Pediatric Physical Therapist

Parent Q&A

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  • Hi,

    We’re looking for a pediatric PT for our 2 year old. Ideally one that makes home visits but we’re open to traveling within Berkeley. 
    Thank you! 

    Our son (18 mo) has worked with Gail Gordon since he was about 9 months old. She is an incredible therapist and he has made amazing progress. She comes to our home and now goes to his daycare as well to give his caregivers some support and suggestions. She is contracted as a vendor through RCEB as well so if your insurance options are limited, you could get the services free through the regional center. Please feel free to message me directly for her info and to talk all things regional center if you'd like. 

  • Does anyone have a recommendation for a private, in-home pediatric physical therapist?  We have regional center PT coming once a week (as well as OT, vision and child development), but we would ideally like someone to come multiple days per week for more intensive therapy for our globally delayed baby.

    Thank you for any leads!

    When our son was about 4-month old, we had Emily Noonan for a in-home visit to see how to adjust our son's left-right imbalance. She was good with babies and gave a lot of useful information. You might want to give her a try. I think she works at Childrens and also has a private practice in Alameda. 

    emily [at] emilynoonandpt.com

    Have you discussed your wish for additional therapy with your regional center PT (assuming you like them)?  Regional Center will sometimes approve therapy for more than once a week if it seems needed and justified; the PT would have to write a specific recommendation, which may or may not be approved, or could be approved for a specified amount of time to see if it helps. You already have a lot of different people coming, and it can be overwhelming for you (and your baby) to keep switching between different people and different styles.  

  • Pediatric PT

    Dec 7, 2018

    Hello Parents! 

    I am looking for a good pediatric PT in the East Bay for my 8 week old daughter. Does anyone have any recommendations? Thank you!!

    Yes! Graciela Pagano at Baby Builders on Piedmont Ave in Oakland is absolutely wonderful. It is hard to get through on the phone, but send an email and you will get a response. She also bills insurance directly, which is amazing.

    Hi- My 6month old son has been going to Baby Builders on Piedmont Ave and seeing the main PT there Graciela. She is fantastic- super knowledgeable and really gentle with him and i learn a lot from her about baby development and how to support him at home. I highly recommend her. Please reach out to me directly if you want to talk more about my experience there. I suggest calling them to make an apt at (510) 388-3664. Also, they take insurance which is great and wasn't the case for some of the PT's I found in my search. good luck! 

    We really liked the PTs we saw at Kaiser Oakland. Heather was great and from what I saw, the whole team was top notch too.

    If your daughter needs PT due to possible delays in development, you can also contact the Regional Center of the East Bay for a free assessment and, if qualified, PT.  Many of the PTs are very good, but know that if you are assigned someone that is not a good fit, for your family you have the right to request a new one (of course, subject to availability).

  • Pediatric PT for Torticollis

    Jun 28, 2018

    Hello parent friends! Our 12 week old has a right side head lying bias - Dr indicated due to tight RH neck muscle (torticollis) and recommended PT. Have a referral at CH/ Oakland but can't get appt for 6 weeks - looking for alternatives Can anyone suggest a ped physical therapy provider that you had a good experience with?  Much thanks Freddy

    Have you considered cranio sacral treatment? Nancy Burke is wonderful and works with babies. It is a very gentle treatment, but effective.  I had it in pregnancy for back pain and brought my baby in with tightness in jaw that was interfering with latching and we saw improvement quickly.

    It can be used in combination with PT, chiropractic, etc.. and is not invasive.

    I noticed she moved to El Sobrante but she is worth the drive. http://www.nancyburkecst.com/index.html

    I would also recommend cranio-sacral treatment. Our daughter had a slight torticolis and we worked with Trisha Parrish located in North Berkeley for a few sessions with 100% success. Trisha is highly skilled and has a lovely, gentle way with babies and moms (dads too!). Over those tender months she helped our baby overcome multiple ear infections without needing antibiotics as well as the torticolis, and we had similar positive experiences when we brought our second child in for same issues. Trisha can be reached via Elixir Salon on Hopkins: 510-527-1700.

    Dr Meg Jett is an Osteopath who's also a pediatrician (DOs have full license to practice medicine like MDs).  She did her rez at Kaiser and worked under one of the most experienced pediatric osteopaths, Margaret Sorrell. I would to go to her. Osteopaths who specialize in cranial osteopathy have far more formal training than most cranial-sacral therapists.  We took our son to her to deal with a similar issue, and to help his ears drain to avoid infection and antibiotics. I would recommend her.

  • Physical Therapist for baby?

    May 18, 2018

    My 9 month old baby has gross motor delays and we need to see a PT. There are only a few archived reviews- anyone have a recommendation? We live in Alameda and work in Oakland so would prefer someone near this area. Thank you.

    Contact the Regional Center.

    https://www.dds.ca.gov/RC/rc380.cfm  Your pediatrician's office should be working with you on this.

    You could start with Regional Center for EI services, I also highly recommend Baby Builders on Piedmont Ave if you want to get started sooner, my insurance wasn’t accepted but I could submit for partial reimbursement, they are wonderful! 

Archived Q&A and Reviews


Questions


Pediatric PT or OT at Kaiser

June 2013

Our daughter's daycare provider is concerned that she is not developing enough truck strength (falling out of chairs, w sitting, etc.) and has recommended that she see a physical therapist or occupational therapist. We really can't afford to pay out of pocket for the person they usually work with so are thinking about going through Kaiser. Does anyone in the BPN community have experience with successfully getting pediatric PT/OT at Kaiser? Any PTs or OTs to try and see and/or avoid? Any tips for getting a Kaiser pediatrician to make the referral? (we love our pediatrician, but she has not been super receptive to these kids of subtle gross motor development issues in the past) Any advice or tips are much appreciated. Thanks


My son received PT at Kaiser Richmond at age four and we were very happy with the service. Alyson Zuppero was the PT and all it took was our pediatrician writing an referral. If you go to your pediatrician with a letter from the school saying that the teachers recommend a PT screen at the very least, that should do the trick to start you off. Once Alyson meets your child, she should be able to determine whether ongoing services are warranted and make it easy to access if so. Good luck! Amy


Alyson is no longer at Kaiser. She moved. I would recommend Stacey Roura in Oakland. Kaiser pediatrician can refer your son for evaluation. That should not be a problem. All the pediatric subspecialty are in Oakland, either in the Mosswood building or in the new building on Broadway. Juliet


PT for 3.5 yo

Jan 2011

I'm looking for a recommendation for a PT for my 3.5 year old. He has mild low tone which is expressed through some stumbling while walking/running, less strength and stamina, balance challenges. I'm in Berkeley, and so far I have a recommendation for Ariel Kozen. Any other recommendation would be greatly appreciated. ISO of PT


I would HIGHLY recommend Sara Stutz, PT (510-375-5420) to work with your son. Sara is incredibly patient, creative, and highly skilled. She started working with my now 10 year old son when he was just about 2.5 years old. He has low tone, motor planning challenges, sensory issues, social skills issues, rigidity, etc, and Sara has helped him tremendously in all of these areas in her PT sessions. My son was sometimes resistant and Sara created lots of motivating games/scenarios geared to his specific interests that incorporated his goals. As he got older she consulted on site at his school helping the staff and his peers include him more seamlessly in lunchtime and PE games. The difference in his willingness to participate and skills(!!) over the years is really remarkable. I would definitely call Sara. anon