Corinna Laurie- Director
Corinna is the Director of Evolve-Children’s Therapy Services Ltd and author of the NAS publication “Sensory and Strategies-Practical ways to help children and young people with autism learn and achieve” and Sensory Motor Strategies published 2018.
Corinna qualified as an Occupational Therapist in 1993 and has specialised in the area of Paediatrics for the last 27 years. She is skilled in a variety of paediatric evaluation tools and treatment approaches, including using the principles Sensory Integration therapy, Therapeutic Listening® and Neurodevelopmental techniques. She is skilled in assessment and report writing and has experience in attending Educational Tribunals. She also has a diploma in Aromatherapy and Advanced Reflexology.
Corinna also works as Clinical Lead for OT for the NAS and regularly presents at their conferences all around the country.
In addition, Corinna provides clinical training to a wide variety of settings, including the NHS, private practice and educational establishments.
Corinna follows the latest developments in her field and attends regular training and workshop sessions to maintain her professional development.
Kirsty Richards – Specialist Paediatric Occupational Therapist (Therapy Manager- Evolve CTS)
Qualifying in 1997 from Oxford Brookes University, Kirsty specialises in providing expert Paediatric Occupational Therapy assessments and interventions. She has completed a variety of post graduate qualifications and training including Sensory integration, Bobath techniques, quick shifts music (Therapeutic Listening) and Social thinking which she utilises in her clinical practice.
During her career she has worked within the NHS as a clinician and manager. Working with children ranging from 0 up to 19 years and their families. Her clinical experience has been within mainstream and special schools, nurseries, clinics and client’s homes. Kirsty works collaboratively with children, their families and schools to develop treatment plans that support them to reach their potential.
Kirsty is experienced in using a wide range of standardised and non-standardised assessments to identify strengths and weaknesses in areas such as handwriting, fine and gross motor skills, visual perception and sensory difficulties.
Kirsty is a member of The British Association of Occupational Therapists and The college of Occupational Therapists specialist section for Children, young people and families. She has a broad spectrum of colleagues for peer support and continues to update her clinical knowledge and skills through attending training and reading literature. She is also registered with the Health and Care Professions Council.
Jane Richardson – Specialist Occupational Therapist
Jane has worked for several years in the Community as an Occupational Therapist for Social Services, involved in the assessment and recommendation of equipment and environmental adaptations in the home of people with physical and behavioural difficulties. She has currently been working for 15 years with children mainly in an education setting, and has specialist knowledge and experience of working with Visual Impairment, Autistic Spectrum Disorders, Challenging behaviour, Profound and Complex learning disabilities and Developmental Co-ordination Disorders. She provides Occupational Therapy for handwriting, self care skills, fine motor skills, touch typing, access technology, hand splinting, Sensory Processing and the Therapeutic Listening® Programme. She has recently trained to apply the SOS (Sequential Oral Sensory)Feeding Approach for Problem Feeders and Picky Eaters. Jane also has experience in assessment, report writing and attending Tribunals.
Jane follows the latest developments in all areas of work, by regularly attending training courses, Special Interest Groups and reading widely. She keeps up to date with statutory training and refreshers in Moving and Handling, Equality and Diversity and Safeguarding regulations.
Natalie Hayes- Specialist Occupational Therapist
Natalie qualified as an Occupational Therapist in 2004. She has worked in the NHS within the adult and paediatric sector. She has 8 years’ experience of working with children within an acute hospital setting and in the community. Natalie has experience with a wide variety of conditions, including cerebral palsy, complex neurological conditions, Autism, Developmental Co-ordination Disorder and acquired brain injury. She has worked closely within an MDT environment, working with children at home, school (including specialist provisions) or in clinics.
Natalie has experience of using a variety of assessment tools, and uses a child focused assessment and treatment approach when working with families, focusing on a child’s occupations, and supporting their ability to participate in their activities of daily living, including self-care, play, and school based skills such as recording of school work, complex feeding assessments for children with physical disabilities, and use of assistive technology such as eye gaze. Natalie has additional post-graduate training, including Bobath, and working with children with Autism.
Natalie has a good up to date knowledge of children’s equipment, including seating, bathing, toileting, sleep systems for 24 hour postural care, and manual handling equipment. This is for both home and school environments.
Sarah Grimshaw- Paediatric Occupational Therapist
Sarah qualified in 1982 and has worked in different areas of Occupational Therapy before specialising in Paediatrics. She currently works in an NHS Children’s Resource Centre and is excited to also be working in the Independent sector.
She has specialist skills working with children who have profound and complex disabilities aged 0-19, including those with coordination disorders, visual perceptual difficulties, fine motor delay or congenital conditions which affect one or more activities of daily living. Sarah is passionate about children’s Occupation both at home and at school. She has experience working alongside other professionals in a multidisciplinary team, as well as working independently with individual children and families.
Sarah has also worked in a hospice where she developed a course to promote energy conservation and manage fatigue. She now has a child friendly version to help children and their families to manage fatigue by conserving energy.
Sarah passed the Sensory Integration Module 1: Foundations and Neuroscience (Paediatrics) with Ulster University in 2012.This enables her to use the principles of Sensory Integration when treating children and young people with sensory processing difficulties.
She is a member of the British Association of Occupational Therapists and the Children and Young People specialist section.
Tenar Batty – Specialist Occupational Therapist
Tenar qualified with her Masters in Occupational Therapy from the University of Sydney in 2012. Upon graduating, she joined a specialist private practice utilising sensory integration, Floor time therapy, and social communication based approaches in both individual and group therapy. Since that time she has worked for the NHS within the community complex needs team working with children both at home and at school, and has had roles within specialist schools catering to complex physical disabilities, autism, sensory processing differences, and social/emotional challenges.
