Cornerstone Pediatric Center, LLC

Cornerstone Pediatric Center, LLC is the areas foremost authority on pediatric therapy. We are comprised of experienced Occupational Therapists, Physical Therapists and Speech Therapists all of whom are committed to making progress with your child. Cornerstone Pediatric Center is the only facility in WV specializing in treatment using Sensory Integration, Hippotherapy, and HBOT. All of therapist's knowledge and effort goes into helping exceptional children experience extraordinary results.

OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY

Occupational therapy is truly the "Cornerstone", if you will, of what we do here at Cornerstone Pediatric Center. Our occupational therapists concentrate on the development and/or restoration of abilities or skills through the use of sensory integration coupled with traditional OT techniques. We use occupational therapy as a measuring stick of sorts for an initial OT/sensory evaluation. Under the guidance and supervision of Kathy Citerone, OTR/L, the co-founder of Cornerstone Pediatric Center, we are able to establish a detailed neurological baseline for your child. Through the use of a multifaceted evaluation approach, which includes research based sensory integration assessments, vision and auditory therapy techniques, hippotherapy and traditional OT; our therapists are able to get a neurological "snapshot" of what is going on with your child.*

PHYSICAL THERAPY

Like occupational therapy, physical therapy plays a crucial role in treating your child if he/she has physical deficiencies, injury or dysfunction. Cornerstone's physical therapy program helps to restore overall function of the body or body parts through medically based modalities, exercise and strengthening techniques. Our physical therapy program will address specific issues or deficiencies with traditional techniques while incorporating the sensory processing aspect of treatment by identifying the vestibular dysfunction and how/why it impacts muscle tone and function.*

SPEECH THERAPY

Like Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy, Speech Therapy plays an essential role in treating your child. Cornerstone's speech program combines sensory integration with traditional speech techniques to address any dysfunction or speech insufficiencies including oral motor issues, speech and language delays or disorders, articulation problems, feeding issues, hearing impairment, speech clarity and auditory processing disorders. The speech therapy that Cornerstone offers has a strong oral motor component which is something that is often overlooked in many other speech programs.

Multifaceted Session Structure

Cornerstone Pediatric Center utilizes several types of research-based, clinically proven treatment session structures. The structure of every session we implement has been meticulously designed to address the specific needs your child and your family. The types of treatment sessions we offer are:

Individual Clinic Therapy Session
Social Skills Program
Intensive Therapy Protocol Session (ITP) ©
Adventure Camp
Hippotherapy
Feeding Clinic (Food School)

All of our therapists will work closely with your family to determine the most effective treatment program for your child.

What is Sensory Processing and Sensory Integration?

Sensory Processing (sometimes called "sensory integration" or SI) is a term that refers to the way the nervous system receives messages from the senses and turns them into appropriate motor and behavioral responses. Whether you are eating an ice cream cone, sitting on the beach, or driving a car, your successful completion of the activity requires processing sensation or "sensory integration."

Sensory Processing Disorder

Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD, formerly known as "sensory integration dysfunction") is "a condition that exists when sensory signals don't get organized into appropriate responses." When these signals aren't efficiently processed the brain has what amounts to, a neurological "traffic jam" that prevents certain parts of the brain from receiving the information needed to interpret sensory information correctly. A person with SPD finds it difficult to process and act upon information received through the senses, which creates challenges in performing countless everyday tasks. Motor clumsiness, behavioral problems, anxiety, depression, school failure, and other impacts may result if the disorder is not treated effectively. The Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) Foundation research finds that 1 in 20 children are affected by these symptoms enough to impact participation and function in everyday life*.
* www.SPDfoundation.com

Signs of Sensory Processing Disorders:

It is important to mention that a child's response to sensory input may be inconsistent and vary on a daily basis based on the child's surroundings. The child's response can also vary due to factors such as fatigue, emotional distress or hunger. It is also important to mention that some children who seem unaware or unresponsive to sensory input may in fact be highly sensitive to sensory stimulation. They may appear unaware or unresponsive because their nervous systems have shut down to protect them from incoming sensory stimulation.

Children, by their nature, are constantly developing and learning, seeking neurological stimulation that will help them to develop physically and mentally. Some children are hypersensitive to sensory stimulation while others are hyposensitive to sensory stimulation. Treatment is determined by your child's specific sensory and developmental needs.

It is important to note that all of the symptoms that make up SPD may, and usually do, co-exist with other problems such as ADD, ADHD, Autism, Asperger's syndrome, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, spina bifida, fetal alcohol syndrome and bipolar disorder. *