Our Mission
Our mission is to support children, adolescents, and young adults live life to the fullest with meaningful and effective occupational therapy interventions. We believe that every young person has the potential to reach their goals, overcome challenges, and thrive. From assessments to personalised therapy plans, we bring expertise and passion to every session.
What We Do
Fine Motor Skills
Activities of Daily Living
Fine motor skills are the small, precise movements we make with our hands, fingers, and wrists. These skills are important for tasks like writing, buttoning a shirt, eating with utensils, typing, and tying shoelaces. Developing these skills helps increase independence and makes it easier to perform routine tasks with confidence.
Activities of Daily Living
Activities of Daily Living
Activities of daily living (ADLs) are tasks we do everyday like eating, dressing, bathing, and using the bathroom. They also include things like cooking and managing household chores. Occupational Therapy can support young people to learn, adapt and develop skills to be able to complete their day to day tasks as independently as possible
Sensory Processing Needs
Sensory regulation is what we all rely on in order to interpret and respond to the world around us.
Sensory Processing dysfunction can impact the way young people are able to interact with their space, be ready to participate and learn and regulate on a day to day basis.
Alternate Access to Technology
Alternate Access to Technology
Alternate access is required where a young person may not be able to use technology in a typical way due to physical or sensory challenges, and in some cases, both. This might include using supports such as switches or eyegaze to access communication, learning and/or leisure activities independently
Equipment Prescription
Alternate Access to Technology
School Readiness & Learning
Prescribing and recommending the correct equipment is crucial to ensuring enhanced mobility, safety, and independence. Whether it’s self-care equipment like commodes and shower chairs, alternate seating, body splints, or adaptive solutions for vehicles and homes, each recommendation is carefully tailored to meet individual needs.
School Readiness & Learning
Alternate Access to Technology
School Readiness & Learning
Being ready to learn can be challenging for some young people due to a myriad of influencing factors.
Working with a child or adolescent within both home and school can open up strategies to support readiness to engage in and access learning to maximise all opportunities as best as possible. For some, this requires modifying what participation looks like and embedding strategies to improve functional participation, for others, it's modifying what is required to participate in.
About Melissa
Melissa is an experienced Paediatric Occupational Therapist with nearly 10 years practise in early intervention/early childhood and both mainstream and specialist school based settings.
Melissa works with young people and their community- family, friends, support workers, teachers- to build capacity and develop skills for as much functional independence and participation in daily life as possible.
Melissa is highly experienced in providing occupational therapy support to young people with complex movement disorders and physical disability, as well as significant sensory processing challenges and complex communication needs.
She works closely with physiotherapists and speech pathologists to ensure a holistic approach to supporting the physical, sensory and communicative needs.
Melissa works part time both in the community and within the public health system supporting adolescents and young adult
Melissa has provided education and training for health professionals and Victorian Department of Education and Training staff on topics such as Alternate Access to Technology,Sensory Processing Challenges, Handwriting and Typing and Modifying access to the curriculum.
Melissa provides a mobile service based in bayside.
