Wilmette, Illinois
Wilmette families have access to strong early childhood resources. The Lechner Early Education Program at Romona School offers free developmental screenings for children ages three to five, and D39 schools staff OT, PT, speech, and a social worker on the team. But those services evaluate through the lens of educational impact. If your child passed the school screening and still can't get through bath time, won't eat anything new, or falls apart after a full day of holding it together, the school's answer and your reality don't match. That's where private pediatric occupational therapy can help.
Your therapist
Laura O'Brien, OTR/L, has spent over thirty years working with families on the North Shore and in the northwest suburbs. She regularly works with Wilmette families who have already been through the D39 screening process and are looking for answers the school evaluation did not provide. Laura looks at the whole child, not just what happens in a classroom.
Her approach puts parents in the room for every session. She shows you exactly what to do, explains why your child responds the way they do, and gives you specific tools you can use tonight. That's how real progress carries over from therapy into daily life.
Last reviewed: April 2026
What parents say
These aren't problems your child will simply outgrow. They can be signs of sensory processing, motor planning, or self-regulation challenges that respond well to the right support.
Understanding your options
Wilmette Public Schools D39 provides OT through IEPs managed by the WCSEA cooperative (D39 and Avoca D37). Services focus on skills that affect classroom performance: handwriting, scissors use, managing school routines. The Lechner Early Education Program offers a developmentally based preschool with OT, PT, speech, social work, and psychology on the team, plus free screenings for children ages three to five at Romona School.
Getting dressed without a daily battle. Tolerating a haircut. Sitting through a family meal. Joining a sports team. Sleeping through the night. School OT ends when classroom goals are met. The daily challenges that wear your family down at home are outside the school's responsibility, no matter how good the school program is.
That is the gap private OT fills. Laura focuses on the skills that matter at home and in your Wilmette community. Many families work with both school and private OT at the same time because the goals are completely different.
In-person and Zoom
Laura walks you through activities in real time using items from your kitchen and playroom. Your child works on hand strength with Play-Doh while you learn why deep pressure before homework helps a sensory seeker focus. Telehealth is practical for Wilmette families with packed after-school schedules.
About 19 minutes from Wilmette. Your child climbs, swings, and works through obstacle courses designed to build body awareness and motor planning. You are in the room, asking questions and learning how to recreate it at home. The gym has specialized equipment that most homes and clinics do not have.
Either way, you leave every session knowing exactly what to do between appointments.
Parent strategies
Picky eating: Put a new food on the table next to the foods your child already eats, but do not ask them to try it. Let them look at it, smell it, poke it. Over several meals, move the new food onto their plate. This gradual exposure reduces the sensory threat. If your child can tolerate the food on the table for three meals in a row, that counts as real progress.
After-school meltdowns: Set up a "landing pad" routine when your child walks in the door. Five minutes of deep pressure input: a tight bear hug, rolling up in a heavy blanket, or pressing couch cushions against their body (with permission). This helps the nervous system shift from the effort of holding it together all day to feeling safe at home.
Common questions
School OT targets classroom skills. If your child struggles with daily routines at home, has difficulty with sensory situations outside school, or needs support with motor skills beyond the classroom, private OT can address those areas. Many Wilmette families use both because they cover different parts of the day.
The Lechner screening evaluates eligibility for district services based on educational impact. It does not assess how sensory or motor challenges affect home life. If you still see issues at home, a private OT evaluation looks at the full picture. You do not need a school referral to start.
Yes. Many Wilmette families choose telehealth. Laura mails materials to your home and guides you through activities in real time. Some families do Zoom weekly and visit the Des Plaines sensory gym once a month for equipment-based work. The drive is about 19 minutes.
Getting started
Start with a free screening form so Laura can understand your child's needs. Many Wilmette families come to her after the Lechner screening or after D39 OT goals are met but home life has not improved. Call with questions about how private OT works alongside your child's school program.