Share the background of BOOST Kids.
I opened BOOST Kids in Spring 2018. I have a master's degree in occupational therapy and had been working as a pediatric occupational therapist in outpatient clinics for more than four years at that point. My husband Brian and I had our first child, Acton, in October 2016. Following my maternity leave, we began to discuss opening our own clinic, a goal of mine since I was in graduate school. My husband was redeveloping the Thomas Jefferson Tower, which has commercial space on the ground level. We felt it was the perfect opportunity to dive in and open BOOST Kids.
What is the BOOST philosophy?
The purpose of BOOST Kids is to provide services to children who need assistance or “a boost” toward independence in a variety of areas, including self-care, school skills and play/social/leisure. We do that by evaluating and then improving developmental skills that are needed for kids to engage in age-appropriate activities. We also educate families and caregivers on how to engage with their children and help them progress toward their goals. Specialty areas include feeding therapy for picky eating or children with limited diets; handwriting help; sensory integration therapy; social skills and emotional regulation to improve engagement with others; and assistance with fine motor skills.
How has BOOST evolved over the last few years?
When BOOST Kids opened in 2018, I was the only employee and therapist. As we grew and more families began to learn of our services, I was able to bring on two part-time therapists. Prior to COVID-19, we could work with two children at a time in our current office space. The new office will have four treatment rooms and a therapy gym so we can offer more appointment times and provide services to more families. Also, the new location on Oxmoor Road in Homewood is in a wonderful, family-friendly location with off-street parking, which parents will love.
How do parents find out about services offered?
Typically, parents hear about our services from their pediatrician if they recommend occupational therapy services for developmental delay, handwriting, sensory integration, feeding therapy, etc. We have also provided OT screenings at local preschools, and depending on the results of the screening we will recommend an evaluation to parents. Now that we have been open almost three years, we also have current and previous clients refer us to family and friends, which is much appreciated!
What do you plan to accomplish in the new location?
The goal of the new location is to provide therapy services to more children and families in Birmingham, Homewood and surrounding areas. We are hoping to add speech therapy services in 2021. With the larger space, we are brainstorming ways to safely provide group programming to children, such as Social Skills groups, cooking groups to address feeding sensitivities, Handwriting Camp and more. We hope to provide these services in an after-school setting — for example, every Monday in March from 4 until 5 p.m. — and also as summer camps. We’re also hoping to add small group children's yoga classes at the new location. We previously taught children's yoga at daycares and elementary schools as after-school programming but would love to be able to offer it on-site so more children can register.
Any grand opening plans?
We don’t have a date set, but all of the renovations of the space are complete. We plan to be fully moved in and ready the first week in January. If anyone is interested in joining the waiting list for an evaluation or applying for an occupational or speech therapy position, they can email office@boostbirmingham.com.
"We are hoping to add speech therapy services in 2021. With the larger space, we are brainstorming ways to safely provide group programming to children ..."
