Therapy Team Talk

Dr Ireland has a particular interest and passion for working with children with achondroplasia. This body of work focuses on development of children with achondroplasia and included a national review and follow up of children across 12 years. Penny coordinates the Achondroplasia Clinic at QPRS. Penny’s experience with achondroplasia has been well recognised internationally and she acts as a consultant for a number of achondroplasia based services across the world. 

In this episode we chat about: 

Why Dr Ireland chose physiotherapy as her career path 

What Dr Ireland loves about physio 

Dr Ireland's path to completing her PhD 

How any clinician if they put their mind to it can do the research  

What the definition of achondroplasia is 

What the findings were of Dr Irelands’ research on achondroplasia 

How Dr Ireland’s research has impacted on clinical practices 

How Dr Ireland would like to develop an e-learning package that are available for families to understand more on achondroplasia 

What strategies, tips and advice Dr Ireland would like to share with pediatric therapists around research and PhD’s 

Links: 

Queensland Paediatric Rehabilitation Service 

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On the podcast we welcome the lovely Erikka Hall, an Occupational Therapist and Director of Milestones Therapy. Erikka spent 11 years gaining experience in a variety of fields including; Home modifications, outpatient rehab, Wheelchair and Seating Specialist, and more. She started Milestones Therapy in 2010, along with another OT who had a shared desire to find ways of providing carryover of therapy gains between therapy appointments.  

Milestones Therapy now supply a large range of therapeutic products, specialising in wearable therapy products with a strong paediatric focus. The product range focuses on products which are wearable, encourage carryover, and allow the wearer to go about their day, whilst moving in great alignment, and "practising perfect". 

In this episode we cover: 

Erikka’s career history and what led her to start Milestones Therapy 

What Milestones Therapy is all about 

How through their products they managed to connect to therapists worldwide who could educate Australian therapists on how to use the products 

Why “Theratogs” was the starting point for Erikka 

How their products evolved over time 

How it came about that Milestone Therapy's product are not used solely in the therapy session but used also for the clients to take home and use consistently after that  

Milestone Therapy’s most popular products  

How more educators are utlising online webinars now for education of products due to COVID 

What Erikka envisages for the future of all things therapy 

Erikka’s tips for therapists who are thinking about trying some of Milestone Therapy's products 

Links: 

Milestones Therapy Website  

Milestones Therapy Facebook 

Milestones Therapy Instagram 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We welcome to the podcast Tammie Cunningham, Senior Speech Pathologist at Move and Play Paediatric Therapy, a multidisciplinary paediatric clinic in Mackay. Tammie has worked in a diverse range of speech pathology positions over the past 15 years, with experience across the lifespan with both inpatient and outpatients within hospital, community and disability settings, as well as fulfilling leadership and management duties. Tammie is in her first year of working in a private practice which has involved establishing a speech pathology service in an established practice. 

In this episode we talk about: 

Why Tammie chose Speech Pathology as her career 

The differences Tammie has noticed working between different settings in public health systems versus private practice 

The differences Tammie has noticed in paediatrics over the years in the government sector versus private practice  

The scope across speech pathology that Tammie covers 

The aspects of setting up a brand new service and making sure Tammie’s speech service integrated into the existing team 

How Tammie sourced specific resources to speech pathology 

How Tammie established new networks with other practices and clinicians for her mentorship and support as a sole clinician 

Tammie’s advice and tips for clinicians establishing a new service 

Links: 

Move and Play Paediatric Therapy Website 

Move and Play Paediatric Therapy Facebook 

Move and Play Paediatric Therapy Instagram 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We welcome the talented Leishan Pace on the podcast today. Leishan is a Paediatric Psychologist and Director of Pace Ahead Psychology in Mackay. Leishan established it initially as an after-hours practice in early 2019, then as she saw the need for more experienced paediatric psychologists in Mackay, so she decided to establish Pace Ahead as a company. Pace Ahead Psychology has an excellent community reputation for outstanding clinical outcomes, well-established skills and a fun, exciting team culture. 

