Debbie Eglington BSc Hons Psychology (1995)
BSc Hons Occupational Therapy (1998)
I originate from the U.K and moved out to Australia with my family in 2010 pursuing a desire to broaden our horizons and live the dream! In the U.K I worked as an Occupational Therapist in Acute Mental Health for several years, which was both challenging and rewarding. The opportunities I have been offered since m
oving to Australia have been amazing, and after such a big move I was willing to take these opportunities and challenges on. My husband and I have two gorgeous girls who keep us busy and entertained and they make us smile every day! Since becoming a mum I became aware of my desire to work with children and try and make a difference with someone earlier on in their life. I have been fortunate to work with many amazing children, allowing them to develop the skills to become their own independent person. I believe it important to work with a child’s strengths in order to help them develop the skills and confidence to overcome any difficulties they may experience through life. It is important to provide our children with the skills to be happy and confident throughout their life and pursue their dreams, like I was able to pursue mine. Service Provisions
As a working mum I am very aware of the difficulties of juggling family life, work, school and other activities. It is for this reason that I am delighted to be able to offer Occupational Therapy Sessions in schools, Kindy’s, Family and Day care Centre’s or homes. It is helpful to complete an initial assessment (60-90 minutes long) in order to establish what the child’s difficulties may be and what intervention would be most appropriate. Therapy sessions general run for approx. 40-45 minutes and can be on an individual or group basis. Hours of work
Monday 9.00-14.30
Tuesday 9.00 – 14.30
Wednesday 9.00 -14.30
Thursday 9.00-14.30
Messages can be left for me outside of these hours and I will endeavour to get back to you when I can. Prices are available upon request
Do I need a referral? You do not require a referral to access an Occupational Therapist but it is likely that a profession (teacher, G.P, Paediatrician, Speech Therapist) will have recommended an O.T to you following concerns about your child. What is Occupational Therapy?
“Occupational therapy is a client-centred health profession concerned with promoting health and wellbeing through occupation. The primary goal of occupational therapy is to enable people to participate in the activities of everyday life. Occupational therapists achieve this outcome by working with people and communities to enhance their ability to engage in the occupations they want to, need to, or are expected to do, or by modifying the occupation or the environment to better support their occupational engagement” Occupational Therapy Australia
For a child there are a number of occupations that they need to, want to or are expected to do on a daily basis. For example:
Learning and Developmental Skills – Gross and Fine motor skills, visual perception skills, School readiness
Self care including sleeping, eating, toileting and dressing
Playing – imaginative play, turn taking, following rules, Role playing
Socialisation and communication Skills – including friendship development, social skills and etiquitte
What services are available? Assessments
Individual Therapy Session
Group Therapy sessions
School based Therapy Sessions
Home based Therapy sessions
How can Occupational Therapy help my child? Gross motor Skills – these skills involve us using the large muscles in our body and being able to coordinate ourselves. A child who is struggling with Gross Motor skills may avoid being active and moving around, preferring to sit and play, they may have been delayed in developmental milestones like walking, difficulties with balance, jumping, hopping, skipping, running, may appear clumsy and uncoordinated
Fine motor Skills – these skills involve us using the smaller muscles in out body in particular our hands. A child who has poor fine motor skills may have difficulty manipulating things with their hands, struggle to hold a pencil easily, unable to use scissors, cutlery, tie shoe laces and generally avoid activities that require dexterity and strength of the hands. They may not demonstrate hand dominance also. Visual Perception Skills – these skills involve us understanding and organising the visual information we receive around us. A child who has poor Visual Perception skills may have difficulty learning sight words, difficulty copying of the board, reverse letters, difficulty attending and concentrating on visual tasks. Sensory Processing
Every day we are exposed to various different stimuli from the environment that impact on our central nervous system both internally and externally. Our body does and amazing thing and is able to interpret and organise this information through our various senses (auditory, visual, olfactory, (smell), gustatory (taste), vestibular(movement), tactile, proprioception and kinaesthesia (body position). This in turn allows us to function in our environment. Most of this process happens instantly and automatically allowing us to focus on the important things at that point in time. If a child is having difficulty processing and regulating their sensory needs, especially in a classroom it is likely to impact on their learning and behaviour in a classroom. Self care Skills -These are the skills that we develop in order for us to become independent beings and care for ourselves for example - Toileting, Feeding Difficulties, dressing. Children can sometimes be delayed or experience difficulties with their toileting habits ( Encopresis / Constipation, and Urinary Incontinence). Some children may have very limited diets, eating only certain coloured or textured foods, picky or fussy eaters. Prep Readiness – being Prep ready is the best way to start school and for these we need to master a number of skills such as attention and concentration, fine motor skills and hand writing, recognising letters/ numbers / colours / shapes. Communicating with our peers, playing and socialising, organising ourselves and following instructions, opening drinks bottle, lunch boxes, doing up zips and buttons, going to the toilet independently etc. Taking turns, understanding others emotions and feelings, regulating our own behaviours and feelings. Anxiety – the difference between a normal worry and anxiety in children is how severe and enduring it is for that child . Being a little anxious is natural and normal in a stressful situation but for some children this can be more than it is for their peers and therefore can be overwhelming. It can then become a problem and may prevent the child from functioning and participating in everyday activities or the child’s fears and concerns are out of proportion or overwhelming. When should I bring my child to see an O.T? Research shows that early intervention is the key to skill development so the sooner the better. If you have any concerns about your child’s development there are a number of people you can speak to initially for example – G.P, Child Health Nurse, Paediatrician, Teachers and Day Care staff.
