Empowering Progress

Introducing the Children's Autism Center, formerly known as Child's Play Plus. Our experienced professionals provide increased accessibility, resources, and unmatched ABA therapy tailored to your child's needs.

Discover

Child’s Play + OT

Integrating our approach

Our Occupational Therapy team helps children of all ages and abilities do the things they want and need to do through the therapeutic use of daily activities (aka occupations). Our sessions are play-based and feel more like fun than work! We use meaningful therapy strategies to reach the goals of each patient.

Occupational Therapy focuses on adapting the environment and/or task to fit the person. It is an evidence-based practice deeply rooted in science. At Child’s Play, our OT Team works directly with integrated treatment plans and goal setting alongside the ABA and Speech teams, when applicable.

 

Occupational Therapy services typically include:

  • An individualized evaluation, during which the patient, their family and the Occupational Therapist determine the patient’s goals.
  • Customized intervention plan to improve the patient’s ability to perform daily activities and reach their goals.
  • Regular progress monitoring to ensure that goals are being met and/or make changes to the intervention.

 

You may consider an Occupational Therapy evaluation if your child is:

  • Avoiding certain textures or surfaces
  • Not using both hands together when playing (ex: pretending to cook)
  • Having difficulty dressing themselves or tying their shoelaces
  • Not good at self-calming methods (like deep breathing or counting)
  • Usually avoiding eye contact
  • Struggling to achieve age-appropriate developmental milestones
  • Exhibiting issues with skills that require strength, control and dexterity of the hands
  • Having trouble with skills that require balance, strength, endurance or coordination
  • Falling behind in school
  • Having difficulties being social/socializing with others
  • Struggling to attend, understand, or complete multi-step tasks
  • Showing an inability to complete basic self-care tasks such as:
    • Bathing
    • Grooming
    • Feeding themselves
    • Exhibiting difficulty reacting appropriately to touch, taste, sounds or smells

 

 

Occupational Therapy can benefit your child if they have been diagnosed with:

  • Autism Spectrum Disorder
  • Sensory Processing Disorder
  • Developmental Delays
  • Cerebral Palsy
  • Muscular Dystrophy
  • Down Syndrome
  • Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
  • Developmental Coordination Disorder
  • Oppositional Defiant Disorder
  • Arthrogryposis
  • Brachial Plexus Injury
  • Congenital Deformities
  • Limb Deficiencies
  • Fragile X Syndrome
  • Prader-Willi Syndrome
  • General learning disabilities

 

In addition to providing therapy, each semester our clinics also host pediatric rotation clinical students in Huntington University’s doctoral program in Occupational Therapy (OTD).

Want to get started?

Start planning your first visit by clicking the button below; this takes you to our online form to fill out and submit. Once completed, a member of our Welcome Team will contact you to confirm your appointment! Join us as we play, learn and grow… at Child’s Play Plus!

Let’s get started

Your OT Clinical Team

Rebecca Allen

Rebecca Allen, COTA/L

Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant

Rebecca is a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant (COTA/L) with a bachelor’s degree from Huntington University in Occupational Therapy. As a member of our OT Team, she works to develop, improve and maintain any skill needed for our patients to live their best life possible! Rebecca’s goal is to help break down any barriers that might get in the way of living a happy and healthy life, and to offer consistent hope, encouragement, and support. With OT and ABA experience, Rebecca is a valuable asset to Child’s Play Plus!

“I am so excited and honored to help your children live their lives to their fullest potential!”  – Rebecca Allen, COTA/L

Alexandrea Springer

Alexandrea Springer, OTD, OTR/L, CEIM

Occupational Therapist

Alex joined us full-time after her fieldwork rotation was completed right here at CP+ working alongside our OT team. With an undergraduate degree in Exercise Science with a minor in Psychology from Indiana Wesleyan University and Doctorate degree in Occupational Therapy from Huntington University, she brings a wealth of knowledge to our team. During her rotations and capstone, she gained experience in pediatrics, specifically children with autism. Her specialties include her certification in Infant Massage through Infant Massage USA to teach families how to promote communication while providing nurturing touch between themselves and their infant. As a recent graduate she looks forward to refining her skills and learning from her peers, the patients and their families to provide excellent family-based care.

