The Early Start Australia Buderim team provide occupational therapy, and speech pathology services on the Sunshine Coast to support children and families.
Qualifications
Skilled at creating a safe space for her clients to practice new skills without fear of making mistakes, Georgie embraces her positive and upbeat personality to quickly build rapport, motivate and create good connections with her clients and their support network.
Georgie completed a Master of Occupational Therapy at the University of Sydney and has experience working with children, adolescents and their families in a variety of sessions including private practice, not for profit and part of the NSW health system.
Georgie has a particular interest in providing individual therapy sessions across a variety of locations including the clinic gym, therapy rooms, at home, at school/kindy and within the natural environment.
Georgie has been trained in and successfully run the PEERs social skills for teenagers program and supported a number of our early intervention groups.
Georgie has also completed professional learning to school staff and local kindergarten educators with a focus on sensory and behavioural regulation including Kindy uplift work.
Georgie is an energetic and passionate OT who enjoys working with children with challenging engagement styles, conducting detailed assessments and working within a multidisciplinary team.
Georgie utilises a bottom up therapy approach, assessing and providing intervention to the foundational skills we require to complete all daily tasks.
Georgie enjoys working with children and young people of a variety of ages and goals.
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Sally is a passionate and experienced OT who loves meeting, building relationships and working with children and their families to help them overcome any difficulties or obstacles that they may be facing.
Sally completed her Bachelor of Occupational Therapy at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal in Westville, South Africa.
She has experience working with children, adolescents and their families in school, home, and clinic settings.
Sally’s passion and interest lie in early intervention, and she believes the earlier a child receives therapy, the more positive their future outcomes.
She has completed her sensory integration training through the sensory integration Institute of South Africa as well as her DIR Floortime level 1 certificate course through Profectum.
Sally has completed professional training to school staff and local Kindergarten educators.
Sally is a caring, curious, and dynamic OT who has a love of learning from other professionals as well as from the children and the families that she treats.
She enjoys working collaboratively with children and their families as well as within a multi-disciplinary team.
She adopts a relationship-based approach in therapy and focuses on intervention of foundational skills which underlie functional difficulties.
Sally enjoys working with children and young people of a variety of ages and goals.
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Recent professional development
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Angelina obtained both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees and the University of Texas at Dallas and completed her clinical education and training with children and adults in a variety of settings with concerns ranging from feeding disorders to articulation and language concerns, to cognitive communication disorders.
Angelina provides both group and individual therapy in a variety of settings, including the clinic, day-cares, schools, homes, and outside!
She believes in meeting the child in their preferred environments to produce the best outcomes for the client and their families.
She has participated in Kindy uplift programs, where she helped assess and deliver therapeutic resources to children at rural kindergartens, and engaged in community based learning sessions.
In addition, she has successfully created and led the Prep Readiness and Food and Fun groups at the ESA Buderim Clinic.
Angelina has been practicing for multiple years both in clinics in the United States and in Australia.
She continues to hone and refine her skills by attending trainings, doing research, and watching webinars related to various topics in the field of speech pathology.
She has particular interest in early intervention, group therapy, and feeding and approaches these sessions with warmth, passion, patience, and fun!
Her favourite approach to therapy is a play-based approach, which she has completed several trainings in throughout her career.
Angelina understands that the best therapy outcomes are based on building relationships with clients, caregivers, and other professionals involved in care.
She values collaboration and continuous learning in her profession and is passionate about providing the best care possible to all who walk through her door.
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Dedicated, passionate and committed to holistic care as a paediatric occupational therapist with experience in addressing a spectrum of conditions, including ASD, ADHD, DCD, global developmental delay, intellectual impairment, and specific learning disorders.
Kahla completed a Bachelor of Occupational Therapy at the James Cook University and has years of experience working with children, adolescents, young adults and their families in a variety of settings with diverse cultural backgrounds.
Kahla enjoys providing opportunity for play in all environments and strives to make ‘the just right challenge’ in each therapy session across a variety of locations including the clinic gym, therapy rooms, at home, at school/kindy and within the community.
You can find Kahla in individual sessions or small group programs that focus on prep readiness, social skills, regulation, and gross and fine motor skills.
Working closely with the client and their family, starting with the assessment process then evidence based early intervention approaches using a variety of frameworks including, pyramid of learning, DIR floortime approach, sensory integration to meet their goals.
Kahla strives to advocate for our more vulnerable population and understanding the ‘why’ behind behaviour.
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Zoe Lyttle completed a Bachelor of Occupational Therapy Honours at the University of the Sunshine Coast in 2021 and has experience working with children and families in the clinic, community and home environment.
Zoe has experience working with children with a range of different diagnosis and developmental delays.
Zoe has experience providing targeted assessment, ongoing therapy in the clinic, school, community and home environment, and with implementing group therapy programs such as prep readiness, Lego social/play skills, and feeding therapy groups, and executive functioning/social ‘cook and chat’ groups for teens
Zoe has also taken part in projects such as the Kindy uplift program which provides assessment and intervention programs to kindergartens in regional and rural communities.
