Rehabilitation Therapies
Goal-Directed Therapy
At Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare, we know that children and teens develop with the love, support and guidance of their families. That’s why families are integral participants in a child’s rehabilitation program at Gillette.
Every Gillette therapist is a developmental specialist who understands the effects of disabilities on a patient’s growth and development. We work as a team with primary-care physicians, community providers and other specialists to create personalized therapy plans that meet the unique needs of each patient. We also develop benchmarks to evaluate a child’s progress.
Why Gillette?
Whether your child needs a one-time evaluation or a comprehensive therapy program, Gillette therapists can help.
Therapeutic Evaluations and Recommendations
First, we assess a child’s strengths and areas of need. Afterward, we might recommend such services as adaptive equipment, home programs, referrals to other medical specialists or community providers, and goal-directed therapy.
Goal-Directed Therapy
We work with children who aren’t meeting developmental markers or who have difficulty taking part in common activities. For example, we might help younger children learn to eat efficiently, walk and talk. We might help older children learn to dress themselves, ride a bicycle or improve their handwriting. Our therapists work with families and patients to prioritize objectives, improve specific skills and maximize abilities.
What We Offer
![]() |
|
Gillette therapists design individual therapy |
Gillette offers a range of rehabilitation services at our Burnsville, Minnetonka and St. Paul locations. We provide physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech and language pathology services to patients who have a wide variety of conditions, including:
- Brachial plexus injuries
- Brain injuries (traumatic and acquired)
- Cerebral palsy
- Chronic or complex pain
- Cleft lip and palate and other craniofacial anomalies
- Delayed development
- Epilepsy (seizure disorders)
- Juvenile arthritis
- Limb-length discrepancies (acquired and congenital)
- Muscular dystrophy and other neuromuscular conditions
- Musculoskeletal conditions
- Orthopaedic conditions
- Spina bifida
- Spinal cord injuries
- Torticollis
As children mature, their therapy needs change. Some teens and young adults benefit from continued therapy at Gillette Lifetime Specialty Healthcare at our clinic in New Brighton. Our staff there helps patients navigate smoothly from pediatric to adult-focused health care.
Our Specialty Services
![]() |
|
Many Gillette patients can benefit fromaquatic |
Our therapists collaborate with community and other Gillette providers to deliver the specific services each patient needs. Because we offer easy access to a variety of specialists, we can quickly develop and carry out high-quality, individualized therapy plans.
Our specialty services include:
- Spasticity evaluations
- Wheelchair and seating evaluations
- Aquatic (pool) therapy
- Computer-access evaluations
- Equipment evaluations
- Alternative and augmentative communication evaluations
- Chronic-pain treatment
- Videofluoroscopy (swallowing) studies
- Feeding evaluations and treatment
- Nasal-resonance evaluations
- Constraint-induced movement therapy
Therapy at Gillette
Our specialized therapy services focus on increasing each child’s abilities and sense of independence.
Physical Therapy
![]() |
|
Games and other activities help our patients |
Our physical therapists help patients improve their gross-motor skills, strength, balance and coordination. After assessing a child’s mobility and adaptive-equipment needs, we might recommend manual or powered wheelchairs, walkers, and standers. We work with patients as they develop and progress toward individual goals.
Occupational Therapy
Our occupational therapists help children improve their functional skills — including skills for independent living — and their arm and hand movements. We evaluate adaptive-equipment needs, provide standard splints and orthoses, and evaluate and treat children with feeding difficulties. If patients need customized orthoses (braces), our on-site assistive-technology staff creates and fits them.
Speech and Language Pathology Services
Our speech and language pathologists assess and treat speech, language and swallowing problems. We provide nasal resonance and videofluoroscopy evaluations to help identify feeding and swallowing problems. We also assess patients’ needs for alternative and augmentative communication devices.
Referring a Patient
Primary and specialty-care physicians may refer children and young adults to Gillette. Although parents, school personnel and other community providers also may refer children and families to Gillette, a physician’s order is required to obtain therapy services. therapy referrals.
To refer a patient or make an appointment, call:
- 651-290-8707 (Twin Cities and surrounding areas)
- 800-719-4040 (toll-free)
- 651-229-3928 (TDD)
Our Locations
For the convenience of patients, we offer many of our services at multiple locations throughout the metro area.
- Our St. Paul (main) campus (map and directions), which includes a hospital and clinics, is located on the fourth floor of Regions Hospital, at the intersection of Jackson Street and University Avenue — just east of the state Capitol.
- Gillette’s Burnsville Clinic (map and directions) is located on the Fairview Ridges campus, at 305 East Nicollet Boulevard in Burnsville.
- Gillette’s Minnetonka Clinic (map and directions) is located on the Children’s West campus, at the intersection of Interstate 494 and Highway 62 in Minnetonka.
- Gillette Lifetime Specialty Healthcare (map and directions), at our St. Paul - Phalen Clinic, is located just east of Interstate 35E at Phalen Blvd.
- Gillette's Maple Grove Clinic (map and directions) is located at the intersection of Maple Grove Pkwy. and Upland Ln. N. in Maple Grove.






