Valerie R. Strauss, OT-RL, AT-C

Pediatrics Occupational Therapist

Ms. Valerie R. Strauss is a Pediatrics Occupational Therapist in Brunswick, OH with special training and skill in helping physically or mentally disabled children develop cognitive, motor, social, and self-care skills. As a Pediatrics Occupational Therapist, Valerie R. Strauss, OT-RL, AT-C performs educational and physical learning exercises with children disabled by injury or illness. Pediatric Occupational Therapy is a medical specialty dedicated to helping disabled children gain personal independence by improving sensory, motor, visual perception, and social interaction skills. Significant diseases and conditions treated by Pediatric Occupational Therapists include impairments resulting from birth injuries or defects, sensory processing disorders, traumatic injuries, autism, childhood arthritis, spina bifida, multiple sclerosis (MS), Parkinson's disease, cerebral palsy, and many other conditions that affect children's motor and learning skills. Medical tests, procedures and therapies provided by Pediatric Occupational Therapists include play therapy, handwriting exercises, motor planning, gross motor coordination, sensory modulation, visual perception skills, and parental education.

Occupational therapists provide services to infants, toddlers and children who have or who are at risk for developmental delays or disabilities. Occupational therapy is concerned with a child's ability to participate in daily life activities or "occupations." Occupational therapists use their unique expertise to help children with social-emotional, physical, cognitive, communication, and adaptive behavioral challenges and to help children to be prepared for and perform important learning and school-related activities and to fulfill their rule as students. Through an understanding of the impact of disability, illness, and impairment on a child's development, plan, ability to learn new skills, and overall occupational performance, occupational therapists design interventions that promote healthy development, establish needed skills, and/or modify environments, all in support of participation in daily activities.

Athletic Trainer

Athletic trainers are allied health care professionals who work in consultation with or under the direction of physicians, and specialize in the prevention, assessment, treatment and rehabilitation of injuries and illnesses. Currently, the entry-level employment requirements are a bachelor's degree with a major in athletic training from an accredited university or college. A majority of athletic trainers hold advanced degrees. National board certification is generally required as a condition of state licensure and employment. Most states regulate athletic trainers, and they practice within the scope of that license or regulation. Clinical practice includes emergency care, rehabilitation, reconditioning, therapeutic exercise, wellness programs, exercise physiology, kinesiology, biomechanics, nutrition, psychology and health care administration.