Zoe is skilled at fostering a fun, warm and safe space for her children and families to be themselves and practice/learn new skills.
Zoe is a passionate OT who values making her clients feel heard, working as part of a multidisciplinary team and enjoys collaborating with stakeholders involved in her clients’ day-to-day lives and/or care to provide a holistic approach to therapy.
Zoe values the child, their unique strengths/interests and a family centred approach.
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Meet our vibrant and energetic occupational therapist, Brooke, dedicated to making a positive impact on the lives of children aged from 2 to 18 years old.
With a passion for promoting independence engagement and participation in meaningful daily activities, Brooke specialises in fine and gross motor skills development, as well as social skills for our tweenies.
Brooke completed a Bachelor of Occupational Therapy at the Australian Catholic University where she engaged in practical experiences in an array of settings including private practice, QLD health systems, and in scopes of practise consisting of community, hand therapy, acute and chronic health conditions, and paediatrics.
Bringing experience to our team, Brooke has cultivated her expertise through hands on work in paediatric settings.
Her journey in occupational therapy has been marked by a commitment to creating engaging and fun-filled therapeutic environment that individualises to the needs of each child.
Her dedication to continuous learning is evident through training completed in neurodevelopment training (NDT), sensory integration, motor skills development, Interoception, and DIR 101 Floortime approach.
Brooke brings an energetic and dedicated spirit to her work, creating an environment where children feel comfortable, motivated, and excited about their therapy sessions.
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Meet Vanessa, a vibrant and dedicated speech pathologist with a passion for unlocking the power of communication. Known for her fun-loving personality, Vanessa seamlessly combines professionalism with a playful touch, creating an engaging environment for clients.
Vanessa holds a bachelor’s degree in Speech and Language Pathology from Manchester Metropolitan university in the UK.
Her professional background encompasses working with children, adolescents, and their families across various settings, including private practice and the NHS.
She has provided intervention and assessment in school, home, clinic, and natural environments.
Beyond individual sessions, Vanessa has led engaging group social skill sessions, contributed to Kindy uplift projects, and provided valuable parent training.
She has a keen interest in working with tweens and teenagers, recognising the unique challenges and opportunities this age group presents.
She uses strength-based and evidence-based approaches to ensure that every child, from the littlest ones to teenagers, reaches their full communication potential.
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Annalee completed a bachelor’s degree of Speech Pathology at James Cook University, Townsville in 2019.
She has experience working with individuals through the lifespan, delivering both individual and group therapy.
Annalee has worked for a non-for-profit organisation and a private clinic.
Annalee has experience servicing rural communities and is currently delivering outreach services to the Gympie area.
She has also completed assessments and delivered programs in Kindergartens for uplift projects.
Annalee enjoys working with children in the clinic, school and home environments and collaborating closely with families and a multidisciplinary team.
Annalee has had experience supporting children’s communication skills with a range of developmental delays, disorders and diagnoses.
She’s passionate about fun and family centred therapy, particularly working in the paediatric space with specific interest in early language development and late talkers.
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Lisa joined Early Start Australia as an Allied Health Assistant after a background in teaching, specialising in special education and early childhood all over Queensland.
She has vast experience in supporting students in a variety of settings with developing their emotional regulation and social skills, speech and language difficulties, and school readiness.
Lisa uses her calm and nurturing personality to build rapport and create safe environments for her clients to develop their skills whether that be in the sensory gym in clinic, the community, at kindy/school, or at home.
Lisa loves her work in the role of Allied Health Assistant, supporting children of all ages and abilities as they work toward achieving the goals that the multidisciplinary team have developed.
Her key interest area is working with neurodiverse children and their families using a combination of play-based and evidence-based interventions to create meaningful goal progression and optimal health and well-being outcomes.
Lisa is passionate about creating a compassionate, respectful, and fun therapeutic environment that provides individualised ‘just right’ supports and opportunities to unlock each child’s potential.
She also enjoys creating resources such as visual aids, PODD books and aided language displays, games, and social stories.
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Qualifications
Mikaylee completed her Bachelor of Occupational Therapy with honours in 2023 at the University of Sunshine Coast.
Mikaylee has been apart of the Buderim ESA team since 2022 previously working in a therapy assistant and admin role.
Mikaylee is a creative person who loves to spend her weekend painting.
When she is not painting or at work, Mikaylee enjoys getting out into nature, seeing the coast’s best waterfalls and beaches.
Professionally, her diverse interests contribute to a well-rounded and adaptable approach to my work.
She believes that a creative and nature-inspired mindset can bring fresh perspectives to any task.
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Kayla is the lead administrator at our Buderim clinic.
Kayla has worked in the allied health administration field for a large part of her career, as well as further study and experience in disability care and aged care.
She loves getting to know all of our wonderful families and supporting the clinic with day-to-day admin support and service coordination.
Kayla is passionate about supporting our team to deliver the highest quality service, while having some fun along the way.
Rhiannon is an Administration Officer here at our Buderim clinic.
Her experience in administration varies across different industries – her favourite working with families.
Rhiannon loves being a familiar face at the front counter and interacting professionally and personally with new and existing clients.
