Emerging Minds Est

Emerging Minds Est All things Emerging Minds Est! Info, services, tips and tricks! Tout sur nous! Infos, services, tr Welcome to Emerging Minds Est!

We are a passionate, dynamic, and energetic group of bilingual interdisciplinary professionals and paraprofessionals who offer assessment, consultation, and intervention services to clients from 0-17. Our professionals offer Occupational Therapy, Parent Coaching, Functional Intervention Programs as well as Social Work. We also train professionals within Canada and internationally on naturalistic approaches. Furthermore, our center regularly accepts and mentors students from various programs such as Occupational Therapist and Special Education programs. We are an Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) inspired center that provides evidence-based interventions that are relationship, developmental, and curriculum-based. Our interventions are individualized to clients’ needs and level of development and include the following models: Pivotal Response Training, Applied Behavioral Analysis, and Early Start Denver Model. Our team strives on continuing education, and professional development, and are highly focused on community outreach through webinars, fundraising, and partnerships with different organization within our community. Emerging Minds Est est un groupe passionné, dynamique et énergique formé de professionnels interdisciplinaires bilingues qui offrent des services d'évaluation, de consultation et d'intervention aux clients de 0 à 17 ans de la grande région d’Ottawa et de l’est ontarien. Nous offrons des services d'ergothérapie, de coaching parental, d'intervention comportementale et fonctionnelle. Nous formons également des professionnels au Canada et à l'étranger sur les approches basées sur l’enseignement naturel. De plus, notre centre encadre régulièrement des étudiants de divers programmes tels que les programmes d'ergothérapie et d'éducation spécialisée. Nous sommes un centre qui fournit des interventions basées sur des données probantes, ancrées sur les approches relationnelles, développementales et comportementales. Nos interventions sont individualisées en fonction des besoins et du niveau de développement de nos clients et incluent les modèles suivants : Enseignement des réponses pivots (PRT), analyse comportementale appliquée (ABA) et le modèle d’intervention précoce de Denver (ESDM). Notre équipe valorise la formation et le développement professionnel continus. Nous sommes ravis de faire partie de l’équipe francophone qui assure la prestation des services pour le partenariat QuickStart Early Years.

🦉 Friday Focus: Growing the Owl BrainThe Owl Brain is the part of the nervous system that feels safe, connected, and rea...
11/14/2025

🦉 Friday Focus: Growing the Owl Brain

The Owl Brain is the part of the nervous system that feels safe, connected, and ready to learn. When your child is in Owl Brain mode, they can think clearly, cooperate, and engage with curiosity.

But here’s the key: we can’t force the Owl Brain to show up—we create the conditions for it.
✔ Offer felt safety through calm tone and predictable routines
✔ Use connection before correction—relationship first, teaching second
✔ Encourage play and creativity, which strengthen the brain’s ability to stay regulated
✔ Model your own calm—your Owl Brain helps theirs come back online

📚 Inspired by Robyn Gobbel - Trauma, Toxic Stress, & Baffling Behaviors
🔗 Learn more: https://robyngobbel.com/theclub

🖍️ Bonus Activity: Download a free owl colouring page for your child here:
https://cpforkids.com/owl-coloring-pages/ Note that these images are for personal and educational use only.

👉 What helps your child feel safe and curious? Share your ideas or an emoji below! 💬

🧠 Helping Kids Understand Their BrainsAt Emerging Minds Est, we’ve been using a playful and powerful framework inspired ...
11/07/2025

🧠 Helping Kids Understand Their Brains

At Emerging Minds Est, we’ve been using a playful and powerful framework inspired by Robyn Gobbel to help kids and families understand how their brains respond to big feelings and everyday challenges.

Robyn uses three animal characters to represent different brain states:
• 🦉 Owl Brain – calm, curious, and ready to learn
• 🐶 Watchdog Brain – alert, protective, and ready to fight or flee
• 🐾 Possum Brain – overwhelmed, shut down, and needing safety

These characters help children name what’s happening inside and learn how to get back to their “Owl Brain” when things feel hard.

We’ve been exploring these ideas in our sessions, and the kids love it! Over the next few weeks, we’ll share more about each brain and how you can use this model at home to support emotional regulation and connection.

✨ Stay tuned every Friday for tips, and fun coloring pages to help your child learn about their amazing brain!

