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Additional Therapy Services

Sensory Integrated Therapy (SIT)

Sensory Integration Therapy (SIT) is a specialized form of occupational therapy designed to help individuals improve their ability to process and integrate sensory information from their environment. SIT is particularly beneficial for individuals with Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), which can manifest in various ways, including:

  • Hypersensitivity or hyposensitivity to sensory stimuli (e.g., touch, sound, movement)
  • Difficulty regulating emotions and behavior
  • Poor coordination and motor skills
  • Challenges with attention and focus

Therapy Duration & Sessions

The duration of SIT depends on the individual’s needs and complexity. On average, therapy lasts for 6 months with weekly sessions, though the range can be from 3 to 12 months. Each treatment session are usually an hour long.

Outcomes of Sensory Integration Therapy

At the conclusion of SIT, individuals with Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) can expect to experience:

  • Improved ability to process and integrate sensory information
  • Better emotional and behavioral regulation
  • Enhanced coordination and motor skills
  • Improved attention and focus
  • Overall improvement in well-being and quality of life
By addressing sensory processing difficulties, SIT empowers individuals to engage more effectively with their environment, improve their daily functioning, and lead a more fulfilling life.

Feeding Therapy

At Developmental & Educational Psychological Services (DEPS), we provide comprehensive support for feeding difficulties, with an integrated, multidisciplinary approach. Our team includes experts in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), Speech-Language Pathology (SLP), and Occupational Therapy (OT), all working collaboratively to address the unique needs of each individual.

Collaborative Approach

  • Behavioral Challenges: Addressed through ABA therapy, focusing on behavioral aspects of feeding, including environmental context and reinforcement strategies.
  • Oral/Structural Issues: Addressed through Speech-Language Pathology, focusing on oral-motor skills, sensory feeding challenges, and food aversions.
  • Sensory Issues: OT and ABA provide support for sensory-based feeding challenges. OT conducts thorough evaluations to identify the root causes of sensory difficulties, while working with ABA therapists to develop a comprehensive treatment plan.

What We Address

  • Feeding Therapy: Provided by treatment team, focuses on helping children and families address oral-motor skills, sensory challenges, and behavioral feeding difficulties across all age groups. Unlike swallow studies, which use fluoroscopic imaging to evaluate swallowing, our feeding therapy uses hands-on assessment and personalized intervention strategies.
  • Sensory Integration and Behavioral Focus: Feeding therapy addresses difficulties such as extreme food pickiness, physical limitations like chewing, and mental stress associated with eating. The goal is to make eating a positive and stress-free experience for both the child and their family.
  • Referrals: As a non-medical facility, we do not address swallowing issues. Any concerns related to swallowing would be referred out to appropriate medical specialists for further evaluation.

Our Focus

The primary goal of feeding therapy at DEPS is to enhance the child’s ability to eat independently, while reducing stress and anxiety surrounding mealtimes. Through a combination of speech therapy, occupational therapy, and ABA therapy, we work together to improve feeding skills and make eating a more enjoyable and manageable experience for children and their families.

Social Skill Groups

At Developmental & Educational Psychological Services (DEPS), we offer Social Skills Groups led by an interdisciplinary treatment team depending on the specific needs of the group. Our approach is designed to help individuals develop the essential skills required for meaningful interactions with others.

Focus Areas

Social Skills Groups addresses key areas including:

  • Communication: Supporting individuals in expressing thoughts and feelings clearly, and improving conversational skills.
  • Empathy: Teaching individuals how to recognize and respond to the emotions of others.
  • Conflict Resolution: Helping individuals learn strategies to manage disagreements and navigate social challenges.
  • Self-Regulation: Encouraging individuals to use their social competencies to attend to and interpret others’ behavior appropriately.
  • Confidence & Self-Esteem: Fostering self-assurance and a positive sense of self in social settings.
  • Flexibility in Play: Teaching children to initiate play, take turns, and collaborate with peers in a variety of settings.
  • Adaptive Skills: Depending on the group, this therapy may also address adaptive functioning to further support social interactions.

Session Structure and Duration

  • Group Structure: Sessions typically involve a 1:5 to 2:10 therapist-to-child ratio, ensuring ample individualized attention.
  • Duration: Sessions are scheduled for a minimum of 1–2 hours, depending on the age and needs of the participants. Younger children may require shorter sessions, while older children typically benefit from longer sessions.
  • Program Length: Our social skills groups run for 6 to 8 weeks, with one session per week. Each group is designed to hone and maintain skills over time, and nothing shorter than 6 weeks is offered to ensure meaningful progress.

