Occupational Therapy

 

What is Occupational Therapy?

Occupational Therapy services aim to support individuals to achieve life goals through participation and engagement. Support and therapy explores remedial and compensatory strategies to assist individuals with returning to previous or maximal functioning, as well as recommending supports to compensate for any disability in order to enable someone to achieve their goals. Occupational Therapy goals may be as simple as showering independently once a week, and may become as complex as returning to full time employment. No matter the difficulty of the goal, Occupational Therapy can help individuals achieve their desired function levels.

Occupational Therapists work with clients with all disability types. Some of the most common types of diagnoses we support include;

  • Mental health: Major Depressive Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, Oppositional Defiance Disorder, 

  • Psychosocial Disorders: Schizophrenia, Borderline Personality Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder

  • Physical Disorders: amputees, Cancer, Diabetes, Arthritis, vision impairment, hearing impairment, Fibromyalgia, paraplegia and quadriplegia 

  • Neurological disorders: Autism Spectrum Disorder, Huntington's Disease, Down Syndrome, Multiple Sclerosis, Cerebral Palsy, Alzheimers, Dementia, Acquired Brain Injury, Intellectual Disability

 

 

Paediatric Occupational Therapy

Paediatric Occupational Therapy focuses on the development, growth and learning of children. Paediatric OTs help children develop the skills they need to function in day-to-day life, whether that is at home, school or in the community.

They work with children and their families in developing their confidence, self-efficacy, self-esteem, and wellbeing to assist children in becoming as independent as possible with their every day lives and to ensure they are able to engage in meaningful activities.

 

OTs can work with the child or adolescent to build strength and over come challenges in the following areas:

  • · Whole-body listening

    · Following the group plan

    · Eye contact

    · Flexible and stuck thinking

    · Size of the problem

    · Hidden rules

    · Sharing and turn-taking.

  • · Appropriate communication

    · Asking for help

    · Asking to play with a peer or within a group

    · Eye contact.

  • · Expected and unexpected behaviours

    · Deep breathing and sensory strategies to keep calm

    · Identifying emotions

    · Overcoming adversity

  • · Modulating the body

    · Processing the surrounding environment

    · Body awareness

  • · Letter formation

    · Handwriting speed

    · Pencil/pen grip

    · Using helper hand

    · Utilising dominant hand

    · Crossing the midline

  • · Running

    · Balancing

    · Skipping

    · Stable posture

    · Catching and throwing a ball

    · Riding a bike

  • · Drawing

    · Writing

    · Cutting with scissors

    · Tying up shoelaces

    · Fastening buttons and zippers

  • · Focusing attention

    · Filtering out irrelevant information

    · Visual scanning

  • · Toileting

    · Teeth brushing

    · Bathing

    · Showering

    · Brushing hair

    · Dressing

    · Organisation

  • · Awareness

    · Alternating attention

    · Flexible thinking

    · Focusing on important tasks

  • · Picky/ fussy eating

    · Sensory foods

    · Meal preparation

    · Breaking down the task

    · Positioning

    · Engagement

 

Ready to get started? Have a Question?

Our Occupational Therapists are more than happy to answer any enquiries you have! Feel free to ask us a question.

Simply fill out the below secure form and our team will get back to you.

 

Meet our Occupational Therapy Team

Luke McKeown

Over the last 3 years, Luke has worked in both the Occupational Rehabilitation space, assisting injured workers to get back to work, as well as in the NDIS space. During this time Luke has gathered a wealth of knowledge and experience working with an extremely broad variety of people in order to assist them with achieving their NDIS and other life goals.

  • Luke has worked with extremely complex clients in the mental health, physical health and paediatric space, completing assessments including Supported Independent Living, Specialist Disability Accommodation, Complex Home Modifications, Assistive Technology, Functional Capacity, and Paediatric Functional Capacity assessments.

    Luke specialises in complex mental health however has experience working across all domains of Occupational Therapy within the NDIS.

Bec Christy

Over the years, Bec has worked with young children and adolescents with a wide range of abilities and grew a real passion for helping them and their family overcome daily challenges in their home, school and community environments. She is passionate about developmental challenges, sensory integration, emotional regulation and play-based therapy.

  • Bec has experience in both the school setting and navigating NDIS and supporting families to achieve their goals via a holistic, evidence-based and family-centred approach. Her experience includes working with children on the autism spectrum, developmental delays, sensory processing difficulties, developmental coordination disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, cerebral palsy and cognitive difficulties among others.

