About
Occupational Therapy Foundations is a community-oriented, neuro-integrated outpatient clinic serving the Roanoke, Bedford, Smith Mountain Lake, Rocky Mount, and New River Valley regions. We provide services across settings—including in-clinic, home, school, and community environments—to support individuals of all ages and abilities in the contexts where they live, learn, and participate.
Our approach is holistic, evidence-based, and grounded in an understanding of the nervous system. We recognize that regulation is foundational to participation, learning, and daily functioning. When the nervous system is not well-regulated, individuals may experience challenges with attention, behavior, emotional responses, motor coordination, and overall engagement. Difficulties with sensory processing can make it hard to maintain an appropriate level of alertness, respond to everyday demands, or feel comfortable in different environments.
A key component of our practice is the integration of principles from Polyvagal Theory, which helps us understand how the body responds to safety and stress. From this perspective, many behaviors reflect underlying nervous system states rather than intentional actions. When individuals feel safe, they are better able to connect, engage, and learn. When they do not, their bodies may shift into protective responses that impact participation.
Using this lens, we emphasize co-regulation, therapeutic relationships, and thoughtful environmental supports. Through targeted sensory input, movement-based interventions, and individualized strategies, we support improved regulation and help build the foundation for greater independence over time.
Our model of care reflects the Taylor-Trott Pyramid of Learning, recognizing that higher-level skills develop from a foundation of sensory processing and nervous system regulation. Sensory systems—including touch, movement, and body awareness—provide essential input for how we move, learn, and interact with the world. When these foundational systems are not working efficiently, it can affect motor skills and higher-level thinking. Our goal is to strengthen these foundations while also providing strategies to support participation in everyday activities.
Occupational therapy is centered on participation in meaningful daily activities—what we call “occupations.” These include roles such as being a student, parent, employee, or community member. Challenges related to neurological function, development, or regulation can interfere with these roles. Our practitioners look at how physical, cognitive, emotional, and environmental factors interact to impact daily life.
We work collaboratively with each individual—and when appropriate, their family or support system—to identify meaningful, functional goals. From there, wedevelop individualized intervention plans that support participation in daily routines and activities. Whether addressing behavioral regulation, sensory processing, vestibular and visual challenges, or functional independence, our focus remains on helping each person engage more fully in daily life.
We serve individuals with a wide range of diagnoses and challenges, including attention and behavioral differences, learning disabilities, neurological conditions, developmental delays, and movement or coordination difficulties. Specifically diagnoses seen include: Autism, Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA), PANDAS, Seizure disorders, Cerebral Palsy, Depression, ADD/ADHD, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Obsessive Defiant Disorder, Failure to Thrive, Functional Neurological Disorder, Stroke, Cerebellar Ataxia, Anxiety, Dizziness, Vertigo, Concussion, Down Syndrome, Traumatic Brain Injury, and Convergence Insufficiency. Our areas of focus include regulation, sensory processing, vestibular function, and visual performance.
At Occupational Therapy Foundations, we help individuals and families better understand the “why” behind challenges while building the skills needed to move forward with greater confidence, participation, and independence.
