Grow. Connect. Thrive.
We provide speech, occupational, and physical therapy designed around each child's unique needs, delivered in the environments where kids already learn, play, and grow.
Speech Therapy
We use a variety of techniques to teach children the essential skills needed to be confident and successful communicators. Treatment plans and goals are developed and implemented based upon your child’s needs.
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Here at Interact Therapy, we provide comprehensive speech language evaluations in speech and language development for children of all ages. Each evaluation is performed by an SLP with a clinical certificate of competency from the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association.
We utilize a variety of standardized tests, checklists & clinical judgement in order to assess your child’s ability in all areas of speech and language development. After an initial evaluation, we will provide you with therapy and treatment recommendations that are designed to meet the needs of you and your child.
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Receptive Language: what your child understands
Semantics: understanding the meaning of words and concepts (such as big/little or in/on)
Syntax: understanding how word order in a sentence changes its meaning
Morphology: understanding how small word parts change meaning, like plurals (cat/cats) or past tense (jump/jumped)
Articulation: how clearly your child says speech sounds, and how well they hear and tell apart the sounds in words
Expressive language: how your child uses words to share their thoughts and needs
Semantics: using a variety of words to name and describe things
Syntax: putting words in the right order to form sentences
Morphology: using word endings correctly, like “-s” for more than one or “-ed” for the past
Narrative: telling a story or describing an event in an organized way
Pragmatics: using language socially, such as taking turns in conversation, staying on topic, and asking for help
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Birth-3 Months: Cries differently for different needs, smiles when sees you, and makes pleasure sounds such as cooing or gooing.
4-6 Months: Chuckles and laughs, babbles with many different sounds including p, b, and m. Makes gurgling sounds, and vocalizes excitement and displeasure.
7 Months - 1 Year: Uses non-crying sounds and speech to get and keep attention. Babbling includes both long and short groups of sounds. Imitates speech sounds and has one or two words close to first birthday, although the sounds may not be clear. Uses hand gestures to signify what they want.
1-2 Years: Says more words every month. Puts two words together ("more please," "mommy book"). Uses some one or two word questions, and uses many different consonant sounds.
2-3 Years: Has a word for almost anything. Uses k, g, f, d, and n sounds. Speech is understood by familiar people. Asks why questions. May stutter on words or sounds, and often asks for or directs attention to objects by naming them.
3-4 Years: Talks about their day using around 4 sentences at a time with each sentence having 4 or more words. Answers simple "who," "what", "where" questions and asks when and how questions. Says rhyming words. Uses pronouns like I, you, we, me, and they. Uses some plural words like birds, toys, and trucks. Speech is understood by people outside the family.
4-5 Years: Knows to repeat self if asked. Talks without repeating sounds or words most of the time. Names numbers and letters. Can tell a short story and keep conversation going. Says all speech sounds in words, but may make mistakes on sounds that are harder to say like l, s, r, v, z, s, ch, sh, and th.
Occupational Therapy
We provide pediatric occupational therapy in the Fargo-Moorhead and Grand Forks communities. These services are geared towards helping children gain independence while strengthening the development of social skills, visual-motor skills, sensory skills, and the activities of daily living that children need to be able to function and socialize with others.
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Here at Interact Therapy, we provide individualized child center services to children with various needs. We aim to work with each child to help them overcome developmental delays, achieve independence, and to meet their full potential. Our comprehensive structure is one of the reasons we're a preferred choice for pediatric occupational therapy in the Fargo-Moorhead and Grand Forks communities.
Each child is unique, so we work to create treatment techniques and therapeutic programs that are specifically designed to meet the needs of each child. We also work with parents, caregivers, teachers, and healthcare practitioners to help a child function fully no matter where they are at.
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Fine motor skills: grasping, drawing, cutting, and other hand skills
Social skills: play skills, communicating with peers, asking for help
Visual motor skills: coordinating eyes and hands, like copying shapes or handwriting
Visual perceptual skills: making sense of what the eyes see, like telling shapes apart or finding items in a picture
Daily living: increasing independence with activities like showering, brushing teeth, etc.
Sensory processing skills: how the body takes in and responds to touch, sound, movement, etc.
The use of standardized assessment tools, non-standardized assessment tools, parent interviews, and clinical observations will be used to assess each child's performance. If you're looking for pediatric occupational therapy in the Fargo-Moorhead and Grand Forks communities, then contact us today to get started.