    Bec will be servicing the South East Suburbs of Melbourne, with a special interest in Paediatrics.

Kaija Melkis

Kaija has gained experience in the NDIS space by working with a range of individuals to address their needs and goals. With a particular interest in Mental Health and Neurodevelopmental challenges, Kaija uses a strengths-based and neurodiversity-affirming approach to collaborate with clients and their families.

  • Kaija is passionate about providing individualised and evidence-based therapy. She loves supporting people who experience difficulties with emotional regulation, independent living skills, complex behaviours, leisure participation, sensory processing, and community access. Kaija strongly believes in equity and advocacy, and that all people living with a disability have the right to participate in the activities they want to do and need to do in life.

 

Harry Begg

Harry has a wealth of experience practicing as a community OT in the NDIS and has never looked back. Working with a diverse range of participants during this time, Harry has developed a passion for empowering participants to reach their goals. He is especially interested in mental health and values holistic, family-centred approaches to therapy.

  • Harry understands the importance of a participant driven approach to therapy, noting that agency is fundamental when working in the disability sector. Harry enjoys connecting with participants on a deeper level to better understand how to tailor therapy to their unique needs. Harry’s experience includes completing functional assessments, supported independent living assessments, specialist disability accommodation assessments, sensory regulation, routine management, independent living skills and emotional regulation.

    Harry will be servicing the South East region of Melbourne.

 

Zoe Huang

Zoe has been practicing as a community OT in the NDIS space for over two years. She works to support participants with a range of disabilities to overcome the barriers that are getting in the way of participating in all aspects of everyday life and to create meaningful goals to enrich their health and well-being. 

  • Zoe is dedicated to support participants to find ways to do tasks more easily and safely and build their independence as well as supporting their family members or others in their support network with the tools or skills they need. She has gained expertise in various areas of Occupational Therapy in the community setting including psychosocial disability, assistive technology, housing support and needs assessment, home modifications to support participants achieve positive outcomes and live up their full potentials. 

Rachel De Silva

Rachel has gained a significant amount of experience working with people living with disabilities over the last few years. Rachel loves helping people get the most out of their lives by supporting them to live more independently and seeing them make improvements over time makes her happy to be part of their journey.

  • As an Occupational Therapist, Rachel has dedicated her career to improving the lives of individuals from ages 4-65 with physical, intellectual, and psychosocial disabilities under the NDIS. She has gained expertise in various areas of Occupational Therapy in the community setting include completing functional assessments, housing assessments, Assistive Technology prescription, routine management, community access, emotional regulation, and independent living skill development. Rachel’s approach to Occupational Therapy is centred on empowering clients to achieve their goals and lead fulfilling lives. She believes in taking a holistic approach, considering not only the physical impairments but also the social, emotional, and environmental factors that may be affecting an individual’s ability to engage in meaningful activities.

    Rachel is passionate about helping individuals overcome their challenges and achieve their goals and looks forward to continuing to make a positive contribution in the lives of those she works with.

 

Jenny Cao

Jenny has gained experience working across the lifespan with a diverse range of individuals in the NDIS space. Jenny is passionate about enabling people to lead fulfilling and independent lives by assisting individuals in reaching their life goals using a holistic approach.

  • As an Occupational Therapist, Jenny understands that every individual and their circumstances are different. She prioritises actively listening to the participant and providing individualised and evidence-based therapy to improve outcomes. Jenny has experience in completing functional assessments, housing assessments, Assistive Technology prescription, routine management and developing independent living skills.

    Jenny will be servicing the South East region of Melbourne.

Cambell Ross

Cambell has developed a wealth of experience as a result of his years working with people living with disabilities. Cambell enjoys supporting people in developing their skills and independence which allows them to continue participating within meaningful life activities.

  • As an Occupational Therapist, Cambell has centered his career around improving the lives of individuals living with disabilities across the domains of early childhood through to late adulthood. With a focus on providing services for people living with intellectual, physical and psychosocial disabilities. Cambell’s experience includes completing functional assessments, specialist disability accommodation assessments, Assistive Technology prescription, development of independent living skills, engagement with domestic tasks, facilitating motivation and task initiation, routine management, community access and emotional regulation. Cambell continues to be passionate about empowering clients in leading fulfilling and meaningful lives and as such takes a holistic approach when working with individuals to achieve their outlined goals.

    Cambell will be servicing the South East region of Melbourne.