Simone
Simone is a compassionate and driven Occupational Therapist dedicated to delivering the highest quality of service to every client in her care. Simone obtained her degree in a Bachelor of Occupational Therapy at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa. At her graduation, Simone received the award for the Best Undergraduate Research Thesis and was invited by the World Federation of Occupational Therapists to present her research at the WFOT Congress.
Simone has worked in various clinical settings such as private and public schools, private and public health care facilities and the community, where she provided services in Paediatrics, Mental Health and Neurology. This has provided Simone with the opportunity to work with a diversity of diagnoses and clients, thus greatly contributing to her therapeutic knowledge and skills.
Simone’s passion in Occupational Therapy ultimately lies in working with children. She believes in building a trusty bond with each child, and fully including the parents or caregivers of the child in the therapeutic process. Simone has a holistic approach to every child in her care, and she believes in collaboratively working with the rest of the professional team involved.
Simone has trained in Ayres Sensory Integration® with the South African Institute of Sensory Integration (SAISI). Other noteworthy postgraduate training includes treatment of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Postural Management and Seating assessment and prescription, and Infant and Young Child Feeding.
In her free time Simone enjoys spending time outdoors, exercising, traveling and spending time with family and friends.
Simone can offer comprehensive assessment and intervention for children experiencing challenges with sensory processing, development delays, genetic conditions, gross and fine motor skills, visual perception and other conditions affecting their participation in functional tasks and activities of daily living.
Catriona
Catriona is an Occupational Therapist with over 15 years experience. She graduated from the University of Queen Mary’s, London after completing a Postgraduate Diploma in Occupational Therapy in 2003. She has worked in various clinical areas including; Burns and Plastics, Hand Therapy, Oncology, Medical, Orthopaedics and Accident & Emergency services. This provided her with an excellent foundation for her therapeutic knowledge.
Catriona has recently returned from South Africa where her husband’s job took them. Whilst living there, she concentrated on being a full-time mother to her three children. One of her children has sensory processing difficulties and ADD so she can sympathize with parents regarding having a child with additional needs. Becoming a mother and watching her children develop and grow, she decided that she wanted to specialize in Paediatrics and gained her Advanced Sensory Integration Practitioner status. Catriona’s other postgraduate training includes; assisting the learning process in learners with learning difficulties, infant sensory integration, Astronaut Training – vision screening and integrated visual-vestibular treatment strategies, Sensory Intelligence Adult Practitioners Course, Praxis Made Perfect, SI Congress and various other Paediatric training courses.
Catriona herself is dyslexic and remembers how much she struggled as a child at school. This has helped her empathy with the children that she works with and trying to understand ‘their world’ through their eyes. She is a holistic practitioner and likes to draw on experiences from other areas in her life including previous training in counselling and psychotherapy, and her other passion as an artist.
Catriona can offer comprehensive assessments and interventions for children who are having challenges with sensory processing, fine and gross motor skills as well as functional and activities of daily living skills.
Bridget
Bridget is a passionate Occupational Therapist who has specialised in Paediatrics since moving to the UK in 2014. She is from South Africa where she completed her Honours degree in Occupational Therapy at the University of Stellenbosch. She has also qualified as a Sensory Integration Practitioner with the UK based Sensory Integration Network.
Bridget believes the key to successful intervention is about supporting the child’s development using a holistic approach and working collaboratively with other health professionals. She has worked in a variety of positions, including NHS community services, mainstream schools and specialist schools. She has a particular interest in working with children diagnosed with ASD or dyspraxia, but also has experience with sensory processing difficulties, developmental delays and a variety of other genetic conditions. Her experience in a variety of settings has allowed Bridget to develop into a dynamic young therapist who is always looking for new challenges.
Lucy
Lucy is an experienced occupational therapist and mother of two, who loves working with children and engaging with them in a nurturing therapeutic relationship. Having worked in paediatrics for over 7 years she is passionate about her profession of helping children to flourish through meaningful occupation. She found her calling for Occupational Therapy in her late 20’s after a successful career in media and graduated with first class honours Bachelor of Science in 2007. Since then she has developed her skills and now specialises in assessing, collaborating with and treating children with sensory processing, motor and functional difficulties. Lucy uses a client centred, goal directed performance approach, while drawing on her knowledge of functional, sensory-motor and sensory integration frames of reference.
Lucy has had further training in sensory integration with the SI Network UK, completing both the Theory and Intervention and Advanced Clinical Reasoning modules. She has also very recently updated her knowledge with the College of Occupational Therapy course ‘Essential Skills for Contemporary Occupational Therapy Practice: Children and Young People’. In addition to this, Lucy has a keen interest in yoga and has completed a number of courses at The Special Yoga Centre, including ‘Special Yoga for Special Children’ and ‘Teaching Yoga and Mindfulness to Children’. Throughout her occupational therapy career, she has had experience treating and connecting with many children diagnosed with a variety of difficulties including ASD, ADHD, dyspraxia, dyslexia, sensory processing disorder and social communication difficulties.
Abbie
Abbie is a Specialist Paediatric Occupational Therapist dedicated to working with a wide range of neurological disorders. She specialises in assessing and treating children with sensory processing, motor and functional difficulties using a sensory integrative frame of reference combined with sensory-motor and functional approaches.
Abbie has postgraduate training (at Masters Level) in Sensory Integration Therapy. She is a qualified Sensory Integration Practitioner (SIPT Certified & CLASI Level 2 – equivalent to SI Level 4). Abbie also has a thorough knowledge of child development and postgraduate training in handwriting. She has experience using a range of treatment strategies with children with ASD, ADD/ADHD, Sensory Processing Disorder, Dyspraxia, Dyslexia, Developmental Delay and Social Communication Difficulties.
Abbie has worked for Royal Marsden NHS Trust, Children’s Community Health Services (in the clinic, in homes and in schools), the Local Authority Education Services (in schools and ASD Bases) and as a primary school teacher, before training to become an OT. Abbie’s input can include individual sessions in the clinic, home and school as well as consultation regarding sensory strategies, programmes and handwriting input.
In her free time Abbie works as a Certified Equine Assisted Psychotherapist helping children and young people with mental health issues. She has completed postgraduate training in SI and Childhood Trauma.