Pediatric occupational therapy in Burbank, from first grasps to schoolwork
Climbing, buttoning, writing, and calming down after a loud day are all skills. A licensed occupational therapist can practice them with your Burbank child at home or over a video link. Class visits are possible as well, once you sign the consent paperwork and the school approves.
From birth to 18
Your house, a screen, or school once you and the school agree
The same one at every session
Perhaps the slide and the monkey bars look harder for your child than for the other kids at the park. Or getting dressed each morning ends in a standoff over socks and buttons. Pediatric occupational therapy in Burbank can come to your home. Occupational therapy (OT) gives a child practice with the small jobs in a day. Think grabbing, climbing, dressing, eating, and coping with noise or scratchy tags. A licensed occupational therapist turns each one into a game. No diagnosis or referral is needed.
Is Burbank in your home-visit area for OT?
Yes, we visit homes in Burbank. If a screen fits your week better, video sessions are another way, and you can change between the two at any point.
Classrooms count too: daycares, preschools, and both public and private schools. The school has to agree, and you give consent in writing before any visit. Our team then works out the details with the staff, including a suitable room. In Burbank Unified, that could mean R. L. Stevenson Elementary on Oak Street or Walt Disney Elementary on West Orange Grove Avenue. Both teach kindergarten to grade 5.
Would an office feel easier for the OT evaluation? On request, it can take place in Westlake Village, in a private and confidential Townsgate Road office. On December 1, 2026, the doors open at our clinic, 2535 Townsgate Road, with 8 treatment rooms. If your child's OT evaluation is held there, it can also use the soft play area. That space is 1,000 square feet.
Thinking about OT?
Write a few lines about what you see at home. A licensed therapist will read them, and our team will answer within one business day; small questions are fine.
Pick a Burbank home or video. A school works too, once you and the school both agree.
Pediatric occupational therapy in Burbank: what does a child practice?
Using the hands, writing, staying balanced, getting dressed, and handling noise, textures, and motion. Managing big feelings and transitions fits in as well.
For a child who avoids some sensations or craves them, there is sensory integration therapy. Pencil grip, letters, scissors, and buttons are the territory of handwriting and fine motor therapy. Developmental delay therapy covers skills that arrive later than expected. OT can also lead feeding therapy; the evaluation settles whether OT or speech takes it on.
Parent coaching comes with every plan, which lets the practice spill into breakfast, bath time, and homework.
Rachel Yashouafar, MA, OTR/L, runs the OT side and co-founded the practice. She has also worked in schools for a contracted company: three years in Conejo Valley Unified and one in Los Angeles Unified.
Does Burbank Unified provide occupational therapy at school?
Burbank Unified's special education department lists occupational therapy as one of its support services. Adapted physical education appears too, under specifically designed instruction.
The district's Horace Mann Children's Center site describes its program. It is built to help children grow their motor skills. Communication, speech and language, social, and pre-academic skills are on the list too. The goal it names is future school success. Services there are based on what the IEP team assesses and recommends. Occupational therapists are part of that team. IEP is short for Individualized Education Program.
Lanterman Regional Center's Burbank Unified page says BUSD's assessment team can include occupational therapists. A school psychologist, special education teachers, behaviorists, and speech-language pathologists can be on it too.
Private OT does not replace school services. Once you agree in writing, we are glad to work with the IEP team.
Can a Burbank child with a disability play on a sports team?
Pipers Pals may be one option. The City of Burbank calls it an inclusive adaptive sports program, run through Parks and Recreation. It gives athletes with disabilities the chance to play organized team sports.
What sets it apart, the city says, is that kids coach kids.
Parks and Recreation also offers Adaptive Drop-In Sports and Adaptive Hiking. Each year it hosts the Burbank Adaptive Sports Expo, celebrating athletes of all ages and abilities. The city also says track chairs can be reserved at Stough Canyon Nature Center, in 2-hour time slots on set days and times.
Motor planning, the skill of planning and then carrying out a movement like catching, is part of OT. If team games feel hard for your child right now, bring it up on the free call.
Where can Burbank babies and preschoolers play and explore?
Burbank Public Library's Baby Party! is one spot: an informal time to read, play, explore, and make new friends. It is for babies under 12 months, or pre-walkers, with their caregivers.
No sign-ups are needed, but space is limited.
Burbank Parks and Recreation offers preschool classes for children 5 and under. Its Parent & Child classes introduce kids to art, fitness, and exploration.
For outdoor play, George Izay Park, at 1111 W. Olive Avenue, lists a playground. So does Verdugo Park, at 3201 W. Verdugo Avenue, which lists a pool too.
If your child steers clear of the playground, or of messy crafts, that is worth mentioning on the free call.
From the first call, how fast can OT start in Burbank?
Fast. If an evaluation makes sense, a Burbank family can expect it within 3 business days of that free first conversation. Five days after that first call, a first session is possible.
Therapy may start while the report is still being written, and you can request a rush evaluation. Your written report follows the evaluation by 14 business days or less. A therapy plan comes with that report if OT is recommended.
Read about the pediatric OT evaluation in Burbank on its own page.
Burbank children, as of October 2026, can start OT at home or by video without waiting on a list.
How do Burbank parents pay for OT?
Two ways: insurance through our partner Village, if your plan qualifies, or private pay.
Village accepts TRICARE. Several major insurers' PPO plans qualify too. Your copay or deductible applies, and Village adds its own charge for every visit. Paying privately instead? You will get a superbill, and your insurer may pay some of it back out of network. Learn about insurance through Village, or look over all the payment options.
More OT questions from Burbank families
Can OT help with handwriting?
Yes, it can be the focus. What it looks like depends on age and on the evaluation. Copying dotted lines, sketching, and drawing within lines are a few examples.
Does sensory work happen by video too?
It can. With your help at home, a therapist can run sensory integration therapy over video, using methods chosen for your child's age.
How long is an OT session?
Sessions run 45 to 60 minutes. Evaluations take longer: 60 to 90 minutes.
Sherman Oaks, Studio City, and North Hollywood families can get OT from us as well. Burbank children can also have speech therapy, and our Burbank page brings every service together.
Not sure if your child needs therapy?
Start with a free 15 minute consultation. No commitment, just clarity on whether your child would benefit and what the next step looks like.
Speech therapy and occupational therapy for children ages 0 to 18.
“Kick a ball back and forth with your child. When your child is good at that, show her how to run and kick the ball.”
You know how your child handles stairs, socks, and a noisy birthday party. If some of it looks harder than it should, you are right to ask about it. Describe it to us in your own words, and we will take it from there.
Request your free 15-minute consultation
Tell us what you are noticing about your child. A licensed therapist and our team read every message. Within one business day, our team calls to learn what you need and check insurance, then sets up a free call with Nita, Rachel or both. The consultation is free, lasts about 15 minutes, and carries no obligation. There is no waiting list. If you would rather talk now, call (805) 702-3427.
Write a few lines about what you see at home. A licensed therapist will read them, and our team will answer within one business day; small questions are fine.
