Occupational Therapy in Park Ridge, Illinois
At our Park Ridge clinic, pediatric OT looks like play: a sensory gym, fine motor stations, and space to climb, swing, and practice. Ages 18 months to 14 years.
Most Park Ridge families come to us after months of OT that went nowhere. At CST Academy, your child works one-on-one with a licensed occupational therapist who builds every session around what is actually getting in the way at home, in class, and at recess. Most families get started without a long wait.
Licensed Pediatric Occupational Therapists
BCBS PPO Accepted
No Referral Needed
Get a call back in 24 hours
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A 60-minute play-based evaluation at our Park Ridge clinic gives you answers. No referral or diagnosis needed, and we verify your coverage upfront.
What Occupational Therapy in Park Ridge Looks Like at CST Academy?
Occupational therapy works best when it does not happen in a vacuum. At CST Academy, your child's OT sits in the same building as their speech therapist, behavior analyst, and physical therapist, so a strategy that works in one session shows up in the others within the week. That is what changes how fast your child progresses.
How We Approach Occupational Therapy:
Each session runs 45 to 60 minutes, one-on-one with a compassionate occupational therapist, targeting what is getting in the way at home or in the classroom. Younger children explore the sensory gym and build body awareness that carries into everything else. Elementary-age children practice handwriting, using scissors properly, putting on clothes, and the regulation skills they need through the school day.
What Makes Our Program Different:
Four things set our Park Ridge OT apart from a standalone clinic, and each one is why progress shows up at home, not just in the session.
Integrated Care Model.
What helps your child in an OT session does not stay there. Their speech therapist and behavior analyst hear about it the same week.
Real-Environment Practice.
Sessions look like your child's actual day: packing a lunchbox, hanging a coat, trying a new texture, or organizing a backpack before school.
Weekly Adjustments.
What worked last week, what needs more time, and what the teacher flagged all shape your child's plan before the next session.
Parent Coaching at Every Visit.
Every visit ends with one or two strategies your family practices that week, so the gains keep showing up at home, at school, and at recess.
Address
5505 N Cumberland Ave, Chicago, IL 60656
Phone
(773) 620-7800
Hours
Monday to Thursday: 8AM to 6PM
Friday 8AM to 5PM
Occupational Therapy in Park Ridge: A Five-Step Path That Respects Your Schedule
From your first call to your child's evaluation, these five steps fit your week, not ours.
YOUR CHILD'S PROGRAM
From First Phone Call to OT That Makes a Difference
Most Park Ridge parents call us frustrated and out of answers. The first call is quick: you share what you are seeing, we say whether OT is the right next step. If it is, we hold an evaluation slot that fits your week, and the open questions get answered early.
Schedule a Free Consultation
Steps
1
Consultation.
Call (773) 620-7800 or complete our online form. Tell us what you have noticed at home, at mealtimes, or on the playground. No referral or diagnosis needed.
2
Insurance Check and OT Match.
Verify your benefits with our billing team, get a one-page coverage summary, and meet an OT whose strengths fit your child's profile.
3
OT Evaluation.
Bring your child in for a 60-minute play-based evaluation. By the end, you know which skills the OT targets first and what a realistic schedule looks like.
4
Start of Therapy.
Begin sessions within two to four weeks of your first call. Each week, the OT picks the goal most likely to show a difference by the next visit.
5
Progress Tracking and Home Practice.
Get a recap at pickup of what happened, what your child responded to, and one strategy to try at home.
One Phone Call Tells You Whether OT Is the Right Next Step
No referral, no diagnosis, no commitment. Just a straight answer about your child and what comes next.
Signs Your Child May Benefit from Occupational Therapy in Park Ridge
Some Park Ridge families call after a teacher's note, some after a pediatrician flag, some just on a hunch from home. The eight signs below are the ones we see most. If two or more sound like your child, give us a call.
Your child takes noticeably longer with pencil grip, scissors, and zippers than their siblings or other children their age.
Your child has trouble tolerating a clothing tag, a shoe seam, an unfamiliar food texture, or a noisy room.
Your child's morning routine, dinner, and bedtime are a consistent struggle at home.
