Supporting your child
My Philosophy
Every child deserves an approach as unique as they are.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to supporting children. Meaningful progress happens when intervention is flexible, responsive, and built around each child's strengths, relationships, interests, regulation, and everyday experiences. My role is to understand who your child is—not simply their diagnosis—and use that understanding to create opportunities for learning, participation, and growth in the places that matter most.
Because meaningful progress doesn't just come from finding the right therapy—it comes from finding the right approach for your child.
The focus is never on fitting your child into a therapy model, but on drawing from the most appropriate evidence-informed approaches to support their individual development and help them thrive.
How I Work
Every child has a unique combination of strengths, interests, sensory preferences, communication style, relationships, and experiences. I take time to understand how your child learns, connects, communicates, and regulates best.
Therapy is dynamic and responsive. I continually adapt my interactions to your child's nervous system, emotional state, and changing needs throughout each session. By harnessing their natural interests, following their motivation, and embedding learning within meaningful everyday experiences, I create opportunities for authentic engagement and lasting learning.
As a Key Worker, I integrate a range of evidence-informed approaches—including developmental, behavioural, relationship-based, play-based, and family-centred strategies—to create an intervention plan tailored to your child's strengths and your family's priorities.
💜 "The goal isn't to fit your child into a therapy model - it's to tailor support around who they are."
Key Worker Support
💜 Benefits of the Key Worker Model
One primary early intervention therapist
Building a strong understanding of your child's strengths, interests, family priorities, and goals over time.
One consistent point of contact
Reducing duplication and improving communication across your child's support team.
Practical everyday strategies
Embedded into play, routines, and everyday experiences.
Collaborative support
Working together with families, educators, and other professionals to provide consistent support across everyday environments.
One coordinated intervention plan
Keeping everyone focused on shared goals through one coordinated intervention plan.
🗺️ Coordinated, Family-Centred Support
As your child's primary early intervention therapist and Key Worker, I provide tailored, family-centred support for children aged 0–9 years. Using the Key Worker model, I coordinate support across home, early learning settings, school, community environments, and everyday routines to help children participate, learn, and thrive.
🤝 Building Strong Partnerships
I work collaboratively with families, educators, allied health professionals, and
community providers to create consistent, meaningful support across your child's
everyday environments. Together, we develop practical, meaningful strategies that
support your child's participation, learning, and development across everyday life.
🌱 Individualised Intervention
Every child has unique strengths, interests, relationships, communication styles,
and ways of learning. Rather than following a single therapy approach, I tailor
support to your child's individual needs and your family's priorities.
"Meaningful learning happens through play, relationships, and everyday moments."
✨ Meaningful Everyday Learning
Meaningful learning happens within everyday moments. By following your child's motivation and embedding learning into play, routines, and relationships, I create opportunities for learning that are engaging, enjoyable, and meaningful. This helps children develop skills that naturally carry over into everyday life.
📈 Monitoring Progress
Support follows an ongoing cycle of assessment, collaborative goal setting, strategy implementation, and review. This helps ensure intervention remains responsive to your child's changing needs while keeping families actively involved throughout the journey.
"When families, educators, and therapists work together, children thrive."
Early Start Denver Model (ESDM)
What is the ESDM?
The Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) is a play-based, evidence-informed early intervention approach designed for toddlers and young children (12 months to 6 years) with autism or developmental delays. It supports the development of communication, social interaction, play, cognitive, and motor skills through enjoyable, everyday interactions.
Unlike more structured teaching approaches, ESDM uses natural, relationship-based interactions to create meaningful learning opportunities within play and everyday routines. Children are encouraged to learn through shared enjoyment, everyday experiences, and interactions with familiar adults. Families are actively involved throughout the intervention process, helping children practise and generalise new skills across daily life.
Therapy is guided by the ESDM Curriculum Checklist, allowing progress to be systematically assessed, monitored, and targeted across multiple developmental areas.
💜 Key Principles of the ESDM
Naturalistic, Play-Based Learning
Learning is embedded within play, everyday routines, and meaningful shared activities.
Child-Led Motivation
Your child's interests and motivation guide learning, making therapy engaging and meaningful.
Relationship-Focused Intervention
Warm, responsive interactions and positive affect build strong relationships that support learning.
Joint Activity Routines (JARs)
Back-and-forth interactions, shared attention, and turn-taking are embedded within familiar play routines to build communication and social engagement.
Family-Centred Coaching
Parents and carers are active partners, embedding ESDM strategies into everyday routines and daily life so skills are generalised.
Development Across Multiple Domains
Communication, play, social interaction, cognition, motor, and adaptive skills are supported together.
Developmental Curriculum
The ESDM Curriculum Checklist identifies strengths, guides goal setting, and monitors progress across developmental domains.
How I use the ESDM
As a Certified Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) Therapist, I can provide ESDM as a stand-alone early intervention approach when it is appropriate for your child's developmental profile and goals. I also draw on ESDM principles within my broader Key Worker approach, integrating its relationship-focused, play-based strategies alongside other evidence-informed practices.
This flexibility allows me to tailor intervention to your child rather than relying on a single approach. Whether ESDM is delivered as a structured intervention or incorporated alongside other approaches, support remains individualised, responsive, and guided by your child's strengths, interests, developmental needs, and your family's priorities.
Parent Coaching
👨👩👧 Coaching within Everyday Life
Parents and carers play the most important role in their child's development. Parent coaching is often embedded within therapy sessions, where strategies are collaboratively discussed, modelled, practised, and reflected on in real time. This collaborative approach helps ensure strategies are practical, meaningful, and easily integrated into everyday routines, building your confidence to support your child's learning beyond our sessions.
💻 Stand-Alone Coaching Sessions
Stand-alone coaching sessions are available in person or via telehealth. These sessions provide an opportunity to explore specific concerns, problem-solve challenges, plan next steps, or focus on family-identified goals without your child being present. Coaching is tailored to your family's priorities, empowering you with the knowledge, confidence, and practical strategies to support your child's development in everyday life.