How Love Therapy Services Helps Children and Young Adults

If a child or young adult struggles with handwriting, personal grooming, speech, holding a spoon or fork or navigating their surroundings, they understandably might have trouble with school, socializing and participating in family activities.

It can be frustrating, and some parents might not know where to turn. Love Therapy Services specializes in occupational and speech therapy. Since children's "occupations" are essentially school and everyday tasks, occupational therapy can really help them reach their full potential.

Executive Director Ashley Love, an El Paso native, was inspired to earn her Master's of Occupational Therapy at the University of Texas-El Paso after seeing the positive impact occupational therapists had on children in her daycare classroom. Now, she and her team are helping clients from ages birth to 21 years old.

They're even adding a new program called BOOT, or Beating Obesity with Occupational Therapy. Obesity is a rising epidemic among children in the United States and can affect self-esteem, personal hygiene, cardiovascular endurance and so much more.

BOOT is a long-term individual program that pairs 30 minutes of play-based exercise with 30-minute tutorials on nutrition education, including what foods to eat, how to pick a proper portion and how to maintain a healthy relationship with food. Based on insurance rules, children can be seen two to three times a week for these 60-minute sessions. They even build in a parent education portion so parents can help children continue these good habits at home.

Whether you're interested in BOOT, other occupational therapy or speech therapy, the first two steps to getting started with Love Therapy Services is to 1) check their website to see if they accept your insurance and 2) get a referral from your doctor, as most insurance won't cover the therapy without a doctor referral. If you don't have insurance or need help paying a copay, they offer Care Credit and special grants. If you apply for the grant, you can start your therapy and they'll hold off on charging the copay until they learn about the grant award.

The next step is an evaluation, which can be done virtually but Love Therapy Services recommends in-person evaluations for the best results. The evaluation includes the parent and typically lasts 60-90 minutes. It allows Love Therapy Services to develop an individual treatment plan best suited for your child.

Ready to get started? Visit Love Therapy Services online at otelpaso.com or by calling (915) 333-0200.