Occupational therapist Linda Stephens smiles as Avi Nawy, 5, plays a tennis game designed to improve his hand-eye coordination.

For her young clients, coming to Atlanta Children’s Therapy seems mostly like fun and games. For occupational therapist Linda
Stephens, MS, OTR/L, FAOTA, it’s her life’s work.

After working as an OT in hospitals, rehab clinics and schools, Stephens started her own practice 10 years ago to specialize in helping children with sensory integration problems.

“Children have always been my favorite,” Stephens said. “Those I see have trouble integrating their senses. They may be clumsy and unable to do well in physical activities, or they have trouble processing sensory data.”

Her clients lack the ability to understand where their bodies are in space or how they’re moving — an ability that allows people to walk downstairs without looking at our feet, for instance. Some children overreact to touch and perceive it as dangerous or harmful. They may fight or yell or withdraw when someone tries to touch them.

Stephens first became interested in sensory integration while working on an internship with special-needs children.

“Many of these conditions are very treatable,” Stephens said. “By using sensory input that is comfortable and building on that, and by tapping into a child’s inner drive for participation, we can help a nervous system settle down and reorganize itself.”

For a child who is defensive about being touched, Stephens may apply deep pressure to the joints to relax them. Or they may play a game like hot dog, where the child is wrapped up in a blanket and has pretend mustard and ketchup put on him.

“We gear the activity to their success and, since they don’t experience much of that, it feels good to come here. It’s a fun place,” she said.

It’s a fun place for parents, too, who may be able to finally understand why their child goes ballistic when someone accidentally touches them in line, and to see their child begin to develop trust and friendships.

“It’s very satisfying to watch a parent be able to hold her child and to know that I can help most of these children,” Stephens said. “I used to have a bigger practice, but I didn’t like all the time it took to manage it. I’d rather be on the floor playing with the kids. I can’t think of anything I’d rather do.”

Children’s advocate
Susan Orloff, OTR/L, was one of the first resource teachers for MIND (meeting individual needs daily), a pilot program for the department of Health, Education and Welfare in the 1960s. She’s also been a Head Start instructor, a school-based occupational therapist and has worked in a psychiatric clinic.

“I’ve always been in the teaching mode and children have always been my focus,” she said.

Orloff has a passion for seeing special-needs children as individuals and cutting through the classifications and regulations that govern them in public schools.

“I had to become an advocate,” she said. “Working with learning-disabled children teaches you compassion, like nothing else.”

In 1998, Orloff started her own practice and is CEO of Children’s Special Services. “I work with children who have emotional, social, sensory and motor problems, but my specialty is handwriting,” said Orloff.

She created the trademarked program “Write Incredibly Now,” which can take a child’s writing from labored to legible in 12 sessions.

“Out of a two-hour session, we may spend only 10 minutes actually writing. I use jacks, balls, bubbles, balloons to break down and practice the movements and skills used in writing,” Orloff said. “When you break down the components and then put them back together, a kid can draw and write.”

The family goal for one child was to be able to write a letter to his grandmother spontaneously and without frustration. “When he could do that, he wasn’t afraid of writing anything. It made such a difference in his life,” Orloff said.

She also created “Personal Options and Preferences,” to help children adapt socially and deal with serious problems, like bullying. Group therapy sessions become a safe place where children make friends, develop social skills and confidence.

Starting a business was much harder than being an OT for Orloff. She had to convince schools and parents to give her a chance.

“Now they call me, and there’s less stigma about getting help. Educators have learned that a child can be very bright and still have a learning disability,” she said.

One of the biggest rewards of being a handwriting specialist is getting written notes back from her clients. “I cry every time,” Orloff said.