Your child trips or stumbles more than other children their age and has trouble keeping up on the playground or staying steady on a bike.
Your child consistently struggles to stay seated, stay focused, and make it through the school day.
Your child's writing assignments end in frustration, or their letters and numbers come back too messy to read.
Your child gets stuck halfway through tasks with multiple steps: packing a bag, finishing chores, or following a few directions in a row.
Your child's teacher or pediatrician has flagged a concern about their motor skills or self-regulation.
Two or more of these signs usually point to something occupational therapy is built to address. No diagnosis or referral needed to start. A free consultation tells you whether OT makes sense for your child right now, with no commitment either way.
Talk to a Licensed Occupational Therapist
What if my child already gets OT through their IEP at school?
School-based OT and clinic-based OT are different. School OT is usually 15 to 30 minutes a week and focused on classroom participation. Sessions at our Park Ridge clinic are 45 to 60 minutes and target the wider set of skills that affect home, mealtimes, and play. Many of our families do both, and we coordinate with the school OT at your request.
Our family speaks two languages at home. Does that change how OT works?
It does not change anything for the OT itself. Occupational therapy is built around motor, sensory, and daily-life skills, rather than language acquisition. Your therapist explains every session and home practice strategy in clear, everyday language, and the strategies translate cleanly to whichever language your family uses at the dinner table or bedtime routine.
We tried OT somewhere else, and it did not work. Why try again here?
Most Park Ridge parents who switch to us tell us the prior clinician was working in isolation. Our occupational therapists coordinate with our own speech therapists, behavior analysts, and physical therapists in the same building. When goals overlap across disciplines, the team compares notes, so your child is not starting over with a stranger every few months.
Meet Your Park Ridge Occupational Therapy Team
Clinicians who specialize in pediatric care and collaborate across every discipline on your child's plan
Kendra M., MOT, OTR/L
Lead Occupational Therapist
Kendra leads the occupational therapy program at our Park Ridge clinic. She has advanced training in Handwriting Without Tears, primitive reflex integration, and the SOS Approach to Feeding. Her work spans sensory regulation, motor planning, executive function, self-care, and feeding skills. Her strengths-based, family-centered approach meets every child exactly where they are. She partners closely with our speech and behavior teams so the strategies that work in OT carry over to your child's other sessions too.
Maria S., OTD, OTR/L
Occupational Therapist
Maria supports the development of fine motor, sensory processing, self-regulation, and self-care skills in children with a wide range of abilities. Her clinical focus is sensory processing and self-care, and she uses play and each child's strengths to build confidence in the daily routines that matter at home and in the classroom. At our Park Ridge clinic, Maria is usually the OT new families meet first and the clinician who builds the first care plan with you.
Colleen D., M.S.
Coordinating Speech-Language Pathologist
Colleen partners with Maria across the Park Ridge clinic schedule. When your child's OT goals brush up against speech work, oral motor strength that affects feeding and articulation, attention strategies that surface in both rooms, the two of them swap notes between visits so the gains in one room show up in the other within the week.
You start with one therapist and one focused plan. Add a service later, and you get the same client success team, shared notes when goals overlap, and a coordinated team behind your child. No second intake, no learning curve.
Meet Your Child's OT. Schedule a Free Consultation.
Let's Talk About Your Child
A few details are all we need to get started. Our client success team calls you back within one business day to answer questions, check your coverage, and map out next steps.
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What Park Ridge Families Say About Occupational Therapy at CST Academy
CST Academy stands out because of how well the therapists work together. Our child receives ABA, speech, and occupational therapy all in one place, and the collaboration is clear in every session. We have seen tremendous growth in communication, behavior, and social interaction. The support we receive as parents makes the entire experience even more meaningful.
CST Academy Family
Our son receives both OT and PT at CST Academy, and the teamwork between his therapists is outstanding. They coordinate goals and activities that build strength, balance, and confidence while keeping everything fun and motivating. He is now climbing, running, and playing with confidence we could only hope for before. CST truly feels like a second home to our family.
