What is play therapy?
Pediatric play therapy uses the natural medium of play to help children express themselves in a safe, supportive environment. This approach fosters emotional resilience, problem-solving skills, and healthier relationships, leading to improved mental health and overall well-being. We use toys to target underlying skillset areas such as attention, fine motor skills, turn-taking, emotional regulation, handwriting and so much more.
who can benefit?
Developmental play-based therapy is a specialized approach designed to help children with developmental delays or disabilities achieve their full potential by addressing their cognitive, social, emotional, and physical needs. This type of therapy specifically looks at how a child is developing across all areas of development–cognitive, language and communication, social-emotional, motor skills and self-help.
why play therapy?
Children learn best through play so targeting goals areas through play-based therapeutic activities is meaningful and gets results! Through play, we promote natural emotional expression and development, improve communication and social skills, and boost confidence and self esteem while supporting targeted goal areas. Through this process, we are able to equip your child with the tools they need to thrive emotionally, physically, socially, and academically.
Meaningful Movement supports your child's overall development through play-based therapy to strengthen fine motor, speech and language, gross motor, visual skills, self-care, and more. Our goal is to nurture your child's growth through play!
Did you know?
Approximately 1 in 6 children in the United States have one of more developmental disabilities or delays (CDC).
Up to 10% of preschool-aged children experience speech or language delays (ASHA).
Research indicates that early intervention has significant benefits in academic performance for children with developmental delays (NECTAC).
Fine Motor Skills
Fine motor skills are required during tasks or “occupations” including handwriting, managing clothing, and even play. If your child has a deficit in fine motor skills, these tasks and more may be difficult. Occupational therapy helps the child improve these skills through strengthening and precision-based play activities.
Visual Skills
Visual skills that occupational therapy can target include visual tracking, visual memory, visual perception, and more. Deficits in these skills may present as difficulty watching the ball during a game of catch, copying patterns, or completing puzzles. Occupational therapy meets your child at the skill level they are currently at to build visual skills through curated play-based activities like puzzles, i-spy, or even playing catch with our therapy dog.
Self Care Skills
Self care skill deficits can look like difficulty remembering to complete hygiene tasks, difficulty coordinating the movement to brush teeth, poor tolerance to the sensation of hair brushing, and more. Occupational therapy addresses these through repetition, addressing underlying skills, and even providing adaptations to the task like a picture schedule.
WHAT WE DO
Our Mission
Meaningful Movement provides play-based occupational and speech therapy services that target your child’s unique goal areas in a fun and motivating method. We promote development for children birth to 18 years of age with a variety of needs and diagnoses including but not limited to:
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Development Delays
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Autism Spectrum Disorder
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Attention Deficit Disorder
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Cerebral Palsy
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Muscular Dystrophy
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Down Syndrome
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Sensory Processing Disorder
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Anxiety
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Dyslexia
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Speech and language deficits
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Trauma
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Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder
We provide a safe space for therapy to support and help the children in our community grow and thrive. Our mission is to help your child thrive no matter the situation, so no diagnosis is required for us to help your child. If your child has a performance deficit that impedes them from completing their daily tasks or “occupations,” occupational therapy can help!
BENTLEY HOPPER, OTD, OTR/L
We're so glad you're here.
Hello there, friend! I’m so excited to help you learn all about the world of play-based occupational therapy and how it could benefit your child. My husband, Austin, and I are from Monticello originally and have dreamed of providing the much needed resource of pediatric outpatient therapy to the children of our hometown and surrounding areas.
Before moving back to Monticello, it saddened us to hear of families driving sometimes over an hour to receive therapy services for their child, or some families even relocating to other towns to accommodate their child’s needs. We want Monticello to continue being a wonderful place for families to raise their children while getting the services they need and deserve.
I truly love getting to know your family and helping your child conquer their goals!
The difference Bentley, Honey, and Meaningful Movement, LLC has made for our children (and thereby, family) is incredible. Bentley is more than competent to address the needs of the pediatric population of Southeast Arkansas with excellence. She is experienced in providing for exceptional populations, as well, including: neurodiverse children, children who have experienced trauma, and children with sensory integration needs. Bentley meets our children’s occupational needs while also increasing their confidence and sense of their own worth by meeting them with compassion and curiosity at each appointment. She thinks outside the box to meet each child’s unique needs. She welcomes parental voice and involvement in treatment and eagerly supports the child’s success outside the therapy room.
- Michael & Betsy A.