What to Expect from our Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA)
Service Paradigm Overview
Delivered by therapy assistants working in locked coordination with an Occupational Therapist registered with the College of Health and Care Professionals of BC and listed on the Registry of Autism Service Providers (RASP). This clinical service focuses heavily on fine motor control, gross motor planning, sensory processing integration, and the daily independent living skills your child needs to thrive.
Standard Operating Expectations & Handover Protocols
Targeted implementation of therapist-designed sensory diets to help children self-regulate emotional states.
Engaging exercises targeting hand-eye coordination, fine motor printing grasps, and muscular finger dexterity.
Gross motor pathing challenges focusing on spatial balance, physical core stability, and bilateral coordination.
Systematic data collection mapping milestone progression indicators for formal insurance or provincial funding reviews.
Not bookable online yet. To arrange care directly, email hello@puffinservices.com or call (604) 283-2829.
Be first to know when Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA) launches
Tell us about your family and we’ll reach out as soon as this service is available in your area.
Questions about Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA)
At home. Puffin Services has no clinic at all, so there is nowhere to travel to and no centre appointment to schedule around — in-home is the only way the upcoming pediatric support is designed to be delivered. Register your interest to be notified at launch.
An assessment, yes — a referral, usually not. Puffin’s upcoming SLPA, OTA and behaviour intervention support delivers a plan written by a registered clinician, so there needs to be a plan to deliver. Puffin does not assess and does not diagnose. If your child has not been assessed, that is the first step and it happens through an SLP, OT or behaviour consultant, publicly or privately.
Puffin’s pediatric support is being designed for children and youth, with the specific range depending on the service and the supervising clinician’s plan. It is a separate service from hourly childcare, which covers ages 0 to 12. Pediatric support is in development and not bookable yet — register your interest and we will confirm the details for your child at launch.
That is the intention. Puffin’s upcoming SLPA, OTA and behaviour intervention support is being designed to work alongside the team your child already has rather than replace it — delivering their plan and reporting back to them, so you do not have to leave a clinician who is working in order to change where sessions happen. Register your interest to be notified at launch.
That is what the service is being designed for, but whether your funding applies depends on your child’s eligibility, their age band, and the funding rules in force. Under the current program, funding for children under six can be spent on RASP-listed professionals and on behaviour interventionists supervised by one — and Puffin’s specialists work under RASP-registered supervision. The program is also changing: it is scheduled to end April 1, 2027 and be replaced. Confirm with the Autism Funding Unit (1-877-777-3530) rather than assuming either way.
An Occupational Therapist registered with the College of Health and Care Professionals of BC and listed on the Registry of Autism Service Providers (RASP). The OT assesses and writes the plan; the OTA delivers the sessions and reports back. Pediatric support is in development and not bookable yet.