What We Treat

Autism occupational therapy in Vancouver, on your terms.

A quiet room away from the main therapy floor, if that is what makes a session work. Sensory regulation, motor skills and daily-living skills, one-on-one with a licensed Occupational Therapist, every visit.

Sensory regulation Motor skills Daily living skills Book My Visit

What Brings People In

You already know what is hard. We start there.

  • A loud, bright, busy room costs more than the appointment is worth
  • Handwriting or typing that turns painful long before the work is done
  • The fine motor parts of a normal day: laces, lids, tools, kitchen knives
  • Sensory input you need a lot more of, or a lot less of, to stay regulated
  • Getting out the door takes more steps than anyone else seems to need
  • You want practical help with tasks, not to be handled as a problem

Any of these? That is what the first visit is for.

How This Works

Autism is not an illness. This is not therapy for being autistic.

Autism is a difference in how a brain takes in and organizes information. It is not damage and it is not something to be fixed. What can genuinely be hard is the environment around it: fluorescent light, unpredictable noise, tasks designed for a different sensory system, and fine motor demands nobody ever taught you a workaround for.

That is where occupational therapy is useful, and only there. We work on sensory regulation, motor and coordination skills, hand and wrist pain, and the daily-living tasks you tell us matter: cooking, dressing, handwriting, typing, getting through a workday. You set the goals. We adjust the room, the pace and the plan around you, including a quiet space away from the main therapy floor when that is what makes the session work.

Therapist guiding a patient through a suspended sensory-gym exercise

The Honest Truth

No deadline. Just a day that costs more than it needs to.

If you keep waiting

  • You keep paying for the same tasks in energy, every single day
  • The workarounds you built alone do the job, at a cost nobody else sees
  • Hand and wrist pain from writing or gripping does not sort itself out

If you start this week

  • You name the goals. The plan gets built around them, not around a protocol
  • A quiet room, lower lights and a slower pace are available. Just ask
  • A plan with an endpoint, so this is not something you sign up to forever

You do not owe anyone an explanation for wanting a day that takes less out of you.

How We Work

The same four phases. Set to your pace.

You have been managing this yourself for a long time, and managing it well. Asking for practical help with the parts that hurt is not a step backwards. Here is what the four phases look like.

Starts visit one

Pain

Sort the room out first.

We set up the environment before anything else: quiet space, lighting, pace, and any actual pain in the hands, wrists or shoulders.

Once we have a baseline

Prime

Build the base.

Sensory regulation strategies that fit your system, plus range, grip and coordination work, at a pace you set.

Once the basics hold

Perform

Practice the actual tasks.

Cooking, dressing, handwriting, typing, tools, getting through a shift. The parts of your day you asked us to work on.

Reviewed as you go

Prevent

Keep it yours.

You leave with the strategies, the setups and a routine that holds without us: that is the endpoint, not a standing appointment.

I must say this clinic is one of the best if not the best medical office I’ve ever been in. Leslie and Jacob have been fantastic throughout my Gabbert Clinic journey as well. I also appreciate Gabbert Clinic accommodating my needs as an autistic adult who needs a quiet room away from the hustle and bustle of the main therapy room. Kudos!

Shared by Allen L. · Google review

Visit 1: you tell us what a session needs to look like for you

Every visit after: that is how it runs, while we work your list

Autism One-on-one, every visit

Related Conditions

Rarely does it stay in one place.

What compensates for a painful hand usually starts complaining next. Here is what else we treat.

1

Cerebral Palsy

Building the hand skills that make school and home life work.

Learn More 2

Post-Concussion Syndrome

The screen is too bright and the store is too loud, weeks later.

Learn More 3

Chronic Pain Management

Years of “just live with it” from people who never looked for the cause.

Learn More

Questions, Answered

What people ask before booking.

No. Autism is not an illness and we are not here to change who you are. Occupational therapy here is practical support for things you have named yourself: sensory regulation, motor and coordination skills, hand and wrist pain, and daily-living tasks like cooking, dressing, handwriting, typing or getting through a workday. If you do not want to work on something, we do not work on it.

Yes. We have done exactly that: a quiet room away from the noise of the main therapy floor, for a patient who told us he needed one. Tell the front desk or your therapist what works for you, whether that is lower light, less noise, no small talk, or the same therapist every visit, and we set it up before you arrive. You never have to justify the request.

You get a plan with an endpoint, not an open tab of appointments. The plan runs through all four phases, Pain, Prime, Perform, and Prevent, and you will always know which phase you are in and what is left. When the goals you set are met, you are done. Come back later if something new comes up, or do not. That is your call.

Book Your Visit

Ready when you are.

Request a time and a real person from our front desk calls you back to get you scheduled. No phone tree. No ‘someone will reach out.’ Just a plan.

  • Hours Mon–Fri 7:00am–5:00pm · Sat–Sun closed
  • (360) 989-1200 Prefer to talk now? Call us.
  • One-on-one with a licensed Occupational Therapist, every visit

5.0 · 146 Google reviews

Your request goes straight to our front desk

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So we know who to look for when you walk in.

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Gabbert Clinic

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