Irvine, California

Pediatric Occupational Therapy in Irvine, CA

Play-based, child-led occupational therapy for children from birth through age 12, in a two-story sensory gym built for it.

Our occupational therapists are licensed and registered, and all of them are trained in sensory integration.

Schedule a tourCall or text (949) 835-3746
1,002+ children served Serving families since 2016 Sensory integration trained Ages birth to 12

What occupational therapy actually does

A child's occupation is being a child: getting dressed, holding a pencil, sitting through circle time, joining a game at recess, tolerating a haircut, settling down at bedtime. Occupational therapy builds the underlying skills those everyday things depend on.

Sometimes that means hand strength and coordination. Sometimes it is how a child's nervous system handles noise, movement, or touch. Sometimes it is planning and sequencing, or staying regulated when a day gets loud. The work looks like play, because play is how children practice hardest.

Occupational therapy is not about changing who your child is. It is about making the day easier for them, in ways that feel respectful to them and workable for your family.

Signs your child may benefit from occupational therapy

Any one of these on its own can be typical. It is when several cluster together, or start getting in the way of school, mealtimes, or friendships, that an evaluation is worth having.

Hands and school skills

  • An awkward pencil grip, or one that keeps changing
  • Letters that will not stay on the line, or vary wildly in size
  • Avoids coloring, cutting, drawing, or building
  • Tires quickly during writing and asks to stop
  • Still working on buttons, zippers, and shoelaces

Sensory and regulation

  • Covers ears in noisy places, or seeks out loud and fast
  • Cannot get enough spinning and crashing, or avoids it entirely
  • Big reactions to clothing tags, textures, haircuts, or nail trims
  • Hard to settle after a busy day or a transition
  • Meltdowns that last far longer than the thing that started them

Daily routines and moving

  • Dressing or toileting is taking longer than you expected
  • Bumps into furniture, trips, or seems generally clumsy
  • Trouble following a routine with more than one or two steps
  • Hangs back at playgrounds or avoids climbing equipment
  • Eats a shrinking list of foods, often by texture

What we work on

Every plan is built around one child, but these are the areas occupational therapy at Tumble N' Dots most often targets.

  • Emotional regulation. Noticing what a body feels like before it boils over, and having strategies that actually work in the moment.
  • Fine motor skills. Hand strength, grasp, in-hand manipulation, and the coordination that pencils, scissors, and buttons ask for.
  • Handwriting. Letter formation, spacing, line use, endurance, and the posture and shoulder stability underneath it.
  • Sensory processing. How your child takes in movement, touch, sound, and body position, and what helps them stay comfortable and organized.
  • Self-care and daily living. Dressing, toileting, grooming, mealtimes, and the independence that comes with them.
  • Motor planning and praxis. Coming up with a plan for a new physical task, sequencing it, and carrying it out.
  • Visual motor and visual perceptual skills. Copying from the board, catching a ball, finding a shoe in a messy room, puzzles and mazes.
  • Eye-hand coordination. The link between what the eyes track and what the hands do.
  • Strength, endurance, and range of motion. Core stability, postural control, and lasting through a school day.
  • Executive functioning. Starting a task, staying with it, shifting between activities, and organizing materials and time.

What a session looks like

Fifty minutes that look like play and are not.

  • Your child leads, the therapist steers. We follow what your child is drawn to and build the challenge into it, rather than running them through a worksheet.
  • The gym is the tool. Swings, crash pads, an obstacle course, a climbing wall, and a zip line, chosen deliberately for what each one asks of the body.
  • You are welcome in the room. Watching what works is most of how strategies make it home.
  • It ends with something you can use. A strategy for the morning rush, a way to set up homework, a sensory idea for the car.
  • The team talks. If your child also sees our speech or feeding therapists, they work under one roof and collaborate together.
  • Progress gets checked. Goals at three and six months, parent consults every two months, formal re-evaluation every six.

Children we work with

We see children from birth through age 12, with a wide range of diagnoses and, often, no diagnosis at all. A referral is not required to start.

Sensory processing differencesAutismADHD and ADDDevelopmental delaysDown syndromeCerebral palsyLearning differencesAnxiety and regulation challengesHandwriting difficultyFeeding difficultiesMotor delaysPremature birth history

Ways we deliver occupational therapy

Occupational therapy is one of several services at our clinic. See all pediatric therapy services for the full picture, or start with how OT itself is delivered.

Child working on grasp and hand strength during a one-on-one occupational therapy session in Irvine

One-on-one occupational therapy

Individual 50-minute sessions at our Irvine clinic, and where it makes sense, at your child's school or home. This is where most families start.

How individual OT works
Child in a therapy lycra swing during sensory integration occupational therapy in the sensory gym

Sensory integration therapy

For children whose nervous systems over-respond or under-respond to movement, touch, and sound. Delivered by OTs trained in sensory integration.

Sensory integration therapy
Occupational therapist meeting with parents for an evaluation review at Tumble N' Dots

Evaluations and consultations

A three-part evaluation with standardized assessments, a clinical observation session, and a family meeting where we walk you through what we found.

