Meet the Lady Lawley Cottage Therapy Team

The therapy team at Lady Lawley Cottage Rocky Bay’s vibrant children and youth centre is focussed on delivering holistic care to children under the age of 24. Lady Lawley Cottage has a strong focus on health and well-being, rare diseases and early intervention.

Read on to learn more about each of the team members who are delivering tailored care at Lady Lawley Cottage.

What is your role at Lady Lawley Cottage and what does a typical day look like for you?

Jess (occupational therapist): Day-to-day, I’m out on the road visiting daycares, schools, and homes, delivering play-based therapy to support children and their families in building everyday skills within their natural environments.
Hannah (occupational therapist): My role is exciting and varied. A typical day would include clinic-based sessions, speaking with families about their goals, practicing skills for play with friends and classwork. I’ll often pop out to a daycare or school for a session to support education staff and problem solve ways to help kids succeed at school. Other times, a home visit will be a great opportunity to help a child in their natural environment and get a great sense of what their day-to-day strengths and needs are.
Freya (physiotherapist): Typically, I am on the road for most of my day as majority of my sessions are home or school based. If I’m not carrying around two bags and a fit ball across Perth, then I’m most likely playing games in our soft-play room. 
Eloise (speech pathologist): Every day is a different, whether I’m out and about visiting homes and schools, or making use of our lovely clinic rooms. I work with children and families collaboratively to support their communication and confidence through functional and neuro-affirming strategies to work towards the goals that mean the most to them.

What’s the most rewarding part of your job?

Jess: Seeing a child achieve something they’ve been working hard towards. Whether it’s tying their shoes, joining in play with peers, or feeling more confident in their abilities and knowing I’ve helped support that growth alongside their family.
Hannah: Seeing the strength of children and families, especially during difficult times. It’s a privilege to be part of their lives as they work towards growing and improving what the day-to-day looks like for them.
Freya: When parents send me photos and videos of their child achieving their goals.
Eloise: Seeing a child and their family develop confidence through each big and small achievement, and to support them to communicate in their daily life, in the way that suits them best.

Can you share a moment when you saw the impact of role in action?

Jess: One of the most meaningful moments in my work was supporting a child who was initially only able to attend to classroom tasks for two minutes at a time. By taking the time to understand her sensory needs, working closely with her family and teachers to help them better understand and support her, and making targeted adjustments to her environment, we were able to collaboratively work to build her capacity to engage for up to 20 minutes, greatly improving her participation at school.
Hannah: I recently had the opportunity to run a girl’s social skills group over the school holidays. I love how practical occupational therapy is, and as we cooked together, it was so exciting to see the impact of the activities & occupational therapy support, on building skills, having fun, and feeling confident!
Freya: Seeing one of my participants with cerebral palsy participate in all the events at his school’s athletic carnival for the first time, after working alongside his PE teacher to adapt the equipment and program to accommodate his physical needs.
Eloise: Recently, during a parent coaching session to support early intervention strategies to facilitate functional communication through play. Over the course of multiple sessions, the parents reflected on the success of the strategies they had worked on and expressed how they felt increasingly confident to engage in fun and meaningful interactions with their child.

How do you keep your own skills and knowledge up to date?

Jess: By regularly attending professional development workshops, engaging in peer supervision, and keeping current with evidence-based research and best practice guidelines. I also collaborate with colleagues and other professionals, which helps me continuously learn and apply new strategies in my everyday practice.
Hannah: I’m curious about the evidence that is being produced in occupational therapy and similar professions, and how this can hone the precious time with children and families effectively. I like to speak with colleagues about research, attend trainings, and review resources from previous trainings, to stay up to date.
Freya: I attend lots of external presentations and workshops to make sure I’m up to date on any new literature or research to ensure that my intervention is in line with best practice. These are also great networking opportunities so that I can support my participants to be referred and access other services if there’s a need.
Eloise: To ensure I am up to date with the constantly developing and growing evidence base of the field, I have found regular supervision and peer discussion to be invaluable. Also, being part of such a large team of professionals has supported my professional development tremendously. I aim to attend regular professional development courses and seminars and make use of the resources available both internally and externally.

If your team had a motto, what would it be?

Jess: Helping kids shine, one high five at a time!
Hannah: Seeing possibilities by the sea!
Freya: Two heads are better than one, and a team of heads is even better.
Eloise: Family-led, strength-based, child-centred.