“I am extremely excited to serve as an occupational therapist at Child’s Play Plus. I look forward to working with you and your children to increase their independence in activities that are meaningful to you both!” – Alexandrea Springer, OTD, OTR/L, CEIM

 

Success Stories

  • Hope…. hope is the word that best sums up what Child’s Play has given not just (our son) but our whole family. A year ago things were feeling pretty hopeless. It has been so uplifting to see the progress in (his)’s level of independence, self care, independent living skills, and emotional control. Making the decision to send him to Child’s Play is one we will never regret.

    -Caregiver Review, Online
  • When looking for a school or center for a child with autism, the resources are limited when a typical school environment is not functional for your child. We came upon Child’s Play Autism Center and immediately fell in love with the one-on-one interaction for our daughter. Not only does she get one-on-one ABA therapy in her own private therapy room, she also has the opportunity to interact with other students. There are so many areas for her to “play” and learn. There is a music area, pretend play area, gross motor area, sensory area, kitchen area and so much more. She gets the chance to go shopping at the grocery store to work on social behaviors as well as takes trips to the mall. And she goes out to lunch to work on her social and public goals. All of the staff is amazing and is in constant communication as to how my daughter is doing. They are all so supportive! My daughter has excelled greatly since beginning at Child’s Play Autism Center!!! I am so thankful they are here in Ft. Wayne!

    -Caregiver Review, Online
  • As a parent it is hard to watch your child struggle and not make progress in normal child development areas such as verbal, social, emotional and academic skills. As a family we were at a level of deep frustration and didn’t know where to turn to get help. Thankfully, you made a commitment to our community to provide ABA therapy services.

    Child’s Play has provided us with an opportunity to address all of the issues our son has with a program that is comprehensive and customized. Other programs we’ve utilized only address speech when it is the allotted speech time, etc. At Child’s Play Autism Center, they formulate a unique plan for each individual child and work on deficient skills with a precise calculated strategy so your child can attain multiple goals with the completion of one task.

    More than just the therapeutic processes provided, the staff genuinely care for my child and his progress. ABA therapy has been a blessing in our life. We have a long way to go but every week we see some sort of progress in speech or behavior. Child’s Play is making a difference in our entire family’s life for the better and they are a great community asset.

    -Caregiver Review, Online
  • They are a blessing. They have done so much for my son. Couldn’t ask for anything better. You guys rock.

    -Caregiver Review, Online
  • Child’s Play Autism Centers has been coordinating with the Bowen Center on behalf of children and families in Huntington since they began in 2013. The staff are very dedicated to providing individualized treatment, explaining benefits of ABA therapy, and making every child and family who walk through the door feel comfortable. We are pleased to see the tremendous progress in the children who we referred.

    -Shelly Snyder, Director of the Huntington Bowen Center
  • My confidence in their ability to help my patients has yet to wane. Child’s Play is an amazing resource to our community.

    -Dr. Duane Hougendobler, Regional Clinical Medical Director for Parkview Pediatrics
  • They are amazing!! So happy that there is a place for my daughter to go and be challenged to meet her potential!!

    -Caregiver Review, Online
  • Our son has grown leaps and bounds under Rebecca’s supervision. He engages with his peers, has had a huge decrease in meltdowns and works daily on his difficulties on transitions. We are more than pleased with his progress and he loves being there with all his friends!

    -Caregiver Review, Online
  • They are the best! I couldn’t ask for a better place for (my son) to go to…. He went from barely being able to walk with a walk to walking independently in a matter of five months. His therapist’s Rock!!!!!!

    -Caregiver Review, Online
  • I feel incredibly blessed by my child’s support team. I pinch myself everyday when I think about how lucky we are to have found Child’s Play. My child is loved, supported, and encouraged every step of the way, and it shows–he is thriving!

    -Caregiver Review, Online
  • We love this place. We could not be any happier with the results and the huge improvement with our son. They always go more and beyond to help him. I highly recommend this place to anybody who is looking for ABA services.

    -Caregiver Review, Online