ABOUT ME
Hi, I'm Hanna
I am a registered occupational therapist with a Masters degree and over 18 years occupational therapy experience. I have postgraduate training in sensory integration and I specialise in working with children and young people with sensory processing difficulties, many of whom are autistic and/or have ADHD. My clinic is in Ulverston, South Cumbria.
I am a mum of two children, one is autistic and attends a special school and one is AuDHD and was out of school for over a year but now has an EOTIS package and attends alternative provision (he's the one with the lovely eyes in the photo!). I am continually learning from my amazing children but it's not easy! As a family, we've survived the battle for diagnosis, EHCP and special school as well as the huge emotional turmoil of having a child with anxiety and burnout unable to attend school. Every day brings new challenges and I'm grateful that these experiences mean that I can support other parents with more compassion and a deeper level of understanding. I am also neurodivergent myself and I find this lived experience so helpful in my work.Â
MY PASSION
I absolutely love supporting parents to better understand their child's sensory needs!
I enjoy seeing how my assessment findings, training and parent support enables a family and school to make changes that make such a difference to their child's life as well as to the wellbeing of the whole family.
If you need help to understand exactly what is going on for your child and what you can do to support them to be happier then you've come to the right place.
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QUALIFICATIONS
- Registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC registration number OT51333)
- Member of the Royal College of Occupational Therapists
- BSc (Hons) Occupational Therapy (First Class Honours) and MSc
- CLASI Certificate in Ayres Sensory Integration
- Certified to use the SIPT and EASI assessments
- Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check
- Fully insured
Children's occupational therapists (OTs) help a child to overcome challenges so that they can participate more fully in home, school and community life.
They look at the child's skills and environment to see what is a barrier to the child growing, learning, playing, socialising and having fun.
Barriers include sensory challenges (such as a need to be constantly on the move, difficulty tolerating haircuts, toothbrushing and noise), emotional and sensory regulation (getting upset, anxious or angry easily or difficulty with attention and focus) and motor skills (difficulty with reading, writing, PE skills, getting dressed, riding a bike, tying laces etc).
The occupational therapist then makes recommendations on how the environment can be adapted and how the child's skills can be developed to enable improved wellbeing and participation in daily life.Â
MY APPROACH
By nature, children want to play, learn and develop. When they struggle e.g. attending school or tolerating busy environments, deficit-based approaches consider the childâs perceived weaknesses, viewing the child or their neurodivergence as the problem. Furthermore, recommendations are often related to a misplaced notion of resilience, with some professionals even suggesting desensitisation which can cause further trauma. Deficit-based models tend to suggest how the child needs to adjust rather than considering how the environment and adults around them can adapt.
I choose to take a more neurodivergent affirming approach that I call âBarriers to Participationâ. My approach considers issues with the environment and support for the child, rather than viewing the child as being less than. I also consider how strengths can be used to mitigate challenges. My approach is aligned with the core values of occupational therapy as a profession.Â
Daily living skills, learning, behaviour and communication, all grow and develop from a strong sensory foundation and my assessments therefore have a sensory focus. I consider a childâs âsensory processing and integrationâ, which means I look at how the childâs body and brain takes in and processes sensory input and how this impacts their ability to plan, coordinate and carry out daily activities (such as those related to learning, social engagement, self-care and play). Whilst this assessment approach can highlight areas of difficulty in the childâs sensory processing and integration, my recommendations relate to how the environment can be adapted and what adult support the child needs to thrive, rather than suggesting that the child needs to change.
I include standardised scoring in my report in the appendices. I do not in fact agree with comparing children to what society considers typical, however the realities of the current system mean that solid evidence is often required to access support. I find that the assessments I use help me understand the barriers to a childâs participation in everyday life which enables me to make child centred recommendations, however I ask that parents and young people do not pay too much attention to the scoring of these tools.
My approach feels aligned with my values and it is ever evolving over time. I am excited to work with families who also feel aligned with my approach and I welcome questions; please do contact me.
"I cannot speak highly enough of Hanna and the services she offers. Before I met Hanna I felt like no one understood my son and his needs. The assessments Hanna completed gave me a much greater understanding of my son, it has helped me source him help and support. Hannaâs therapy sessions have been greatly beneficial to my son, they has been great improvements in lots of aspects. Hanna is caring, calm, knowledgeable, professional and she has been brilliant my son. I would not hesitate to recommend Hanna. I can not thank her enough for all of her efforts."
"Hanna is amazing! After visiting Hanna we learned so much about our daughter that we weren't even aware of. Hanna's sensory space is out of this world. Our little girl struggles to communicate but Hanna was patient with her, made her feel at ease, was calming but also made her assessment lots of fun. Hanna is very knowledgeable and we cannot thank her enough, our daughter would not be getting the correct support if it wasn't for Hanna's advice. We will always recommend Hanna and the services that she offers. We look forward to Hanna working with our daughter in the future."
"Our experience with Hanna has been wonderful from start to finish. She is very professional and knowledgable, whilst being kind, empathetic and approachable. Thank you for all for care and expertise, it has made a massive difference to our family. We couldn't have asked for better, with the way you approached our son, and it is evident you want the best for every child you meet. The assessment and feedback is wonderful, and is hopefully the beginning of a more supportive education for our son."
"Excellent help and support from Hanna for my son at a very difficult point, she has helped myself as a parent but also the school he attends to put additional support in place. I now understand the issues and difficulties he faces on a day to day basis and the things we can put in place to make things easier. Hanna was very friendly and supportive and my son felt very relaxed and comfortable straight away; normally he struggles with meeting new people."
"Highly recommended, Hanna recently carried out a very thorough assessment on our grandson. The family were listened to, she has such a calming manner and used various ways to communicate with our grandson that put him at ease and he participated willingly and loved the activities. Several area of sensory need were found during these assessments that the doctors missed. Strategies and activities recommended have already started to show an improvement in behaviour. This lady is professional, caring with a wealth of knowledge and she communicates exceptionally well with all involved. Thank you, we really appreciate what youâve done. Also learned lots from the Facebook live sensory activities session and would recommend these to anyone not just to those with children with sensory needs."