Services
In 2008, Touro University Nevada saw an unmet need in the Southern Nevada – providing therapy services for children with autism spectrum disorder and other developmental disabilities.
Children 18 months to 12 years of age can receive applied behavioral analysis (ABA) services for a wide range of developmental issues.
Applied Behavioral Analysis
Research has indicated that Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy is one of the most clinically proven, evidence-based interventions for children with autism spectrum disorder and other developmental disabilities. ABA is the science dedicated to understanding and improving socially significant behaviors using a variety of tools such as Discrete Trial Training, Naturalistic Intervention, and Pivotal Response Training.
By working closely with families, ABA can reduce problem behaviors and increase social and communication skills. Applied Behavior Analysis can help with:
- Reducing problem behaviors including tantrums and outbursts, disruptive behaviors, stereotypic behaviors, and self-injurious behaviors
- Providing parent strategies and trainings
- Increasing appropriate adaptive behaviors
- Improving language and communication
- Developing social skills
- Improving academic skills
- Enhancing self-help skills
Pediatric Occupational Therapy
What is Occupational Therapy?
Your child’s life is made up of occupations, or everyday day activities. Daily occupations include playing, learning, sleeping, eating, interacting with family and friends, getting dressed and countless other daily tasks and roles. Many of us don’t usually think about a child’s daily occupations until they have challenges completing them. Occupational therapy supports children of all ages from newborns to young adults by incorporating meaningful occupations that are important to you and your child into the intervention process to support their unique and individual needs. Occupational therapists are skilled professionals who use evidenced-based interventions and a holistic perspective to help your child achieve his or her goals. (American Occupational Therapy Association, 2021).
How can Occupational Therapy help my child?
The core of occupational therapy is to promote participation. Examples of therapy interventions could include helping a child who has concentration challenges in school, helping a child with autism to socialize with peers, adapting activities and games for a child with mobility challenges, problem-solving with a child with developmental delays and their family to increase their independence in self-dressing and self-care routines, helping children to play with toys and increase proficiency in the use of tools such as crayons and scissors. Occupational therapists also specialize in supporting kids with challenges with sensory processing/integration and are skilled at formulating individualized plans of care to address the unique skills and needs of a child and their families (American Occupational Therapy Association, 2021).
How to get started?
With a strong knowledge of a person’s psychological, physical, emotional, sensory, cognitive, and social makeup, occupational therapists can evaluate how your child’s condition (or risk for one) is affecting their participation in life and provide unique solutions to overcome any barriers while using a holistic perspective. “An occupational therapist will evaluate your child (as well as the environment and the task or activity) and, with additional input from you, develop individualized goals that address resuming or pursuing things that are important to your child and family. You and the occupational therapist will then work together on an individualized intervention plan to help improve or maintain your child’s ability to perform daily activities and reach those goals. This plan will consider what your child wants and needs to do, as well as his or her abilities, which may include modifying both the task and the environment to allow your child to be as independent as possible” (American Occupational Therapy Association, 2021).
