I am a registered Occupational Therapist with many years’ experience as an occupational therapist for children. I completed a Bachelor of Occupational Therapy at Otago Polytechnic in 2001. Since then I have worked in New Zealand and in the United Kingdom in a range of special education and health settings. While living in the UK I worked at Great Ormond Street Hospital within the Neurodisability Service and Feeding Disorders Service.
As an occupational therapist for children, I am passionate about seeing children achieve their potential and use a family based approach to achieve this. I have extensive experience assessing and working with children of all ages and functional abilities, particularly those children who are refusing or avoiding food for a variety of reasons including those with ARFID, extreme selectivity, tube dependency and a lack of interest in food. I have worked considerably with children who have additional diagnosis such as Autism, Developmental Co-ordination Disorder or Dyspraxia, Developmental Delay and Neurological Disorder (e.g. Cerebral Palsy).
I am committed to providing high quality, evidence based care for children. I have post-graduate training in Sensory Integration, SOS Feeding Approach, Dysphagia, Autism assessment (ADOS), Handwriting, Co-ordination, and Postural Management.
I have presented at various conferences including:
- Feeding Disorders Clinical Skills Day, London, 2011 & 2013
- Feeding Disorders International Conference, London, 2014
- British Academy of Child Disability Autism Study Day, Durham, 2015
- Paediatric Occupational Therapist Special Interest Group, London, 2015
- Avoidant Restrictive Feeding Intake Disorder Training, NZ Eating Disorder Clinic, Auckland, 2017
- Children’s Feeding and Swallowing Study Day, University of Auckland, 2018
I also work alongside the New Zealand Eating Disorders Clinic in Auckland, and am available to work from the clinic rooms based in Ponsonby. I am a member of Occupational Therapy New Zealand Whakaora Ngangahau Aotearoa and a registered therapist with the Occupational Therapy Board of New Zealand.