What is Pediatric OT?

As a Pediatric Occupational Therapist (OT), my goal is to facilitate and stimulate your child’s physical, cognitive, and sensory skills so they can function more independently in all their “occupations.” A child’s occupations are the day-to-day activities of their life like meeting developmental milestones, play, making friends and self-care.

Do you notice your child has frequent outbursts, seems unnaturally sensitive to sounds, tastes, or texture, or is severely aversive to specific tasks? What looks like a bad day, a bad choice, or a bad attitude might actually be red flag signs that your child could benefit from OT.

Although pediatric OTs most frequently treat toddlers to teenagers, they are trained to treat every patient of any age. If you’re concerned about your child’s skill development, OccuPlaytional Therapy for Kids has the individualized support parents want and the fabulously fun, play-based sessions children crave.

About

We help your kids feel better

Hello! I’m Tracey Dondzila. I’m a certified occupational therapist with 20 years of focus in the pediatric realm. I am certified in Floortime DIR, Integrated Listening System, Interactive Metronome, Therapeutic Listening, and Quickshifts. I have extensive training and experience working with sensory integration disorders. I have a particular passion for handwriting remediation, having dealt with my own children’s struggles in this area.
After serving patients in various locations throughout Atlanta and surrounding neighborhoods, I established OccuPlaytional Therapy in 2022 to offer a permanent location for my services. OccuPlaytional Therapy offers play-based therapy for children of all ages.

Services

The Nuts & Bolts

  • A developmental screening which provides a general, peer-comparative overview of your child’s development in fine motor, gross motor, visual motor integration, and other school-readiness skills
  • Can be a helpful first step to determine if a full, formal occupational therapy evaluation is needed
  • Screenings are typically performed at your child’s school and will include direct and indirect assessment methods

The Bigger Picture

  • Provides a comprehensive evaluation of your child’s strengths and weaknesses
  • One evaluation session typically lasts 1.5 hours, plus a parent follow-up meeting to review the findings and recommendations
  • A written Plan of Care will summarize findings and recommendations, providing individualized therapy goals

Treatment Sessions

One-Hour Clinic Sessions will include:

  • 50 minutes of direct, hands-on treatment
  • 10 minutes of indirect treatment time for documentation, sanitizing, parent recap, and Q&A
  • Play-based structure in a child-oriented environment
  • Emphasis on self-directed and intrinsically motivated tasks
  • FUN!

The Lefty/Righty

  • A handwriting-only assessment with cursive or print/manuscript evaluation based on request
  • The evaluation typically takes 45-60 minutes
  • A written report with recommendations is provided

Handwriting Heroes:

  • An after-school program that provides individualized writing and pre-writing skill enhancement
  • Focus is on the building blocks of fluid handwriting
  • Small group format allows for individual goals for each student
  • Call for more information and to inquire about upcoming locations

About

I graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor’s degree in Occupational Therapy in 1988. While my early career in Texas and California focused on adults, I have been dedicated to the pediatric realm for the last 20 years.  The dream of opening my own physical space has bounced around in my car with me for many years while I operated as an itinerant therapist, traveling to schools, client’s homes, and other clinics. I am beyond thrilled and honored to open OccuPlaytional Therapy for Kids in the community I have called home for so long, one which has supported and trusted me in my passion for working with children. 

I am certified in Floortime DIR, Integrated Listening System, Interactive Metronome, Therapeutic Listening, and Quickshifts.  I have extensive training and experience working with sensory integration disorders.  I have excellent relationships with other wonderful occupational therapy practices in and around Atlanta, and I will absolutely direct you to one of them if I feel I cannot adequately address your child’s needs.

When not working, I enjoy reading, taking care of my home and yard, family game nights, exercising, and trying to tire out my very large, rambunctious dog.

Stacey Voogd
I have had the privilege of teaming up with Tracey Bell at our school with our kindergarten kids. As a teacher of young children for 25 years, I find Tracey to be an asset to students, parents, and me. She has worked wonders with the student’s fine motor skills, and she always does it in fun and creative ways. Parents rave about her ability to help their child, and they tell me their children love to go to the Handwriting Heroes program. Tracey is a wealth of knowledge for me as well, and helps me with early identification of fine motor and sensory issues in my students. We love Ms. Tracey and we think you will too!
Heather Howard
I worked with Tracey for 5 years in a preschool. Although I have changed jobs, I refer everyone to Tracey that I can who needs OT. She's amazing and knows her stuff! Her wealth of knowledge and ability leaves many with better understanding and hope for their child. She's thorough, passionate, conscientious, and works well with all types of families. She's an excellent communicator who works hard to help kids and parents see the positive in their progress. I've witnessed her handle some challenging situations with patience, taking her time to educate parents and provide extra support for parents to have a better understanding of their child's challenges while continuing to encourage, praise and challenge a child. If you want to understand your child and see progress, I would highly recommend Tracey!!
Hailee Sanders
I cannot say enough wonderful things about our experience with Tracey. She creates a positive and welcoming environment that instantly makes you and your child feel comfortable. She is creative, engaging and clearly passionate about her work. She has helped me understand my child’s needs and has helped developed a custom plan for my child to feel successful in his daily life.
Kirsten Bendeck, MD
What a gem Tracey has been! We first got to know Tracey from Oak Grove Children’s School where she worked with the whole preschool. Both my daughters love, love, love Tracey. She is fun, approachable and kind-hearted. She held an afterschool program, Handwriting Heroes which works on all the occupational therapy tricks, from grip positioning to correct letter formation. Who knew someone could make handwriting so much fun? We were so grateful when she flexed to one-on-one virtual when the covid pandemic hit. She even made that fun. We are sad to graduate from pre-school because of the tremendous benefit of Tracey.
Stream Pickett
In all honesty I can’t thank Tracey enough for her knowledge,wisdom, and insight into helping my daughter with her developmental delays. I never once felt like my child was a label. Tracey got on my daughters level and kept encouraging her to move past her limitations. My daughter is thriving now physically and emotionally, and so much of her growth is because of the foundations Tracey laid for her. I am so glad she is a part of our support team.
Amanda Griffin
Tracey is an OT like no other we have ever worked with here in Atlanta. She forms a real and authentic connection with the child she is working with that makes a substantial difference in the therapy process. Tracey has so much experience and knowledge, anyone who gets a time slot to have her child work with her should know that you’re in good hands. My son Davis always requests to see Tracey whenever he has school breaks.
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