Meet Stephanie

Founder and Paediatric Occupational Therapist
 

Stephanie graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Applied Science (Occupational Therapy) in 2001. Since then, she has worked across a range of public and private settings, supporting children and young people from toddlerhood through to their teenage years.

​

Stephanie takes a holistic and individualised approach to occupational therapy. She considers each child’s unique strengths, developmental needs and everyday environment, drawing on principles of sensory processing, behaviour support, cognitive development and skill building. Her work is informed by current evidence and shaped around practical goals that are meaningful to the child and their family.

​

Growing up in Liverpool with an older sister who has a significant intellectual disability gave Stephanie a personal understanding of the challenges families can experience when navigating disability and support services. While working as a senior occupational therapist with the former NSW Department of Ageing, Disability and Home Care, she recognised the need for experienced private paediatric occupational therapy services in South West Sydney. This led her to establish Stepping Stones OT in 2005.
 

Stephanie has a particular interest in sensory processing and the ways it can influence a child’s play, relationships and participation in everyday life. She is committed to ongoing professional development and has completed further training in:

• Social Thinking

• Zones of Regulation

• Handwriting Without Tears

• Advanced Sensory Defensiveness

• DIR Floortime

• Listening with the Whole Body and Therapeutic Listening

• The MORE course: Integrating the Mouth with Sensory and Postural Functions

• The Alert Program

• Astronaut Training

• Basic Makaton

• Vestibular Activation

• Building Blocks for Sensory Integration

• Cool Kids Anxiety Program

• Praxis and motor planning

• Gravity and Motion and King of Swings
   

As a parent herself, Stephanie understands the joys and pressures of modern family life. She works closely with parents and carers to develop practical, engaging strategies that can be incorporated into everyday routines at home, at school and in the community.

Outside the clinic, Stephanie enjoys spending time with her children and family.