on emotional wellbeing to understand a child’s behavioural profile and how this affects their access to functional and learning performance.

Occupational Therapy is a way of helping children and young people reach their potential and achieve as much independence as possible in everyday activities at home, in school and in the community.

As specialist Occupational Therapists, we will assess your child, put a programme in place and set goals which are regularly reviewed.

Up to the age of 24, we can help children and young people overcome sensory physical and emotional difficulties and cope with new situations so that they can make the most of their abilities and surroundings.

We will ask you to complete and return a pre-assessment questionnaire to help us fully understand your concerns and your child’s difficulties. Following this, our face-to-face assessment session lasts approximately 1.5-2 hours.

We may also ask your permission to send a questionnaire to your child’s teacher or to observe your child at school to fully understand your child’s abilities and everyday performance.

We aim to complete our report within three weeks of assessment. If you are working to specific deadlines, we can accommodate these.

See My Child to find out what’s involved once we have had our initial free consultation over the phone.

Therapy sessions will differ for each child and can range from advice to programmes where we see your child every month or specific treatment which is usually in 10 week blocks. It depends on your child’s needs.

We can usually offer you an appointment very quickly – generally within 2 weeks.

We understand that sometimes circumstances change, and we are sympathetic to this.

For cancellations up to two working days before your appointment, there is no charge.

For cancellations one day before your appointment, 50% of the fee will be charged.

Cancellation or failure to attend on the day of appointment will result in the full fee being charged.

Sensory processing influences the way your child concentrates, co-ordinates and joins in, at home, in school and out and about in the community.

For many children, sensory integration develops in the course of ordinary childhood activities. When it does not develop as efficiently as it should, the result is that a child may experience problems in learning, development and behaviour.
We will assess these difficulties and find ways to support your child in receiving, processing and making sense of information from the world around them.

Your child will receive a tailored treatment programme incorporating the most appropriate techniques and tools to overcome those difficulties.

Learn more about Sensory Integration.

For any other questions, please call us on 01664 567917 or get in touch Contact.

No, you don’t need a referral letter to see one of our Specialist Occupational Therapists.

While many GPs and Case Managers choose us to help support children in their care, you can approach us directly, and we will be happy to arrange an appointment. If you’re in any doubt, call us for a chat.

Again, we will discuss this with you. You are very welcome to attend and we would prefer this. Some parents, however, find their child behaves differently when they are present and therefore choose not to sit in on the assessment. However, for treatment we do believe parental involvement is key to a child, helping to support their exploration and develop their skills.