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By 3 Months
Social/Emotional: Begins to develop a smile and imitates some movements and facial expressions.
Fine Motor: Opens and closes hands, brings their hand to mouth, and grasps things.By 7 Months
Social/Emotional: Enjoys social interaction and is happy often.
Fine Motor: Reaches with one hand, transfers object from hand to hand, uses raking of the hand to grasp objects, finger-feeds self.
Cognitive: Finds partially hidden objects and explores objects with hands and mouth.
Language: Likes to babble.By 12 Months
Social/Emotional: Is shy with strangers, shows preference for certain people and toys, tests parent responses to behaviors, and finger-feeds self.
Fine Motor: Uses pincer grasp, bangs two objects together, puts objects into container, and releases objects voluntarily.
Cognitive: Explores objects in many ways (shaking, banging, throwing, dropping), finds hidden objects easily, and begins to use objects correctly (brushing hair, drinking from cup).
Language: Responds to simple one-step verbal command with gestures, and understands “no.”By 18 Months
Social/Emotional: Separation anxiety increases and begins to show defiant behavior.
Fine Motor: Turns over container to pour out contents, spoons feeds, and uses open cup and sippy cup.
Cognitive: Imitates housework.
Language: Responds to one step command without gesture, points to body parts, points to object or picture when named for them, and says several single words.By 2 Years
Social/Emotional: Imitates behaviors of others particularly adults and older children, increasingly excited about company of other children, and their separation anxiety begins to fade.
Fine Motor: Scribbles, builds tower of 4 or more blocks, and demonstrates handedness.
Cognitive: Helps with undressing, can find objects hidden under multiple covers, begins to sort by shapes and colors, begins to engage in parallel play, begins make believe play.
Language: Follows a two-step command and uses simple phrases.By 3 Years
Social/Emotional: Imitates adults and playmates, shows affection for others, can take turns in games, expresses a wide range of emotions, and separates easily from parents.
Fine Motor: Makes lines vertically, horizontally, and scribbles circles, turns pages of a book one at a time, builds a 6 block tower, holds a crayon or pencil in writing position.
Cognitive: Makes mechanical toys work, plays make-believe with dolls and animals, participates in cooperative play, completes inset puzzles with 3-4 pieces, undresses self, and toilet training begins.
Language: Understands most sentences and understands placement in space (in, on, under).By 4 Years
Social/Emotional: Interested in new experiences, plays “mom” or “dad”, and dresses and undresses.
Fine Motor: Copies squares, draws a person with 2-4 body parts, uses scissors, draws circles and squares, and begins to copy capital letters.
Cognitive: Correctly names colors, understands concept of counting, begins to understand time, and understands the concept of “same” and “different.”
Language: Has mastered some basic rules of grammar and speaks clearly enough for others to understand them.By 5 Years
Social/Emotional: Wants to please friends, more likely to agree to rules, likes to sing, dance and act, aware of gender, and able to distinguish fantasy from reality.
Fine Motor: Copies triangle and other shapes, draws a person with a body, prints uppercase letters, cuts on line consistently, uses a fork and spoon, and cares for own toileting needs.
Cognitive: Can count 10 or more objects and knows about use of everyday items (food, money).
Language: Recalls part of a story, and can use future tense.By 6 Years
Social/Emotional: Needs to win and may change rules to suit, increasingly aware that others have feelings, shows more interest in taking care of his or her self without help, cleans his or her room, including making the bed, and likes board games, crafts and other constructive projects.
Fine Motor: Holds a pencil with three fingers with movement from fingers, copies a diamond, draws a person with detail, writes the alphabet, ties shoelaces without help, eye-hand coordination significantly improves, masters buttons and fasteners, and can cut with a knife.
Cognitive: Develops reasoning skills, learn through language and logic/reasoning, and shows a strong desire to learn.
Language: Developing reading skills well.By 7 Years
Social/Emotional: Desires to be perfect and is quite self-critical, tends to complain and has strong emotional reactions, understands the difference between right and wrong, and can take direction well.
Fine Motor: Proficient with paper and pencil tasks and is able to organize multi-step sequences.
Cognitive: Able to solve more complex problems, individual learning style becomes more clear-cut, and can solve simple math problems using objects.
Language: Uses a vocabulary of several thousand words.
