Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Avital Shuster. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Avital, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory of how you established your own practice.

I started my career as a preschool teacher in New Jersey where I got introduced to pediatric therapy. I’ve always had a natural connection with kids and gravitated towards working with kids but only after I was introduced to Occupational Therapy at the preschool, did I find my calling and decided this is what I want to do.

I went to USC for both my bachelor’s and master’s degree in Occupational Therapy and started working as a pediatric occupational therapist at the Irvine Unified School District.

The idea to start my own pediatric therapy clinic began during my years at the school district. I have a deep interest in child development and wanted to make a positive impact on the lives of children facing developmental difficulties. I saw a need for a more personalized approach to therapy not just for the child but for the whole family. So, I took the leap and decided to open my own clinic.

It started slow with just seeing a few clients every week but as the number of private clients and group sessions grew, I decided to leave my job at the school district and focus solely on the clinic.

As the number of clients kept growing, I hired additional therapists and rented a large therapy gym for individual and group sessions.

We now have a therapy gym filled with suspended equipment, climbing structures, rock wall, monkey bars, and a zip line. Our clinic offers feeding therapy, speech therapy, and occupational therapy for individual and group therapy sessions.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

At Tumble N’ Dots, we specialize in a comprehensive range of pediatric therapy services designed to support children with developmental challenges. These services encompass:

Occupational Therapy: We focus on helping children develop essential skills for daily activities, such as fine and gross motor skills, sensory processing, and emotional regulation amongst other skills. Our main approach is sensory integration therapy which is child led and play based.

Speech Therapy: Our speech therapists work diligently to enhance communication skills, speech articulation, language development, apraxia of speech, and more.

Feeding Therapy: We provide specialized therapy to address feeding and swallowing difficulties and picky eating, ensuring children can participate in family mealtime routine.

Assistive Animal Therapy: We use specially trained dogs to complement our therapeutic interventions. These dogs can be a source of comfort, motivation, and emotional support for children during their therapy sessions.

Therapeutic Learning Program: Designed for children ages 3-5, our therapeutic learning program focuses on nurturing early learner’s development in a holistic way, supporting their age-appropriate skill level within a wide range of areas.  We utilize evidence-based techniques such as Sensory Integration Therapy, Handwriting without Tears, Social Thinking, and DIR/Floortime approaches to promote each child’s developmental abilities.

Social Skills and Group Therapy Programs: Our clinic offers various group therapy programs tailored to the needs of children, fostering social interactions and skill development in a supportive group setting.

What Sets Us Apart:
What distinguishes our clinic is our dedication to personalized care. We recognize the uniqueness of each child and tailor our therapy programs accordingly. We provide family-centered care and focusing on a child’s strengths to foster a trusting relationship and help fulfill their potential. Furthermore, our clinic places a strong emphasis on collaboration with parents and caregivers, empowering them with the tools and knowledge to continue supporting their child’s progress at home.

Points of Pride:
I take immense pride in the positive impact our clinic has had on the lives of numerous children and their families in Orange County. Witnessing the growth and progress of the children we work with is exceptionally rewarding. We have created a community where parents and children can come together and connect. Additionally, I’m proud of our team of passionate and dedicated therapists who share a genuine commitment to making a meaningful difference in the lives of these children.

If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?

I would not have chosen a different profession of specialty. Being a therapist is very rewarding.

We have a positive impact on children’s lives, we get to support families, witness progress, build relationships, have a long-term impact on the children we treat, and work in a fun environment. Every day is a new opportunity to help kids grow, learn, and thrive.

We get to do all this by structuring our therapy sessions around play and fostering the child’s strengths.

Seeing the smiles and excitement from our young clients and hearing the progress the families witness every week makes my day. Most families keep in touch with us years after discharge and keep us updated with ongoing progress and achievements.

I love what I do and my team shares the same passion and dedication.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

We’ve used and tried many strategies over the years. We strive to provide pediatric therapy through excellent service to all out clients and our team goes above and beyond. I get to see the impact on the children and families and I get to hear the kind words these families say about our team.

This turned out to be the most effective strategy for growing. Our past and present clients refer their friends and family members to the clinic because of the experience they had with us and that’s the best compliment we could have asked for. We’re very grateful for our clients.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.TumbleNDots.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tumblendots/
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/tumblendots
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tumblendots/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/tumble-n-dots-irvine-2