Paediatric Occupational Therapy
& Speech Pathology
Paediatric therapy is not just about milestones and reports.
It is about helping children build the skills to live, learn, and belong.
Staying Independent now offers paediatric occupational therapy and speech pathology for children and adolescents under the NDIS.
We work where childhood actually happens: in clinics, homes, schools, and the community. Because a skill that only works in a therapy room is not really a skill yet.
Our paediatric team is led by two senior clinicians: Katherine, our Allied Health Team Leader and Senior Occupational Therapist with deep expertise in complex disability and sensory regulation, and Callum, our Senior Speech Pathologist who also lectures in speech pathology at university. Together they lead a multidisciplinary team built for children with complex needs.
What paediatric therapy actually looks like.
It is the child who can do it at the clinic but not at school. It is the family juggling three providers who don't talk to each other. It is the non-speaking child whose communication is treated as behaviour instead of language.
We work with children and adolescents living with Autism, ADHD, intellectual disability, neurodevelopmental and neurological conditions, and complex and multiple disabilities, including profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD) and multi-sensory impairment.
Therapy is goal-focused, family-centred, and built to be implemented in the real world, in collaboration with parents, carers, educators, and support teams.
Our Team
Katherine
Allied Health Team Lead and Senior Occupational TherapistKatherine is a New Zealand trained Occupational Therapist with years of experience across paediatric and complex disability, spanning sensory clinics, schools, homes and the community. Her clinical scope runs from early intervention, functional capacity and assistive technology assessments through to sensory regulation and capacity building.
Katherine supervises therapists across the practice, but you'll most often find her on the floor with a child, turning art and play into real-world skills.
Callum is a Senior Speech Pathologist specialising in Autism, neurodevelopmental disability, PMLD and multi-sensory impairment. Callum lectures in speech pathology at university, so his therapy reflects current best practice.
He signs, believes in the opportunities AAC devices can open, and treats every mode of communication as equally valid.
For Callum, every child has something to say; his job is finding the way it gets heard.
Senior Speech PathologistCallum
Services for Children & Adolescents
Occupational Therapy
Creative, strengths-based therapy that incorporates art, play, and practical activities.
Sensory regulation and capacity building for home, school, and community.
Functional Capacity Assessments that reflect a child's real day, not one appointment.
Assistive Technology assessments.
Collaboration with families, educators, and support workers so recommendations actually get implemented.
NDIS report writing aligned to goals and plan reviews.
Speech Pathology
Communication, listening, and language support for children and adolescents.
Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) assessment and therapy, every mode of communication treated as equally valid.
Our senior clinician signs, and specialises in Autism, PMLD, and multi-sensory impairment.
Self-advocacy and communication skills for adolescents preparing for adult life.
Social communication and connection.
