Children and Families
I am most appreciative of all the children and families that I have met over the years that have shaped the therapist I am today. It is these families that have allowed me to have such an extensive and rich working knowledge of a wide variety of challenges that can present and impact on a child and family’s daily functioning and lives.
I am especially grateful to a number of children and their families who gave me permission to use their child and family as case studies for my DIRFloortime® Training. An enormous and very special thank you to Aaron, Cooper, James, Jessie and Luca, and your wonderful families.
Professional Colleagues and Opportunities
I am incredibly grateful to the wonderful learning opportunities, training, mentoring and inspiration that I have received and been part of over the years (both locally, interstate and overseas). I am especially grateful to those Occupational Therapists who made these learning opportunities possible. I hold these clinicians in high regard for their energy levels, expertise and commitment to the profession in developing specific assessment and treatment regimes and their willingness to share these with others.
They include: Jean Ayres, Elaine Wilson, Veronica Steer, Rhoda Erhardt, Sarah Forsyth, Sheila Frick, Colleen Hacker, Patricia and Julia Wilbarger, Patricia Oetter, Eileen Richter, Teresa May-Benson and Winnie Dunn.
In addition, I am most thankful to my DIRFloortime® mentors: Kathy Walmsley, Occupational Therapist (Perth, Western Australia), Mari Caulfield, Speech Therapist (Ireland) and Dianne Selinger, Mental Health Psychologist (USA) along with the learning obtained from work of Dr Stanley Greenspan and Rosemary White, Occupational Therapist, ICDL.
Studying under the late Dr Karl Bobath and Berta Bobath, Physiotherapist in London has given me wonderful knowledge in the area of Neurodevelopmental Therapy that I still draw on today even after 30 years.
In more recent years I have appreciated learning about the work and material presented by Ted Baker, Psychologist which I have found compliments my work.
My Parents
I am forever grateful to my parents for encouraging me and supporting me financially when I left my home town of Broken Hill to study Occupational Therapy in Adelaide. Letting go of your children and seeing them move away from the family home to another city is not an easy thing for parents to do (as I have learnt myself over past few years).
I am also extremely grateful to my mother-in-law who always encouraged and supported me in my work, and always made me feel that what I had to offer to children and families was most valuable and important.
Huge ‘thank yous’ being sent upstairs to my beloved mother and father, and dear mother-in-law.
My Family
By being mentioned last on the list does not in any way indicate that my family are any less important than those acknowledged above in shaping who I am as a therapist today. Over the years I have experienced some wonderfully positive moments with my husband and children (who are now young adults), and learnt so much along the way from our many and varied life experiences and challenges.
As such I truly feel I understand the demands of family life, pressures on individuals and families, that I am perceptive to, and able to empathise with, others when the daily life of the individual and/or family becomes stressful. From such life experiences I know that the emotional well-being of the individual and/or family has to take precedence over any other predetermined goal or agenda. Heartfelt thanks to my husband, son and daughter for being the special people they are, and all their love and support along the way.
I am eternally thankful to everyone both personally and professionally who has been involved in shaping and inspiring me to be the person and Occupational Therapist I am today.
In touch kids and families 