OUR OT's
Hayley Huxtable
Senior OT | Director
BSc(HumBiol), MOccTher(Curtin)
Hayley is a senior Occupational Therapist with over 14 years experience in private practice specializing in the assessment and intervention for school-aged children who aren’t currently performing at their optimum in the classroom.
Hayley was born and raised in Perth and graduated from Curtin University with a Masters of Occupational Therapy in 2008. Hayley first realised her passion of working in this area of Occupational therapy when on her final placement abroad in South Africa. It was there she saw the positive effect that a therapist can have on a child even with the most limited resources and equipment available to them.
Hayley thouroughly enjoys the diversity and challenge of specializing in this field and finds great satisfaction in achieving successful outcomes for the schools, teachers, parents and most importantly the children she works with.
"I believe all children have a significant purpose in life. It is my role to ensure nothing is holding them back from fulfilling it" - Hayley Huxtable
As the name states, the goal at iThirve West Leederville is for all its clients to prosper, grow and flourish to the best of their ability or ‘to thrive’. Hayley aims to unlock the inhibiting factors holding a child back in their academic environment. She sets out to identify a child’s strengths and weaknesses and to provide a specialized technique of intervention that is tailored to each child that will allow them to thrive. Furthermore, her in-depth assessment process assesses the ‘whole’ child and is designed to identify the children that may require other intervention such as Speech Pathology, Child Psychology, Developmental Optometry, Naturopathy or Dietary Intervention. Hayley has built strong working relationships with all the relevant professionals in the child development field.
Hayley possesses a natural ability to engage and build rapport with children and adolescents to help them reach their full potential in schooling and in life. This skill is imperative to achieving successful therapy outcomes. Furthermore, Hayley prioritises time with the parents and other caregivers/educators to ensure they understand and are satisfied with the therapy process from start to finish.
Hayley is devoted to professional development in this ever-changing field to uphold her commitment to provide evidence based therapy. Hayley maintains current registrations with:
-
AHPRA (Australian Health Practioner Regulation Agency),
-
Western Australian Occupational Therapy Association (WAOTA)
-
Occupational Therapy Australia (OTA)
-
Developmental Occupational Therapists of WA (DOT(WA))
-
Current Working with Children Check (WWC)
kathryn dew
Senior OT | Team Leader
BSc(OT)(Hons)
iThrive is extremely fortunate to have Kathryn as a Senior OT and Team Leader of our Occupational Therapy team. After growing up in the wheatbelt of WA, Kathryn moved to Perth to pursue her career in Occupational Therapy for Children. She graduated with honours from Edith Cowan University with a Bachelor of Science (Occupational Therapy). Prior to focusing her clinical expertise on children, Kathryn spent time working in the adult mental health field. Kathryn began her paediatric career working in a rural town providing specialised services to a diverse caseload of school-aged children with varying learning difficulties and disability. After having gained this valuable experience in the pediatric field, Kathryn joined iThrive as junior therapist to continue her work providing excellent occupational therapy for children. From here, Kathryn has grown into a Senior Therapist as well as the Team Leader of the iThrive Occupational Therapy service.
Kathryn absolutely loves working with children and it was through her experience both in private practice and publicly at Perth’s Children Hospital where this was passion was truly realised. In both settings she saw the significant impact occupational therapy had not only for the child but for the whole family. Kathryn enjoys how fun filled sessions can be and how diverse each child is, bringing diversity to each day in clinic. Kathryn enjoys working with the child’s support team including siblings, parents, and teachers to ensure a holistic view to therapy is taken to meet the child’s goals.
Kathryn aims to assess the whole child to address factors which may present as a barrier to the child achieving success in the home and school environments. It is from this holistic assessment that Kathryn then develops tailored therapy plans for the child to allow them to thrive to their full potential.
“It brings me great joy at end of the day knowing that you have made a difference, whether big or small in a family’s life. The smile on a child's face when they achieve something for the first time will forever be the most special reward” – Kathryn Dew
Kathryn has a natural ability to develop an important rapport with the child and their families to ensure that trust and confidence is met from day one. Additionally, Kathryn has a calming nature however isn’t afraid to have fun with the kids in sessions! These are key traits in achieving the outcomes of therapy. Kathryn has written a wonderful blog titled "Does My Child Need OT" which beautifully answers the question on many concerned parent's minds. We encourage you to read it by clicking here.
Kathryn is devoted to professional development in this ever-changing field and enjoys keeping up to date with evolving research body of occupational therapy. Kathryn maintains current registrations with:
-
AHPRA (Australian Health Practioner Regulation Agency),
-
Developmental Occupational Therapists of WA (DOT(WA))
-
Current Working with Children Check (WWC)
myiesha brice
Senior Occupational Therapist
BSc(OT)Hons
Myiesha Brice Occupational Therapist has recently joined iThrive Health bringing valuable experience to our Paediatric Occupational Therapy service, notably in the NDIS paediatrics space. Myiesha will be offering both a clinic and community based service to her clients, and we're so excited for our clients to get to know her. You can learn more about Myiesha's experience and her approach below. If you would like to your child to see Myiesha, she is available for new client assessments with a waitlist of approximately 1 month. Click the link below to secure your spot today!
We will come back here shortly to update this bio with more detail...
daniel thompson
Occupational Therapist
BSc(OT)Hons
iThrive is very fortunate to have join as an Occupational Therapist. We will come back soon to update his profile photo bio. Stay tuned!
Stephanie martin
Occupational Therapist
BSc(OT)
iThrive is incredibly fortunate to have Steph join our OT team. Steph completed her education at Edith Cowan University with a Bachelor of Science (Occupational Therapy). Since then, she has worked within the NDIS paediatrics space; working with early intervention children, school-age children, adolescents and young adults. Steph is passionate about working with kids and adolescents to help them achieve their goals, become more independent and to thrive in their daily life.
Steph loves the variety that OT has to offer and the holistic approach that is at its core. She knows that no two children are the same and that their personal, developmental and environmental factors contribute to their own skill set and unique personality. Not only is Steph invested in supporting and building the skills of the kids she sees, but also believes in the importance of building the skill set of the child's support network to maximise the transfer of skills and to support long term outcomes.
Steph always likes to incorporate fun and learning into her sessions through unique and creative interventions. Her friendly, gentle and calming nature helps children to feel comfortable and at ease during therapy sessions. Steph values the strong relationship that is built between herself and her clients, as this results in the best engagement and outcomes in therapy. She takes time to get to know them, their strengths and their interests.
Steph is devoted to professional development in this ever-changing field and enjoys keeping up to date with the evolving research body of occupational therapy. Steph maintains current registrations with:
-
AHPRA (Australian Health Practioner Regulation Agency),
-
Occupational Therapy Australia (OTA)
-
Current Working with Children Check (WWC)