I am also neurodivergent myself and a mum of four neurodivergent children. That lived experience sits alongside my professional training and has shaped the way I approach therapy, parenting support, advocacy and disability. It has given me a strong appreciation for how important it is that supports are practical, respectful and genuinely responsive to the child and family in front of us — rather than simply focusing on compliance or helping a child appear more “typical”.​

My professional background includes supporting children and families from a wide range of circumstances through my work as a Family Services Practitioner within the Child, Youth and Family Services sector, as well as working as an Early Parenting Practitioner at the Queen Elizabeth Centre, a Melbourne-based parenting service focused on strengthening parent-child relationships, early development and family wellbeing.

 

Over time, my practice has grown to bring together Play Therapy, Developmental Education, Positive Behaviour Support, parent and family support, Functional Capacity Assessment and broader developmental assessment. This allows me to look at the developmental, sensory, communication, relational, environmental and emotional factors that may be influencing a child’s everyday experience.Play is central to much of my work.

 

For children, play is not simply recreation — it can be a powerful way to communicate, process experiences, build relationships, develop skills and make sense of the world around them.As an NDIS Behaviour Support Practitioner, I provide Positive Behaviour Support with a strong focus on understanding what behaviour may be communicating. I look at factors such as unmet needs, sensory experiences, communication differences, demands, relationships and the environment, with the aim of developing proactive and practical supports that promote dignity, autonomy, participation and quality of life.

I also complete Functional Capacity Assessments, drawing on developmental, functional and contextual information to understand how disability impacts a person’s everyday life. These assessments may explore areas such as communication, self-care, learning, social participation, sensory needs, emotional wellbeing, daily living and community access, with recommendations designed to support NDIS planning, goal setting and access to appropriate supports.

Qualifications

• Bachelor of Criminology

• Bachelor of Psychological Science

• Graduate Certificate in Therapeutic Child Play

• Graduate Diploma in Therapeutic Child Play

• Master of Family Studies

• Master of Child Play Therapy

• Graduate Certificate in Autism Studies

• Master of Autism Studies / Developmental Education

I am also a trained facilitator of the Learn to Play Therapeutic Child Play Program, a Certified LEGO®-Based Therapy Practitioner, and experienced in facilitating group programs and workshops including Peaceful Kids and Girl Power Workshops Australia.I have undertaken further training in AutPlay Therapy, a neurodiversity-affirming play therapy approach developed specifically to support autistic and neurodivergent children, as well as further training in Functional Capacity Assessment and Positive Behaviour Support.

More recently, I have written and illustrated the neuro-affirming children’s book Uniquely You, Uniquely Me, which celebrates diversity, identity and the strengths of neurodivergent children, while increasing visibility and understanding of the many different ways children play, experience, communicate and process the world around them.

Through Foundations for Childhood, I aim to provide a space where children and families feel understood, supported and respected. My goal is to work collaboratively with families, schools and other professionals to develop supports that are meaningful, individualised and genuinely useful in everyday life.