Tenar has worked on an acute paediatric rehabilitation and assessment unit for children post neurological surgery/injury, providing assessment and intervention for upper limb, visual perception, fine and gross motor skills, executive function, daily living skills and more complex sensory processing and challenging behaviours.
She has supported this experience with a number of continuing education based courses, including further sensory integration, upper limb therapy, Developmental Coordination Disorder, Handwriting, Seating and 24-hour postural management.
Tenar focuses on completing a holistic assessment of children’s needs that includes both the child’s strengths and challenges. She is able to provide reports and strategies for intervention that supports caregivers to enable the child to meet their potential.
Annabelle Jones – Specialist Occupational Therapist
Annabelle qualified as an Occupational Therapist in 1997. She has worked in paediatrics for 15 years both privately and within the NHS. She has experience working in the hospital setting, client’s homes, mainstream and special schools and clinics. She works with children from 0 – 19 with a range of complex conditions, including cerebral palsy, life limiting conditions, acquired neurological conditions and children facing orthopaedic surgery, such as spinal surgery, as well as children with Developmental co-ordination disorder, Autistic spectrum disorder and Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. She has a particular interest in supporting early development in children with special needs.
She also has experience in the assessment and provision of specialist equipment for children who require specialist seats, hoist slings, sleep systems, bath and toileting equipment and small aids.
Annabelle uses a variety of assessment approaches, including clinical observations and standardized assessments to identify strengths and weaknesses in areas that can affect a child’s daily living skills, both at home and at school. e.g. gross and fine motor skills, visual perception skills, sensory difficulties.
Annabelle has experience teaching Sensory circuits to school staff.
Annabelle believes that Occupational Therapy intervention should be child and family focused, and intervention should be incorporated into a child’s everyday life both at home and in the educational setting. Annabelle has skills and experience of teaching children, parents and school staff techniques and treatment strategies to maximise the individuals potential.
Clare trained at St. Thomas’ Hospital and qualified as a physiotherapist in 1988. She has specialised in Paediatrics since 1990, working at Guy’s and Lewisham Hospital, various Child Development Centres (including the Newcomen Centre) and Darent Valley Hospital. She works with children and young people from 0 -18 years, who have a range of difficulties. These include cerebral palsy, dyspraxia, genetic disorders , developmental delay, positional talipes, torticollis and preterm birth problems. In addition she has worked with several children both pre and post their selective dorsal rhizotomy operations.
Clare is a member of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy and the Association of Paediatric Chartered Physiotherapists. She is Bobath trained, to work with neurodevelopmental difficulties and to deliver early intervention with young children. Clare has also trained in the Prechtl’s Assessment of General movements, to assess very young babies.
Julia Haydon – Specialist Speech and Language Therapist.
Qualified in 2012 from City University and specialises in providing support to young people with communication difficulties. Julia has completed a post-graduate diploma in Inclusion of vulnerable Learners with a focus on ASD, with Bath Spa University and has also completed SCERTS training ( Social Communication, Emotional Regulation and Transactional Support)
During her career Julia has worked with young people ranging from 0 up to 25 years with complex needs including autism. She has experience of working with a range of alternative & augmentative Communication (AAC) such as pecs (picture exchange communication system) communication books and technology. Julia is particularly interested in ensuring that communication is functional for the individual across all the environments that are important to them
Julia is a registered member of the Healthcare Professions Council (HCPC) and the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCLST).
Rebecca Biro- Specialist Speech and Language Therapist
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Melody Dalligan- Specialist Speech and Language Therapist
Melody Qualified in 2009 from University College London and specialises in providing support to young people with a range of communication difficulties. Melody has worked with young people ranging from 6 up to 25 years old with mild-severe learning difficulties, within both school, college and residential settings. Her specialisms are in working with young people with Autism Spectrum Disorder, complex needs and Alternative & Augmentative Communication (AAC). She also has experience of working with individuals with a range of communication and learning needs that arise from social, emotional, and behavioural difficulties, hearing impairment, Global Developmental Delay, language disorder, multi-sensory impairment, Down’s Syndrome, and school leavers transitioning to college.
Melody has experience of working with a range of AAC such as:
- PECS (picture exchange communication system),
- Objects of Reference,
- Use of signing (trained to BSL level 2),
- Creating and supporting the use of communication books, choice boards etc,
- Setting up, maintaining and working with a range of communication apps on iPads.
Melody is particularly passionate about developing an individual’s self-esteem and self-help skills. She believes in making communication fun and functional for the individual through the use of props, toys, mess, stories, and anything else creative! She works closely with the team around the young person to focus on finding solutions, and can offer training to support families and staff as appropriate. Melody is a registered member of the Healthcare Professions Council (HCPC) and the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCLST).
Sorcha P
hillips- Integrated Therapist- Counsellor
Sorcha has significant experience working with young people, their families and professionals.
As an Integrative therapist, she takes the view that there is no single approach that can work for each client in all situations. Recognising the inherent value of each individual she works with, she draws upon a variety of approaches such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Psychotherapy and Person Centred work to support clients.
Sorcha has received training in working with young people diagnosed with a range of difficulties including social communication difficulties, anxiety, panic disorders and disordered eating and trauma (including working with individuals diagnosed with PTSD).
She has experience working with looked after children, young people in mainstream education and those who attend specialist provisions.
A registered member of The British Association for Counsellors and Psychotherapists, Sorcha is committed to continued professional development.