What is Occupational Therapy?
Pediatric Occupational Therapy is a health profession whose primary focus is to help support and promote development in children. Our experienced therapists are experts in promoting functional participation through the therapeutic use of meaningful everyday activities (occupations!). Our occupational therapy team addresses underlying social-emotional, physical, sensory, developmental, and behavioral challenges that may be impacting a child’ occupational engagement. We love playing with shaving cream, building crafts, learning new board games, and creating obstacle courses!
Who Can Benefit From Occupational Therapy?
Our highly trained occupational therapists work with a variety of children to achieve success with a wide range of skills, including:
Sensory Processing
Coping and Self-Regulation
Auditory Defensiveness
Touch Defensiveness
Visual Motor and Visual Perception Skills
Praxis and Motor Planning
Strength and Endurance
Play and Socialization
Self-Care Skills
Executive Functioning Skills
Meet our Team
Courtney Schuler, MS, OTR/L
Courtney is a wife and mother of two young children. She began her career as an Occupational Therapist after earning undergraduate degrees in Psychology and Child Development and Family Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her Master of Science in Occupational Therapy at East Carolina University. She has been practicing in the area of pediatric occupational therapy for over 15 years with experience primarily in private practice, but also home health and school settings.
Courtney’s career as a pediatric OT has focused on the evaluation and treatment of Sensory Processing, as it can impact every aspect of a child’s daily life. She has completed extensive training in the treatment with Sensory Processing Disorder, with professional development in Zones of Regulation, Astronaut Training, Praxis/ Motor Planning, Visual Perception, Ocular Motor Skills, Fine Motor Development and Handwriting Skills, MNRI reflex integration, and NDT upper extremity treatment in Pediatrics. In addition, she is a certified provider of Therapeutic Listening, Sequential Oral Sensory (SOS) Approach to Feeding, Integrated Listening System, and Safe & Sound Protocol.
Courtney has a passion for sharing her knowledge of sensory processing and how it impacts the daily functioning of everyone. She has been a presenter twice at the North Carolina Occupational Therapy Association Conference, as well as presenting workshops in the community to teachers, parents, and other professionals. In addition to being an OT, she has been a registered yoga teacher (RYT-200) for 11 years, which has taught her the importance of mindfulness for self-awareness and regulation. It has also taught her practical strategies for use in her own life as well as when working with children.
Courtney strives to make therapy fun and motivating for the children she works with. She believes that collaboration with families is key families to develop individualized home programs in order to maximize positive and functional outcomes. It brings Courtney so much joy to witness the progress of the children she works with and the positive impact that therapy has family’s daily lives. She feels fortunate to have a career that helps children to thrive in all environments.