Welcome to 2024! January means off-to-school time. Whether it’s a child or young person’s first day at school, or they’ve been going for some years, the start of the school year is an adventure.

Some students may benefit from different learning models, such as distance education or homeschooling. These flexible models often support their passion for learning.

I thought I’d take a moment to share some tips to ease the transition back to school, especially for families of neurodiverse children. These quick tweaks and ideas can help navigate the back-to-school adventure for your neurodiverse child.

It’s Occupational Therapy Week and this year’s theme is Unity Through Community! Occupational therapy is broad – we exist in many different work environments and support a range of different individuals. 2023 has seen some criticisms of the occupational therapy profession, with concerns about specific services and their misalignment with neurodiverse affirming practice. These criticisms are valid, but I see ENORMOUS shift in clinicians and researchers enthusiastically adopting tenants of neurodiversity affirming practice, so to celebrate OT Week - let’s talk about it!

Sometimes when parents experience prolonged stress, it then negatively influences their ability to express love and empathy towards their child. This is blocked care, where caregiving tends to be more reactive (responding to problems) with difficulties in considering the child’s underlying emotional state.

Often these challenges aren’t spoken about, or if they are, it’s in hushed tones to avoid judgement and disapproval from others, - so let’s talk about it.

What if the focus of therapeutic support shifted away from ‘skill teaching of children’ and towards supporting and reflecting about what a child’s needs may be? What if, there was thoughtful consideration of what might be happening in the family that made it harder to read and respond to a child’s needs? We know if a child is regulated, they are better able to engage in a wide range of functional activities - so let’s talk about it.

Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a form of chronic pain that usually affects an arm or a leg, but can occur anywhere in the body. It typically develops after an injury, stroke, heart attack or surgery. It’s uncommon and it’s cause isn’t entirely understood. I’ve ended up with CRPS after breaking my foot this year, so let’s talk about it.

Later in life diagnosed adults often talk about how they got into trouble or had a hard time because of their ADHD traits when they were children. Adults may welcome a later-in-life ADHD diagnosis, but grieve what their life would have been like if they had appropriate supports available to them. Let’s talk about these complex feelings.

As our awareness of what ADHD is develops and grows, many adults are seeking out their own diagnosis. To be clear, these adults have always had ADHD, but with growing awareness they are now empowered with knowledge to seek out a diagnosis. Let’s talk about it.

Have you considered that your pharmacist might be part of your therapeutic support team? Your pharmacist is well-placed to support you on your ADHD journey. Let’s explore the three main ways your pharmacist can assist.

Ever wondered what exactly is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)? It’s a neurodevelopmental condition that impacts a person’s executive functioning; the ability to to plan, focus, remember details, regulate their emotions and organise thoughts in order to complete tasks. Check out this blog for more key information about ADHD!

As researchers and clinicians recognise and catch on, the neurodiverse affirming movement has gained a whole heap of traction. I’m enthusiastic about seeing the shifts that are happening in the therapeutic space - so let’s talk about neurodiverse affirming occupational therapy!

I love my profession, but Occupational Therapy is not exactly well marketed - in fact most people don’t really understand what us occupational therapists do. You see occupational therapy is a very, very broad profession. One with almost limitless potential. In this blog I explore some of the possibilities and share my own niche area of interest!

This blog is all about going back to school, the importance of giving neurodivergent children and young people a voice and includes a FREE resource.

Has anyone else ever heard the term ‘pracademic’ and wondered what it meant? It’s a great term, one I was introduced to last year. A ‘pracademic’ is a person whose career spans across practice and research. This blog post covers my clinical and research work, in addition to my lived experience.