Frequently Asked Questions

Occupational therapists (OTs) help people perform optimally in their OCCUPATION. Think of a toddler or child. What is their occupation? Well, it includes eating, drinking, playing, socializing, dressing themselves, toileting… among many other things! The OTs at Prickly Pear Pediatric Therapy specifically specialize in working with autism, ADD, ADHD, fine motor skills, handwriting, gross motor skills, and sensory integration.

Our office space is located in the heart of downtown St. George, Utah at 168 North 100 East. Many of our clients live in St. George, but we also see clients from Santa Clara, Ivins, Hurricane, LaVerkin, Cedar City, Mesquite, and beyond! The best location for each client will be determined on a case-by-case basis, but most sessions are typically conducted in our comfortable treatment (play!) rooms in downtown St. George.

In our treatment process, we truly lay out the “red carpet” in terms of the individualized attention and care you will receive. We have much more freedom as private practice therapists than school-based therapists who have to abide by specific evaluation, treatment, and caseload parameters placed upon them. The entire treatment process will be catered to exactly what YOUR child needs and what makes the most sense for YOUR specific situation. This often means that we can make progress towards your child’s goals MUCH faster than school-based therapy. Rather than getting pulled out of important teaching content at school, and potentially in a group therapy setting, your child will receive one-on-one specialized therapy. In addition, you as the parent have the opportunity to observe and even participate in every session at Prickly Pear Pediatric Therapy so that you can carry over the activities at home to make progress even faster.

Nearly all of our sessions are conducted in person. We love and prefer to be in person with our clients, yet we do have the ability to utilize teletherapy for a variety of reasons; including when a client or family member is sick, traveling for extended periods of time, or as a way to see a client for quick 15-minute rapid-fire therapy session throughout the week. In addition, teletherapy can be especially beneficial in coaching parents on how to implement strategies at home.

By and large though, you can expect to see us in person if that is the answer you were hoping for!

No, we do not. We are currently private pay only and do not work directly with any insurance companies. We believe we can provide the best services for YOU when we are working directly for YOU, rather than jumping through the hoops of the world of insurance. Upon request, we can provide you with a “superbill” that you may submit to your insurance to seek reimbursement for our services. We recommend calling your insurance to see if they cover any therapy services for out-of-network providers.

Yes! Many of our clients use an HSA card to pay for our services.

We understand that raising kids is expensive. And yet we know that you are concerned about your child’s ability to communicate with the world and you want to do whatever you can to help! Here are a few ideas:

1. While we love to get to continue working with clients that we grow to care for and love, our ultimate goal is not to keep you in therapy forever! We understand that therapy expenses add up, and we want to help you get the most “bang for your ‘buck.’” As such, we tailor each child’s treatment schedule to make the most progress as quickly as possible. Sometimes that means that we opt for once-a-month parent coaching sessions where we give you individualized strategies and activities to target your child’s goals. And other times, we shoot for more of an intense approach for 3 months followed by an “off-season” to see if continued therapy is truly warranted. Ultimately, we promise to keep your child’s best interest developmentally (as well as your pocketbook!) in mind and help your child “graduate” from therapy as soon as possible!

2. GRANTS! Did you know there are multiple resources out there just waiting to pay for your child’s necessary therapy expenses? We are so thankful for the generous grants we have worked with, and we would love to share our insight with you about how to access these FREE resources. Message us today to get access to our curated list of grants!

3. “Thanks, Biden!” We had a parent recently who lightheartedly said, “we’re getting an extra $550 per month from Biden’s new stimulus plan, which is great – we can just put that directly towards our son’s speech therapy! Thanks, Biden!” All jokes aside, we are thankful for the sacrifices our families make to prioritize their children’s communication development and for entrusting their therapy progress to Prickly Pear Pediatric Therapy!

YES! We are always on the lookout for SLPs, PTs, OTs, social media managers, and administrative assistants who may be a good fit for our practice. If you are interested in joining our fun team and like what you see in Prickly Pear Pediatric Therapy, send your resume to info@pricklypearkids.com. We would love to chat!

YES! We are passionate about staying up-to-date on the latest research, and there are many emerging studies revealing the efficacy of a more intensive therapy dosage. What does this mean? It means that some research studies have demonstrated that a child makes MORE progress when they attend a high number of treatment sessions during the first 1-2 weeks, followed by less frequent treatment sessions during the following weeks. We have begun to implement this with some clients, and we are so pleased with the results! Contact us today if you are interested in discussing this more.

While our clinic does not provide ABA therapy, we highly recommend that occupational therapy and speech-language therapy be incorporated into the wholistic treatment plan for your autistic child! If you are unsure if or why therapy from an SLP or OT may be helpful, we would love to discuss this with you more on the phone during our free consultation phone call to explain the research-based results from occupational therapy and speech therapy.