CST Academy Family
It's hard to put into words what CST Academy has meant to my son and our whole family over the past 5 years. When we found this magical place when my son was 2.5, we never looked back. It's really remarkable to think about the progress he's made in these formative years. Nowhere else will you find a place that has a true multidisciplinary approach in its mission and model. SLPs, OTs, and ABA therapists taught alongside the preschool and pre-k teachers, and his services were intertwined in his schedule seamlessly. His team truly worked together and communicated everything to each other and it took the stress off of me. CST took all of the hard stuff you face on this journey and carried it for us so we could focus on our child. We never felt alone during these years. If I could give this place more than 5 stars I would in a heartbeat.
Dina S.
Park Ridge Insurance, Enrollment, and What Your First Visit Looks Like
Insurance Accepted
In-Network
Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO
Coming Soon
Aetna
Important Note About Occupational Therapy Coverage
Illinois law requires commercial health plans to cover medically necessary occupational therapy for children. For Park Ridge families with a BCBS PPO plan, most sessions cost little to nothing out of pocket once your deductible is met. Our client success team confirms what your specific plan covers before your child's first session at our Cumberland Avenue clinic.
An OT Evaluation Is the First Step:
Before regular sessions start, your child completes a 60-minute play-based OT evaluation at our clinic. The evaluation tells you exactly which skills will be targeted first and how often your child should come in. Every child starts with this OT evaluation.
Book Your Child's OT Evaluation in Park Ridge
One licensed OT. One focused therapy plan for your child. The first step is a quick call.
Occupational Therapy FAQs for CST Academy in Park Ridge
Most Park Ridge parents who reach out have a list of worries that do not point to any obvious therapy, like trouble getting dressed or sensitivity to certain textures. Our first call walks through that list and pinpoints which ones OT is built to address. If it is a match, we book an evaluation. If not, we tell you that too and point you somewhere useful.
Pediatric Occupational Therapy for Families Across Chicago's Northwest Side
Our Cumberland Avenue clinic sits just off the Kennedy Expressway (I-90), just a quick drive of Park Ridge, Des Plaines, and the neighborhoods on Chicago's northwest side. Every service your child might need is here, so you stop driving between separate providers and start spending that time with your family.
By Car
From I-90 (Kennedy Expressway), exit at Cumberland Avenue and head north. CST Academy is at 5505 N Cumberland Ave on the west side of the street. From Park Ridge, take Higgins Road or Touhy Avenue east to Cumberland.
Parking
Free lot on-site with reserved family spaces by the front door
By CTA/Metra
The CTA Blue Line (O'Hare branch) stops at Cumberland, about 1.5 miles south. Park Ridge Metra Station on the Union Pacific Northwest Line is about two miles west, convenient for families coming from the suburbs.
Why Park Ridge Families Choose Our Integrated Care Model
Most Park Ridge children who arrive at our Park Ridge clinic for occupational therapy turn out to benefit from speech support, behavior strategies, or physical therapy at some point. At a standalone OT clinic, that means a second intake call, a second insurance verification, and a second drive across town. Worse, the new providers your family adds will not have met your child's OT.
That is not how CST Academy is set up. Your child's occupational therapist, speech-language pathologist, behavior analyst, and physical therapist all practice at the same clinic in Park Ridge. They share progress notes, compare strategies on the days your child does not have a session, and adapt the plan together when something new shows up at home or in the classroom.
Most standalone clinics cannot offer that because they only do occupational therapy. CST Academy exists to give Park Ridge families every service their child might need in one place.
One clinic, one occupational therapist, and the rest of the team your child needs already down the hall.
Your Child's Full Care Team in Park Ridge:
One Clinic. One Therapist. One Plan for Your Child.
No more driving across town between providers. Call now and we will book a Park Ridge evaluation that fits your week.
Other CST Academy Locations Near Park Ridge
Wilmette
3201 Old Glenview Rd, Wilmette, IL 60091
12 miles from Park Ridge
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Northbrook
85 Revere Dr, Northbrook, IL 60062
14 miles from Park Ridge
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Buffalo Grove
150 Half Day Rd, Buffalo Grove, IL 60089
18 miles from Park Ridge
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