Expected Outcomes

At the end of the therapy, individuals can expect to show improvement in:

  • Effective Communication
  • Conflict Resolution
  • Self-Regulation in Social Interactions
  • Confidence and Self-Esteem
  • Flexibility and Cooperation in Play
  • A variety of additional social competencies

Music Groups

Starting June 5th, 2025 (Thursdays Only) Duration: 1 hour  
Combining music therapy with Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) offers a powerful, complementary approach—especially for children with autism or developmental delays. Music therapy enhances ABA by making learning more engaging, functional, and emotionally connected. Together, they address core developmental areas such as communication, behavior, socialization, and emotional regulation in a holistic, child-centered way. 
Key Benefits:

  • Improved Communication Skills: Music therapy can encourage vocalizations, verbal imitation, and turn-taking through songs and musical interaction. It provides a non-verbal medium for expression, which is helpful for non-speaking or minimally verbal children. 
  • Enhanced Social Interaction:  Songs and musical games foster joint attention, eye contact, social reciprocity, and peer engagement, all common ABA targets.  Group music sessions create natural opportunities for peer interaction and modeling behaviors. 
  • Increased Motivation and Engagement: Music is inherently motivating and reinforcing for many children.  Therapists can pair ABA goals (e.g., following directions, requesting, labeling) with music to boost participation and reduce escape behaviors. 
  • Support Emotional Regulation: Musical activities can help children identify and regulate emotions through tempo, dynamics, and mood-based songs. It provides a calming or stimulating sensory experience, supporting behavioral self-regulation. 
  • Facilitates Generalization: Music activities help transfer learned behaviors into real-world, social settings.

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  • Reinforces Routine and Structure:  Songs with predictable patterns and structure mirror ABA routines and can support transitioning between tasks and completing sequences.

Be Safe Program

BE SAFE Program

The BE SAFE Program is an educational program designed to help individuals with developmental disabilities, particularly teens and adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), learn how to safely interact with law enforcement officers and understand their rights and responsibilities in various real-world situations.

Summary of the BE SAFE Program

Full Name: BE SAFE: The Movie & Curriculum

Created by: Emily Iland, M.A., an autism advocate, author, and parent.

Target Audience: Teens and adults with ASD or other developmental disabilities, educators, families, therapists, and law enforcement professionals.

Core Components:

  • BE SAFE The Movie – A video-based tool using real actors with disabilities and real police officers to model safe behaviors during interactions (e.g., traffic stops, being questioned, encountering officers in the community).
  • Curriculum – A structured teaching guide with lesson plans, activities, and discussion prompts to help reinforce the video content and support comprehension.

Key Goals

Teach individuals how to:

  • Recognize police officers and their role.
  • Understand commands and how to respond calmly and appropriately.
  • Practice safety behaviors in common scenarios (e.g., during a stop, when approached, or when in distress).
  • Reduce fear and anxiety around law enforcement encounters.
  • Promote mutual understanding and respect between individuals with disabilities and first responders.

Unique Features

  • Designed to be visual and interactive.
  • Encourages role-playing and real-life practice, often in collaboration with actual officers.
  • Helps prevent dangerous misunderstandings by improving communication and awareness.

Executive Functioning Support at DEPS

At Developmental & Educational Psychological Services (DEPS), we provide comprehensive assessments and treatment for Executive Functioning challenges, overseen by a multidisciplinary team including BCBA’s, Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs), and Occupational Therapists (OTs). This collaborative approach is designed to address the cognitive and behavioral skills that enable individuals to manage tasks, regulate emotions, and achieve success in various life areas

Program Overview

  • Assessment Process: Executive functioning assessments typically take 1 hour and include both parent questionnaires and standardized tests administered to the child. The evaluations are customized based on age and specific needs, with BCBA’s utilizing a standardized evaluation, followed by assessments targeting other relevant areas.
  • Duration: Treatment duration varies based on the complexity of the individual’s needs, typically lasting between 3 to 12 months, with an average of 6 months of therapy.

Expected Outcomes

Upon completion of the program, individuals can expect improvements in:

  • Academic Performance
  • Time Management
  • Organization for Academic Tasks
  • Attention and Focus
  • Emotional Regulation
  • Problem-Solving Skills