Page 46 - South Mississippi Living - April, 2024

46 | April 2024 www.smliving.net | SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living
Helping Children to Reach Developmental
Milestones and Their Full Potential
story by Cherie Ward photos by Arielle Victoria
Whether she’s working with a baby who is having difficulty breastfeeding due to a tongue restriction or helping a toddler who is having trouble learning to speak correctly, Lori Kilpatrick has a passion for her patients’ care and their parents’ peace of mind.
When a patient has a need, she and her amazing team at Lori Kilpatrick Pediatric Therapy dedicate time and care to collaborate, unravel, and decipher the problem. The facility has dedicated multidiscipline therapists including speech- language pathologists, feeding specialists, and physical and occupational therapists. “Our multidisciplinary in-house approach ensures your child can receive all the services they need in one place by therapists who are collaborating together to help your child reach their goals,” said Kilpatrick, owner and speech pathologist.
A common misconception is that pediatric therapy is only for children who need help with speech and language. However, the services are much broader and include support for children from birth to young adulthood in all areas of development. These areas include gross and fine motor skills, social skills,
sensory processing deficits, tongue tie and feeding problems, and more.
“We address a wide variety of developmental skills,” Kilpatrick said. “One area many children struggle with
is sensory processing. Sensory Processing Disorder is a neurological disorder that results from the brain’s inability to properly regulate the sensory system. Sometimes children who experience sensory processing difficulties are unable to tolerate the way clothes feel, or they may only eat certain flavors or textures of foods, limiting their diet and nutritional intake. Our occupational therapists and feeding therapists work together
to help these children improve their sensory processing and feeding skills, which is life changing for so many families.
Occupational therapy also addresses delays in fine motor skills such as buttoning clothes, handwriting and tying shoes. Physical therapy includes gross motor skills like walking, crawling, and sitting up as well as tightness and body restrictions in newborns. “It’s so important to intervene early rather than take a wait and see approach,” says Kilpatrick. “We see much better progress when deficits or delays are