Megan Miller, owner of Polka Dot Kids and pediatric therapist, has a background working in a large children’s hospital setting and also in a school environment before deciding to open up her own clinic. At Polka Dot Kids, Miller offers children with an individualized approach, while also helping avoid burnout for herself and any other therapists she may take on in the future.
“I have a bigger spectrum that I can target out here,” Miller said.
Prior to her previous work experience as a therapist, Miller earned her undergraduate in psychology from the University of Toledo and worked as a preschool teacher before she went into occupational therapy.
“It kind of combines everything that I love. It’s the psychology part, it’s the physical, the biomechanical piece,” Miller said. “You get to be super creative and fun with it, too. So then I applied, and got into East Carolina University.”
Miller works with all ages of children with special needs and other developmental issues, from infants, toddlers, and adolescents up to teens who are leaving high school and need help with life skills or job- and work-related skills. Her patients can include children with autism, developmental disabilities, and/or physical disabilities or injuries, such as from a stroke or a car accident.
“It really depends on like what the deficit is, so if it has to do with like musculature, we’re going to work on strengthening,” Miller said. “If it has to work on handwriting, we’re going to be working on coordination and vision. If it’s like autism, we’re going to be working on a lot of sensory things.”
For kids with down syndrome or cerebral palsy, Miller will focus on strengthening and then looking at how their environment can be adapted so it is easier for them to navigate.
“The big one in schools is handwriting, so we do a lot of table top type of stuff, but the biggest thing is really getting the whole body involved and doing different kinds of movements with the kids, because nowadays, they’re so sedentary in their play, their body systems aren’t integrating the same way,” Miller said. “It leads to difficulties the school work or self-regulation, like them misbehaving because they can’t figure out their body yet.”
Doctors are also seeing an increase of kids with vision issues due to screens, so Miller is growing her own skills and continuing her education by taking a course right now for a vision therapy, studying how to re-strengthen and reconnect that brain eye connection.
“There’s so much that we do, and there’s so many different ways you can tackle it and each therapist has their own approach and activities that they like that they think helps the most,” she said.
Parents or guardians of kids with special needs or other issues they feel may benefit from occupational therapy can reach out to Polka Dot Kids for a free screening.
“They could just call and we could either set up a free screen where we can discuss their concerns and see if I’m seeing those deficits,” Miller said. “And then from there, we can move on to a full evaluation and then therapy, and if they already have an evaluation, then I can just build off of that.”
To receive occupational therapy in Ohio, a referral is not needed from a pediatrician, but it is helpful for insurance purposes, Miller said.
Early intervention is beneficial for addressing children’s needs, she said.
“If families feel like there might be something off or something wrong, attacking it earlier rather than later is better for the kids because you don’t want that gap to get bigger and bigger,” Miller said.
For more information, visit polkadotdays.com. Miller’s website also includes a blog with information, tips, and tricks to help with kids.
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