In this episode we get into: 

Pace Ahead Pyschology being nominated as finalists in the Australian Allied Health awards in the category of pediatric team of the year 

What drew Leishan into Psychology 

How her team expanded rapidly 

The kind of work that Leishan and her team do in Psychology 

In setting up the practice, what Leishan wanted to do differently 

What clinicians are supposed to do when they're starting out 

What Leishan’s approach is to working with school aged children 

What some of the barriers Leishan had to overcome to be able to get into the school system 

What some of the benefits have been for the kids who have been supported through this ‘monthly school meeting’ approach 

Why it is so important to set aside that time to meet with the schools and talk with the teachers and have that really holistic approach 

Links: 

Pace Ahead Psychology Website 

Pace Ahead Psychology Facebook 

Pace Ahead Psychology Instagram 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We welcome the talented Carlyn Cooper on the podcast today. Carlyn is a registered Occupational Therapist and Director of In Sync Kids OT. Caryn has extensive experience working in the UK and Brisbane. She has consulted in a range of settings including state, private and special needs schools and has found that treatment in collaboration with teachers, parents and the learning support team, is more successful. Her experience has ranged from severe disabilities such as Autistic Spectrum Disorder to specific learning difficulties such as Dyslexia and Dyspraxia.  

Additionally she is passionate about educating teachers, parents and educators and has completed many workshops in Europe, UK and Brisbane to provide a better understanding of the impact of Sensory Processing in the classroom and at home.  Carlyn also continues to advocate the need for providing services to children, in mainstream schools, with attention and mild learning difficulties and for the early intervention for children who were born prematurely.  

Her specialism is treatment of Sensory Processing through Sensory Integration treatment and Neurodevelopmental Disorders which can have a significant impact on a child’s ability to successfully function at home and at school. 

In this episode we chat about: 

What made Carlyn decide to become an OT 

What using a sensory integration approach looks like 

The special assessment tools Carlyn uses at In Sync OT 

What Carlyn’s approach to therapy look like when working with children and families whose children have issues with sensory integration 

How Caryn works with parents implementing strategies at home 

What a therapy session at In Sync OT looks like and what equipment they use in the clinic 

Where in Australia you can get sensory integration equipment for your clinic 

What In Sync OT’s intensive programs look like 

Carlyn’s thoughts around why we are seeing an increase in more children with disabilities and sensory integration 

What Carlyn thinks we should be doing about the addressing these increasing sensory processing in Australia 

What Caryln would like to see across early childhood therapy programs in the future    

Links:

In Sync Kids OT Website 

In Sync Kids OT Facebook 

In Sync Kids OT Instagram 

In Sync Kids LinkedIn 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the podcast we chat to the wonderful Joanne Bacon, Senior Key Worker, Education Specialist, Director and Founder of Advocate for Me. Joanne’s professional experience started as a dedicated classroom teacher, then more recently, in over 10 years working with children with developmental delays or disabilities and their families who are her sources of inspiration. Joanne advocates for the opportunity for all children to thrive; living their best life surrounded by family members who feel supported, empowered and fully included in the community. Joanne is also a mother of five children, including triplets and understands parenting can be challenging and overwhelming at different stages which drives her to support families to move positively towards their goals and find joy in their daily experiences. 

In this episode we chat about: 

The rundown on what the role of a key worker is 

What a key worker does that the therapists don't 

The type of hands on sort of role in working with the family 

Tips on therapists who are time poor and strategies to pull together teams and families 

The right time to exit helping a family 

How families can find a Key Worker 

Cutting ourselves slack as parents and just holding space for fun with our children 

Links: 

Advocate for Me Website 

Advocate for Me Facebook 

Advocate For Me Instagram 

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the podcast today we welcome the lovely Emma Dougherty, Director of Youth Engagement at Queensland's Department of Education. Emma currently leads the 'Link and Launch' program.  

Emma started her career as a Speech-Language Pathologist in 2002, and practiced predominantly in state schools as well as some part-time private practice before progressing to supervisory roles within the Education Department. Taking the leap away from clinical practice and outside of allied health in 2015, Emma has worked as a Principal Education Officer and a Principal Advisor in the state education system. For much of this time she had the great pleasure of drawing on her allied health skills to lead the OT, Physio, SLP and Nursing services within state schools in the south east corner of Queensland.  

In 2020, a new opportunity arose to step outside the comfort zone even further, in leading a nation-first initiative to ensure young people who have completed Year 12 go on to make successful transitions post-school.  