The OT evaluation
Children in a small occupational therapy group program at Tumble N' Dots in Irvine

Group OT and social skills groups

Small, age-banded groups where children practice motor and social skills together, through cooking, movement, games, and play. Ages 2 through 12.

Groups and camps
Sensory gym set up for an intensive occupational therapy week in Irvine, CA

Intensive therapy programs

Several sessions a week over spring, summer, and winter breaks, and year-round through Tumble-N-Grow. Repetition with familiar therapists tends to move goals faster.

Intensive programs
Occupational therapist working with a child on sensory motor skills, the same approach used in partner classrooms

School collaboration, IEPs, and observations

We work inside partner classrooms across Orange County, observe your child in their own school, and attend IEP meetings so goals translate into the school day.

School collaborations

How the evaluation works

  1. Come in for a tour

    Visit the clinic, meet our clinical staff, and see the gym your child would actually use. Bring what you have been noticing at home and at school.

  2. Standardized assessment

    A consult visit where we use formal, standardized assessments to measure specific skills.

  3. Clinical observation

    A separate session where we simply watch your child move, play, and problem-solve. Scores tell us one thing; watching a child climb tells us another.

  4. The family meeting

    We sit down and walk you through what we found in plain language, what we recommend, and what we would target first. You leave with a written report you can take to a pediatrician or school.

If your child already has a valid evaluation from another provider or a school district that is less than 10 months old, send it over and we will work from it rather than repeating the testing.

Schedule a tourAssessments we use

Who your child would work with

Our occupational therapists are licensed and registered, and every one of them is trained in sensory integration. Avital Shuster, our founder and clinical director, also holds post-professional Ayres Sensory Integration training through CLASI, along with DIRFloortime training, HBCC training for behaviorally challenging situations, and advanced SOS Approach to Feeding training. Dr. Phoebe Yam, one of our OTs, is a certified professional dog trainer and human-animal interaction specialist who runs our animal assisted therapy.

Caseloads stay deliberately small. Your child sees the same therapist week to week, and that therapist knows your family rather than your file.

Meet our therapy teamOur signature approach

Paying for occupational therapy

We are an out-of-network provider and are not contracted with any insurance plan, which means we do not bill your insurance directly.

  • You receive a detailed superbill twice a month, on the 1st and the 15th, with every code your insurance needs to consider reimbursement.
  • Superbills are always available in your parent portal, so you are never waiting on us for a copy.
  • Occupational therapy is generally an eligible FSA and HSA expense.
  • Many of our families do receive reimbursement. Rates vary by plan, and insurers pay families directly.
Read the out-of-network reimbursement guide

Serving Irvine and Orange County

Address

15265 Alton Parkway
Suite 140
Irvine, CA 92618

Contact

Call or text
(949) 835-3746
hello@TumbleNDots.com

Therapy hours

Mon to Fri 8:30am to 7:00pm
Sat 8:30am to 5:00pm
Sun 10:00am to 3:00pm

Office hours

Mon to Fri
9:00am to 6:00pm

Schedule a tourGet directions

Families come to us for occupational therapy from Irvine, Tustin, Lake Forest, Newport Beach, Newport Coast, Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach, Long Beach, Mission Viejo, Rancho Mission Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita, Coto de Caza, Aliso Viejo, and across Orange County.

Occupational therapy questions parents ask

What is the difference between occupational therapy and physical therapy?
Physical therapy generally focuses on gross motor movement, strength, and gait. Occupational therapy focuses on participation in daily life: fine motor skills, sensory processing, self-care, regulation, and the tasks a child needs to do at home and at school. There is real overlap, and the free tour is a good place to work out which one your child needs.
How long is an occupational therapy session?
Sessions are typically 50 minutes. Every child is different, but most children come once a week.
At what age can my child start occupational therapy?
We work with children from birth through age 12. Earlier is generally easier, but there is no age at which it stops being worth asking the question.
Do I need a diagnosis or a referral to start?
No. Many of the children we see have no diagnosis at all. Some insurance plans require a referral for reimbursement, so it is worth checking with your carrier.
What is Ayres Sensory Integration?
It is an evidence-based occupational therapy framework for children whose nervous systems have trouble organizing sensory input. All of our occupational therapists are trained in sensory integration, and our clinical director holds post-professional Ayres Sensory Integration training through CLASI.
Will I be in the room during sessions?
You are welcome to be. Parents who watch sessions tend to carry more of the strategies home, which is where most of the progress actually happens.
How long will my child need occupational therapy?
It depends on the goals. We set goals at three and six months, meet with parents every two months, and re-evaluate formally every six months, so you always have a current answer rather than an open-ended commitment.
Can occupational therapy happen at my child's school?
Yes. We provide push-in therapy in partner classrooms across Orange County, observe children in their own schools, and attend IEP meetings as part of a therapy plan.
Do you take insurance?
No. We are an out-of-network provider and do not bill insurance directly. We provide a detailed superbill twice a month that you can submit for possible reimbursement, and OT is generally FSA and HSA eligible.

Come see the gym

The easiest way to know whether occupational therapy here is right for your child is to walk through the space. Book a tour with our clinical staff and bring your questions.

Schedule a tourCall or text (949) 835-3746