Pediatric Occupational Therapy in the Bay Area

We come to you, delivering expert, child-centered OT at home, at school, and outdoors across Mountain View, Los Altos, Palo Alto, and beyond.

What Pediatric Occupational Therapy Actually Does for Your Child

OT is about building the everyday skills your child needs to grow, learn, and feel capable in their own body.

Occupational therapy for children focuses on the “occupations” that are central to childhood: playing, learning, eating, dressing, and connecting with others. When a child struggles with any of these, it’s rarely a matter of effort or attitude. It often signals that their nervous system, motor development, or sensory processing needs support.

Pediatric OTs are trained to look beneath the surface behavior and identify the developmental root of the challenge. We assess how a child processes sensory input, coordinates their movements, regulates their emotions, and builds the fine and gross motor skills that underpin everything from holding a pencil to navigating a playground.

At Therapeeps, we work with children ages 0 to 8 across the full spectrum of developmental profiles. Our approach is grounded in developmental science and relationship-based practice: we meet your child exactly where they are, build trust first, and let skills follow.

Children Ages 0–8 with a Wide Range of Developmental Differences

Early intervention changes outcomes. The earlier we start, the more we can do.

We specialize in children from infancy through early elementary school, the developmental window where targeted support has the greatest long-term impact. The children we work with most often are navigating one or more of the following:

  • Sensory processing differences (hypersensitivity, hyposensitivity, sensory-seeking behaviors)
  • Autism spectrum or children at risk for an Autism diagnosis
  • ADHD and attention or self-regulation challenges
  • Learning differences, including dysgraphia (difficulty with handwriting and written expression)
  • Feeding difficulties, oral motor delays, or extreme food selectivity
  • Developmental coordination disorder or gross and fine motor delays
  • Anxiety that shows up as behavioral or physical avoidance

You don’t need a formal diagnosis to reach out. Many families come to us with a gut feeling that something is getting in the way of their child’s daily life. That’s enough.

A Relationship-Based Approach That Respects How Children Develop

We don’t push children through a protocol. We follow their lead and build from there.

Our therapy model is developmental and relationship-based, which means we treat the whole child rather than targeting isolated skills in isolation. Development cannot be hurried, and rushing a child through skill-building without first establishing safety and trust leads to surface-level compliance rather than real, lasting growth.

Every session at Therapeeps is guided by the child’s nervous system state in the moment. We draw from evidence-based frameworks including DIR/Floortime, Sensory Integration Therapy (SIPT and STAR certified), and the SOS Approach to Feeding, blending them into a personalized plan that fits your child’s unique developmental profile. We also bring the Safe and Sound Protocol to support nervous system regulation when appropriate.

We partner with you every step of the way. Parent coaching is woven into our practice because you are the most important person in your child’s life, and what happens between sessions is just as powerful as the session itself.

Certifications That Reflect Deep Expertise, Not Just Credentials

Our team brings specialized training that goes well beyond a standard OT license.

Therapeeps therapists hold advanced certifications across the most evidence-supported pediatric OT frameworks available. Here’s what that means for your child:

  • SIPT (Sensory Integration and Praxis Tests) Certified, advanced assessment and treatment of sensory processing and praxis (motor planning) differences
  • STAR Certified, Sensory Therapies and Research approach to sensory processing challenges
  • DIR/Floortime Trainer on Staff, we don’t just apply the model, we train other clinicians in it. Our DIR/Floortime expertise spans 10+ years
  • SOS Approach to Feeding Certified, a structured, child-led feeding therapy program that addresses extreme food selectivity
  • Board Certified in Autism Treatment, specialized training in supporting autistic children and those at risk for diagnosis
  • Safe and Sound Protocol Practitioner, a polyvagal-informed auditory intervention that supports nervous system regulation

Combined, our clinical team averages more than 20 years of pediatric OT experience per provider.

We Serve Families Across Mountain View, Palo Alto, Los Altos, and Beyond

Mobile OT means we come to you, wherever your child is most comfortable.

Therapeeps is a mobile practice, which means therapy happens in the environment where it matters most: your home, your child’s private school or daycare, or one of our nature-based outdoor group settings. We serve families throughout the Bay Area, with primary coverage in Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Palo Alto, Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Saratoga, and San Jose.

Frequently Asked Questions

Signs that OT might help include difficulty with self-care tasks like dressing or eating, sensitivity to textures, sounds, or movement, trouble with handwriting or fine motor tasks, or frequent emotional meltdowns tied to sensory overwhelm. If your child’s development feels “off” in ways you can’t quite name, a free consultation with our team is a great first step.

Sessions look a lot like play, intentionally designed play. Your OT will use swings, climbing, sensory bins, obstacle courses, or tabletop activities to target specific developmental goals. The activity is the vehicle; building motor skills, sensory regulation, and functional independence is the destination.

We work with children from infancy through age 8. Early intervention, before age 5 if possible, tends to produce the strongest outcomes because the brain is most plastic during those years. That said, it’s never too early or too late within our age range to reach out.

No. Many children we support don’t have a formal diagnosis, and one is not required to begin services. If you have concerns about your child’s development, feeding, sensory responses, or emotional regulation, we encourage you to call us directly.

Therapeeps is a private-pay practice. We provide detailed superbills that you can submit directly to your insurance company for potential out-of-network reimbursement. Many families in the Bay Area with PPO plans recover a meaningful portion of session costs this way. Call us and we’ll walk you through what to expect.

Ready to Get Started?

Call us today to get started, or book an evaluation for your child.