is now...

About Me

From Military Service to Therapy Rooms

Before becoming an Occupational Therapist, I worked with young adults in the military services — an experience that taught me a great deal about resilience, adaptability, and hard work. I later went on to study Occupational Therapy at the University of Pretoria in South Africa, qualifying in 2000.

​

Since then, I’ve had the privilege of working with children in multi-disciplinary clinics, specialist schools (supporting children with hearing impairments, learning difficulties, behavioural challenges, and more), and private practice. Over the years, I’ve also mentored undergraduate OT students and presented at numerous workshops and professional events — always driven by a love for learning and a desire to share knowledge with others.

​

My family and I moved to Bunbury in 2008, and soon after settling in, I resumed my OT work in the South West. In 2011, I founded my first clinic, SPOTS Therapy for Children, and have continued supporting families ever since — now through my newest passion: Skill Sense OT. My husband and I have two adult sons.

​

Occupational Therapy is a clinical degree, not a short course.

Becoming an Occupational Therapist isn’t something that happens over a weekend, or even in a single year. It takes four years of full-time university study, covering medical sciences, child development, psychology, anatomy, neuroscience, movement science, and rehabilitation. We study the body, the brain, and how children grow, learn, play, and function in everyday life.

 

Before I could graduate, I completed over 1,000 hours of supervised clinical practice across hospitals, schools, and community settings. That was the foundation of my clinical career — but it was only the beginning.

 

My Advanced Training in Ayres Sensory Integration® (ASI)

After qualifying as an OT, I pursued advanced post-graduate training in Ayres Sensory Integration®. This field lies at the heart of so many of the challenges children face with behaviour, regulation, movement, emotional development, and learning.

 

I’ve completed two internationally recognised certifications:

1. SIPT Certification

I trained in the Sensory Integration and Praxis Tests (SIPT), a gold-standard tool developed by Dr. A. Jean Ayres. This qualification, backed by the University of Southern California (USC), involved in-depth instruction on test administration, scoring, interpretation, and clinical application. It allows me to accurately assess complex sensory and praxis (motor planning) difficulties in children.

   

   2. CLASI Certificate in Ayres Sensory Integration® (CASI)

I also completed the CLASI CASI program, a comprehensive six-module post-graduate course aligned with global best-practice standards set by ICEASI (the International Council for Education in Ayres Sensory Integration). This advanced training covered:

• Neuroscience foundations of sensory integration

• Fidelity to the ASI intervention model

• Assessment tools such as the EASI (the updated version of the SIPT)

• Clinical reasoning and intervention planning

• Practical hands-on workshops with real case applications

 

These two certifications required over 180 hours of direct course attendance, plus many additional hours of self-directed study, peer learning, case analysis, written assignments, and clinical application. These were not passive courses — they demanded active learning, critical thinking, and deep reflection on real-life clinical work, all rooted in current research and guided by international best-practice approaches.

 

Why This Matters for Your Child

There’s no shortage of quick-fix programs or people trained with short courses claiming to help children. But that’s not what I offer.

When you work with a fully qualified OT who has post-graduate training in a special interest area, you get more than surface-level solutions.

 

When you work with me, you’re choosing care that’s backed by:

• A clinical degree with years of intensive training

• Post-graduate certification in Ayres Sensory Integration

• Evidence-based reasoning grounded in neuroscience and child development

 

When you work with me, you get:

• A therapist who understands the why behind your child’s struggles

• A personalised, compassionate approach that sees your child as a whole person — not just a label or a symptom. You’re not getting generic advice or a one-size-fits-all program.

• You’re getting deep professional knowledge, decades of experience, and a therapist who is genuinely committed to doing things properly — with heart, insight, and integrity.

 

Your child deserves that. And so do you.