Physical Therapy
We provide comprehensive physical therapy services in the Fargo-Moorhead and Grand Forks communities. Physical therapy is aimed at developing sensory and large motor foundations that are necessary for mobility and large motor skills development. It also addresses compensation techniques, the use of assistive mobility devices, and environmental adaptations needed for success in daily mobility.
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Infants, children, and adolescents
Autism
Cerebral Palsy
Muscle disease/weakness
Scoliosis
Down syndrome
Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis
Brain injuries
Torticollis
Motor incoordination
Developmental delay
Brachial plexus injuries
Hypotonia
Congenital defects
Hip dysplasia
Sports/orthopedic injuries
Clubfoot
Toe walking
Positioning
Improving core muscle strength/control
Head shape and control
Balance and coordination
Standing balance
Strength and endurance
Walking
Climbing, running, and jumping
Motor planning
Functional balance/safety
Energy conservation
Stair safety
Riding bike
Adaptive equipment
Home exercise program
Functional mobility
Adaptation for home safety and efficiency
Motor re-education
And more
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We provide individual evaluations and treatment interventions to develop strength, flexibility, muscle movements, posture, endurance, coordination, and balance. Each child is evaluated using a multitude of standardized tests and specific evaluation tools. An individualized treatment plan is then developed with both long-term and short-term goals. We’ll assess the movement abilities of the infant or child and explore issues interfering with an infant's developmental abilities or a child's motor or orthopedic status.
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3-4 Months: Can raise head when pulled to sitting position
4 Months: Rolls from back to front
5 Months: Can raise chest and upper part of abdomen when laying on stomach
6-7 Months: Sits alone
7 Months: Can bear weight on one hand while exploring with the other hand when laying on stomach
8-10 Months: Crawls
10-11 Months: Cruises around furniture and living areas
9-12 Months: Reaches actively for toys when sitting
11-12 Months: Pulls to a standing position
15 Months:
Walks alone well
Walks up and down steps holding hands
Squats and stands back up18 Months: Can run, but falls easily
2 Years:
Walks and runs fairly well
Can climb stairs without support
Can kick a ball
Can jump with both feet3 Years:
Can balance on one foot for a few seconds
Can catch a large ball
Can broad jump 10-24 inches4 Years:
Can run, jump, and climb
Hops on one foot
Can ride a tricycle
Catches a ball reliably5 Years:
Can jump rope and skip on alternate feet
Beginning to skate and swim
Climbing well
Specialized Programs
Every treatment plan is individualized, collaborative, and focused on progress that shows up in real, everyday life.
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Compassionate, specialized support for children experiencing bladder or bowel control challenges. Using gentle, evidence-based techniques, we help children build confidence, independence, and the body awareness they need to thrive in school and daily life.
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Specialized support for infants, toddlers, and adolescents navigating feeding difficulties, in an approach rooted in patience and trust.
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Targeted treatment to strengthen the muscles of the mouth, jaw, and face that support speech, feeding, and swallowing. We help children develop the coordination and control they need to communicate and eat with confidence.
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A research-based sensory integration program that uses movement and sound to support balance, coordination, and sensory processing. Designed for children who struggle with attention, regulation, or spatial awareness, the Astronaut Program helps build a stronger foundation for learning and everyday function.
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Handwriting Without Tears is a specialized program for teaching handwriting to children. Developed by OTs, it uses multisensory techniques to make writing fun.
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Therapeutic listening is a sound-based intervention that uses electronically modified music through specialized headphones to help children organize their nervous systems and improve sensory processing.
School Therapy Contracts
School is where so much of childhood happens — learning, playing, connecting with friends. When a child needs extra support to thrive there, we want to be part of that village. We offer school therapy contracts for schools needing additional support, with therapists working directly with schools throughout the Fargo-Moorhead and Grand Forks areas to provide speech, occupational, and physical therapy right where kids already spend their day.
We know that consistency matters, especially for a child who's working hard to build new skills. That's why we partner closely with teachers, para-professionals, and school staff to make sure the support a child receives in therapy carries over into the classroom, and vice versa.
Our team can provide direct therapy services, remote/teletherapy support, Extended School Year (ESY) services, and collaborative consultation — whatever a school and student need to keep progress moving forward, even during the busiest parts of the school year.
If you're a school administrator, special education coordinator, or teacher looking to bring pediatric therapy services into your building through a school therapy contract, we'd love to talk with you about how we can partner together.