Monday, January 20, 2025
For Ester Marcellin, Baldwin was always the natural choice for opening what she describes as a sensory gym, a state-of-the-art facility that will focus on the development and enhancement of children’s sensory and motor skills. Located at 826 Merrick Road, Planet Sensory Occupational Therapy, which is opening this week will work with local children as well as those from surrounding communities, with and without special needs.
It was an idea years in the making for Marcellin, 49, who has been an occupational therapist for 16 years and has worked with many school districts on Long Island, including Baldwin.
Over the years, she has recognized the growing need for additional services beyond what she can provide in a traditional school district setting because of a lack of designated space. Specifically, schools lacked facilities and equipment for helping children with autism developmental delays or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD.
“I quickly found that trying to provide occupational therapy to this population in a traditional setting, such as a school, was extremely limited in terms of space,” Marcellin said. “I decided my dream was to open a sensory gym where I could reach my kiddos.”
In early-childhood development, sensory play involves activities that build essential skills, encourage self-regulation, ignite curiosity, strengthen problem-solving abilities and nurture creativity. Planet Sensory’s 2,100-square-foot space features equipment such as slides, monkey bars, climbing walls and a zip line, where children will work on everything from sensory processing to fine motor development to handwriting.
What will set her facility apart from those of other therapists, Marcellin said, is that she will work with parents to set goals tailored to their children’s individual needs, and she will also evaluate each child’s diet and the parent-child relationship.
“It’s not me setting these goals,” she explained. “The parents tell me what they would like to get out of therapy. The goals are personalized for each family, because each child has their own unique sensory challenges. I think parents really appreciate that.”
Marcellin says she is an out-of-network provider, but will submit insurance claims on behalf of families with out-of-network benefits. She noted a lack of in-network pediatric occupational therapists in the area.
In celebration of her new business, a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the facility was scheduled for Thursday, after the Herald went to press, with the Baldwin Chamber of Commerce set to welcome it to the community.
Although Planet Sensory is in Marcellin’s home community, she wants to help as many children, and their families, as possible, in and beyond Baldwin.
“Sensory gyms are great,” she said. “My goal is to reach as many kids as I possibly can, and give parents hope.”
