Starfish Occupational Therapy, PLLC

Starfish Occupational Therapy, PLLC Starfish Occupational Therapy provides private community based occupational therapy for children 0-18

The Chair of Vision:Let’s talk about the beautiful symphony between the visual, proprioceptive, vestibular, and auditory...
11/04/2025

The Chair of Vision:

Let’s talk about the beautiful symphony between the visual, proprioceptive, vestibular, and auditory systems — all working together to support a child’s functional development.

👁 Visual System:
Our eyes “see,” but their coordination relies on the ocular motor muscles — and accurate visual fixation and processing depends on our eyes teaming together!

💪 Proprioceptive + Vestibular Systems:
Additionally, our eyes “seeing” requires knowing where our body is in space (that’s proprioception!).The body must be anchored or our eyes won’t know where “straight ahead” truly is. Body awareness centers our eyes. Once movement is added, the vestibular system joins in. Our eyes must stabilize on a target even when our body—or the object—is moving. Can the eyes and brain work together to maintain focus no matter the position?

👂 Auditory System:
Hear a new sound? The head turns—and now the visual system must quickly refocus on the target at hand.

Maybe I’m a bit of a neuro-nerd, but this truly is a beautiful dance between multiple sensory systems. When a child’s “chair of vision” becomes more synchronized, incredible functional changes are possible!

Here at Starfish OT every child’s occupational therapy evaluation includes a full ocular motor and sensory processing assessment to ensure this synchronization of systems.

My role as an occupational therapist extends beyond sessions—it’s about partnering with parents, offering the tools and ...
10/27/2025

My role as an occupational therapist extends beyond sessions—it’s about partnering with parents, offering the tools and understanding to guide their children in developing their unique, God-given potential and confidence.
I strive to engage, educate, and empower parents so they feel equipped to nurture their child’s growth and confidently support who their child was created to be.
Through this approach, families often feel confident and capable, leading to shorter durations of OT as they begin to feel like the occupational therapist for their own family. Parent consultation is a favorite service we offer!

Closing out a successful year four right before we become a family of four this December ☀️☀️☀️☀️Beyond grateful for thi...
10/20/2025

Closing out a successful year four right before we become a family of four this December ☀️☀️☀️☀️

Beyond grateful for this work that has allowed me to embrace the gentle pace of life with my little girl—supported by the most wonderful village—while sharing the heart of occupational therapy with families in need. I love helping families see how slowing down and leaning into more intentional, natural rhythms can foster both healing and growth.

Encouraging slow mornings, homemade meals, time in nature, combining traditional and holistic medical approaches, and building a strong local village—alongside evidence-based OT strategies—is truly one of my greatest joys.

Beyond blessed for my little family and all families served at Starfish OT 🙏Here’s to a wild year five as we adjust to the beautiful chaos of 2 under 2!

Grateful for these kind words 💕 Every child I work with at Starfish OT is a blessing. Now I’d love to hear from you!! Wh...
09/29/2025

Grateful for these kind words 💕 Every child I work with at Starfish OT is a blessing. Now I’d love to hear from you!! What’s your child’s favorite way to play outdoors? 🧗‍♀️

Grateful for these kind words 💕 Every child I work with at Starfish OT is the greatest blessing. Now I’d love to hear fr...
09/29/2025

Grateful for these kind words 💕 Every child I work with at Starfish OT is the greatest blessing. Now I’d love to hear from you! What’s your child’s favorite way to play outdoors? 🌿👇

Life’s pace can feel fast—but children thrive when we slow down and return to God’s natural rhythms. 🍎As both a mom and ...
09/22/2025

Life’s pace can feel fast—but children thrive when we slow down and return to God’s natural rhythms. 🍎
As both a mom and pediatric OT, I see the curiosity and calm that comes when kids connect with food in its most natural form with no pressure on them. One simple way? Let them pick their own produce. From the garden or orchard to the table, children gain sensory experiences that often spark curiosity (and sometimes even new bites!).
This fall, try apple picking: compare orchard apples to store-bought, talk about how they grow, and make applesauce or cider together. 🌿
These simple rhythms—growing, picking, tasting—nurture healthy food relationships, emotional regulation, and sensory development for years to come!

They’re always listening, always watching. 🌱✨Each day at the mud kitchen, we shared a health fact about the benefits of ...
07/31/2025

They’re always listening, always watching.