📚 Inspired by the work of Robyn Gobbel - Trauma, Toxic Stress, & Baffling Behaviors

🖼️ View the full infographic here: Owls, Watchdogs, and Possums PDF
https://robyngobbel.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Owls-Watchdogs-and-Possoms-Infographic.pdf

👉 Have you noticed your child acting like an Owl, Watchdog, or Possum this week? Share your story or emoji in the comments below! 💬

The entire Emerging Minds East team wishes you a Happy Halloween!As you may have noticed over the past few weeks, the te...
10/31/2025

The entire Emerging Minds East team wishes you a Happy Halloween!

As you may have noticed over the past few weeks, the team has been inspired by the book Raising Kids with Big Baffling Behaviors.

We decided to represent the brain, the owl, the watchdog, and the possum!

We wish you a wonderful evening!

10/23/2025

"Jordan’s Principle is not a nice-to-have. It is a legally enforceable child-first rule born of Canadian Human Rights Tribunal rulings beginning in 2016 that require timely access to services for First Nations children, with governments sorting out who pays later. That’s the standard. We aren’t meeting it."

Our CEO, Irving Gold, published an op-ed in the Hill Times that brings to light the issues with Jordan’s Principle our members have brought forward: excessive red tape, administrative burden, and delayed payment as barriers for OTs providing essential care for children.

📰 Read the full article in the Hill Times or for free on Quoi Media.

🎃 Halloween approche !Pour certains enfants, cette fête peut être source de stress sensoriel. En tant qu’ergothérapeutes...
10/22/2025

🎃 Halloween approche !
Pour certains enfants, cette fête peut être source de stress sensoriel. En tant qu’ergothérapeutes, nous vous encourageons à adapter les traditions pour le bien-être de votre enfant.
🧠 Astuce : pratiquez à l’avance, choisissez des vêtements confortables et créez un espace calme pour les pauses.
💬 Et vous, quelles sont vos astuces pour un Halloween sensoriel-friendly ? Partagez-les en commentaire !

🎃 Halloween is coming!For some children, this holiday can be overwhelming. As OTs, we encourage families to adapt tradit...
10/22/2025

🎃 Halloween is coming!
For some children, this holiday can be overwhelming. As OTs, we encourage families to adapt traditions to support sensory needs.

🧠 Tip: Practice ahead, choose comfy clothes, and create a quiet space for breaks.

💬 Do you have a sensory-friendly Halloween tip? Share it in the comments!

At Emerging Minds Est, we are proud to use Robyn Gobbel’s theory when working with parents and children with « Big Baffl...
10/17/2025

At Emerging Minds Est, we are proud to use Robyn Gobbel’s theory when working with parents and children with « Big Baffling Behaviors ». This is why we are wearing our Owl shirts to remind us to try and have our Owl Brains on as often as possible!!

… But we also have a surprise!! A baby Owl coming in a few months!! Congratulation to Meghan, one of our Early Intervention Providers!! We can’t wait to meet baby owl!!

Les routines aident les enfants à se sentir en sécurité et en confiance. Découvrez comment les stratégies d’Ergothérapie...
10/08/2025

Les routines aident les enfants à se sentir en sécurité et en confiance. Découvrez comment les stratégies d’Ergothérapie basées sur l’ESDM peuvent faciliter les transitions quotidiennes.

📲 Enregistrez cette publication et partagez-la avec un autre parent qui pourrait avoir besoin d’un peu de magie grâce aux routines!

Routines help kids feel safe and confident. Learn how ESDM-based OT strategies can make daily transitions smoother. 📲 Sa...
10/08/2025

Routines help kids feel safe and confident. Learn how ESDM-based OT strategies can make daily transitions smoother.

📲 Save this post and share with a fellpw parent who could use a little routine magic!

Please join me in wishing Catherine a Happy Birthday!! We wish you a great day full of surprises, love, laughs and maybe...
10/03/2025

Please join me in wishing Catherine a Happy Birthday!! We wish you a great day full of surprises, love, laughs and maybe a piece of cake!!

Joignez-vous à moi pour souhaiter un joyeux anniversaire à Catherine! Nous te souhaitons une merveilleuse journée pleine de surprises, d'amour, de rires et peut-être même d'un morceau de gâteau!!

Address

Ottawa, ON
K1G5H9

Opening Hours

Monday 8:30am - 4pm
Tuesday 8:30am - 4:30pm
Wednesday 8:30am - 4:30pm
Thursday 8:30am - 4:30pm
Friday 8:30am - 4:30pm

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Our Story

As a leading paediatric intervention center in the Ottawa Region, we have a strong purpose.

WHY we exist: To give each child the chance to connect and learn in their unique way. ESPECIALLY children with differing abilities.

HOW we do it:

By helping parents apply, discover and create strategies to engage and connect with their child, resulting in improved quality of life.