In this episode we get into: 

Where Emma started in her career and how her role has changed over time 

What the Link and Launch program aims to do for students 

How students can access the Link and Launch support program 

The outcomes that Emma has seen through the program 

How people in Emma's life have helped her make that leap of faith with her career 

How Emma's previous skills in Speech Pathology have transferred over into her new role 

Links: 

Link and Launch Website 

Emma Dougherty LinkedIn 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the podcast today we welcome the lovely Josie Thornberry, an Occupational Therapist and a member of the leadership team at Kids & Community on the Gold Coast. Josie worked as a Therapy Assistant at Kids & Community while studying Occupational Therapy and is now the Therapy Support Coordinator. As the Therapy Support Coordinator, Josie's role is to coordinate all things therapy assistants! She currently manages 7 Therapy Assistants while working with her own caseload of kids and their families. 

In this episode we get into: 

Josie’s role as a Therapy Support Coordinator 

The value that therapy systems bring to a team 

What makes the process work well for Therapy Assistants and Occupational Therapists

What specific areas of interventional support that Therapy Assistants do really well

How Therapy Assistants help with clinic based services 

What the Therapy Assistant role is within the groups

How Josie helps support the development of skills of the Therapy Assistants  

What Therapy Assistants want to know to develop themselves 

What Therapy Assistants get most worried and how you can support them 

What systems Josie has developed to make the process work smoothly 

The benefits of being the “gateway” between the Occupational Therapists and the Therapy Assistants 

What Occupational Therapists can learn from Therapy Assistants 

The impact on outcomes for kids and families with great therapy assistance 

How therapy systems help with moving kids into sustainable long term community supports 

What the difference is between Therapy Assistants, Allied Health Assistants and Support Workers 

Josie’s top 3 tips to others who want to set up a therapy system or allied health service 

Links: 

Kids & Community Website 

Kids & Community Facebook 

Kids & Community Instagram 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today we welcome the talented Emily Hayles, an experienced Physiotherapist and the Founder of Move and Play Paediatric Therapy, a children’s therapy service in Mackay, Queensland. Emily has worked with children with disabilities and their families for the past 15 years.    

Emily is a passionate therapist, educator and clinical leader who - through therapy, education, advocacy and connection - strives to help children to move and play to the best of their ability, empower parents to know they are doing the best they can for their child, and support therapists to deliver the best care possible.  

Not only an incredible Physiotherapist, Emily is also a published author of the book ‘Braver Than You Think: How To Help Your Child With A Disability Live Their Best Life’.  And finally (but in her opinion, probably the most important role) - she is the Mum to 3 fantastic small children.  

  In this episode we get into:  

The early years and how Emily’s journey started her journey as a Physio  

What Emily learnt in her first few years after graduating  

Motivations for writing her book “Braver than you think”  

What the BRAVE model stands for 

What Emily believes good, effective contemporary therapy service looks like 

Emily’s vision for the future of effective therapy services for children and families 

Moving towards a more Transdisciplinary/Key Worker model in whatever form that suits the family 

Encouraging therapists to start to think a little differently about how they can multiply the impact they have 

Links: 

Move and Play Paediatric Therapy Website 

Braver Than You Think Book 

Move and Play Paediatric Therapy Facebook  

Move and Play Paediatric Therapy Instagram  

Emily Hayles LinkedIn 

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On the podcast today we chat to the lovely Tayla Evans, a Speech Pathologist in the Kimberley region of WA. Tayla provides support to some of the country's most remote Aboriginal communities including communities requiring a fly in fly out model of service. Tayla started her career at Peninsula Speech Plus about 5 years ago before maternity leave led her 4000km across the country. Tayla is passionate about early intervention as well as play and language development and enjoys supporting children in hard to reach areas that have very limited access to services. Tayla spends her spare time exploring the gorges and waterholes in the Kimberley whilst raising her very own Kimberley kid.

In this episode we chat about:

What it's like working in a remote community

When working with a Community what other considerations you need to be thinking about

What that therapy looks like for children who do not have access to many toys

What the biggest challenges are and the biggest differences in working in the area

Considering the cultural appropriateness of high tech, and whether it would actually fit into the Community

What Tayla's caseload looks like

Working with older kids and higher levels so functional reading

The joys of working in a remote area and what the community is like

A plug for anybody that might be looking at a remote working experience

The benefit for new graduates working remotely and a cool way to get a whole big range of experiences

The struggles that come with Telehealth in remote areas, having accessibility and good internet is hard

Where you can search for remote work

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