🌱✨

Each day at the mud kitchen, we shared a health fact about the benefits of mud play. One day, I forgot… and thought no one would notice. But the children did. With wide eyes and excited voices, they reminded me—‘What’s the health fact today?!’ They were eager to learn, eager to share, eager to grow.

It was a beautiful reminder that our words, our actions, and even our silence matter. In occupational therapy, we know play is powerful—but so is presence.

Every interaction is a chance to plant seeds of love, health, curiosity, and generational wisdom. 🌿💬 Never underestimate the impact of your presence in a child’s world.

~ Fairy Gardens, Bug Hotels, annddd… Oreo Mcfluffy’s at Benchmark Camp~MRI’s have confirmed that children’s exposure to ...
07/17/2025

~ Fairy Gardens, Bug Hotels, annddd… Oreo Mcfluffy’s at Benchmark Camp~

MRI’s have confirmed that children’s exposure to green spaces and natural elements positively alters their brain structures specifically in the frontal lobe. Exposure to natural elements increased the children’s grey and white matter leading to improved cognition and emotional health specifically in working memory, attention, and self regulation. (Citations below)

Today’s opened ended “fairy” theme at the mud kitchen encouraged each child to visualize, sequence, plan, and execute their creativity. Plenty of problem solving, regulating emotions, and team work was involved.

Encourage open ended imaginative nature play to support your child’s frontal lobe development 🧚🧚‍♂️🧚‍♀️

I am always grateful to the .school for allowing me to bring my work of combining nature + research + and childhood development to their campus!

Dadvand et al. (2015), Environmental Health Perspectives, DOI: 10.1289/ehp.1408215

Dadvand, Payam et al. “The Association between Lifelong Greenspace Exposure and 3-Dimensional Brain Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Barcelona Schoolchildren.” Environmental health perspectives vol. 126,2 027012. 23 Feb. 2018, doi:10.1289/EHP1876

Kühn, Simone et al. “Spend time outdoors for your brain - an in-depth longitudinal MRI study.” The world journal of biological psychiatry : the official journal of the World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry vol. 23,3 (2022): 201-207. doi:10.1080/15622975.2021.1938670

These piggys are doing something right! Did you know that mud contains a wide range of microorganisms that support our g...
04/10/2025

These piggys are doing something right! Did you know that mud contains a wide range of microorganisms that support our gut microbiome, improve blood circulation, and decrease inflammation?

A recent 2022 research study, confirmed that children who live in more rural areas such as farms are at a significantly lower risk for developing allergies and asthma. This is due to the children’s prolonged exposure to a diverse range of microbes which positively influence a child’s immune response.

But also how fun is it to incorporate piggys and mud into your brain-body work?

Let those babes dive into the mud and get messy ~ That is childhood, That is health!

The best part about the AOTA Conference was connecting with these brilliant therapists. Surrounding myself with out of t...
04/07/2025

The best part about the AOTA Conference was connecting with these brilliant therapists. Surrounding myself with out of the box thinkers and intelligent entrepreneurs has only stretched me in my practice for the better!

Some of the most therapeutic and productive sessions happen when we completely pivot from my original plan! My current g...
03/20/2025

Some of the most therapeutic and productive sessions happen when we completely pivot from my original plan! My current group of kiddos are walking right beside me as I explore and learn all about this new beautiful land

Searching for the perfect spot to hang our hammock looked a little different than we expected (1 tree instead of two ha!) but we persevered and worked on some pretty amazing skills at the same time!

🌳Flexibility, Team Work, and Problem Solving
🌳Visual Convergence and Tracking
🌳Full Body Coordination, Balance, and Strength
🌳And finally relaxing Vestibular linear rocking after all our hard work!

Thank you for inviting me to present on the how a child’s visual, vestibular, and proprioceptive systems must all work ...
03/19/2025

Thank you for inviting me to present on the how a child’s visual, vestibular, and proprioceptive systems must all work in concert together for optimal school participation!

90% of information that our bodies interpret from the environment is first processed through the visual system! 90%!!!!

In 2024, along with giving birth to my beautiful baby girl, I obtained my Pediatric Functional Vision Rehabilitation Certification to better serve my clients. I truly believe that ocular motor testing needs to be a part of every child’ occupational therapy evaluation! Have questions? I can talk vision all day!👀

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Media, PA
19063

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+16103577057

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