Meet Ellie

Ellie, can you tell us about your role – what’s involved?

I work as an Occupational Therapist with Care Squared. In this role, I schedule and conduct a range of assessments (functional capacity assessment, housing assessment and home modifications assessment) or intervention sessions with participants depending their needs and wishes for therapy support.

A large part of my role is communicating and collaborating with all involved stakeholders to ensure the participant is receiving the necessary supports to achieve their goal(s).

I conduct meetings with builders to explore home modification opportunities for participants and assistive technology trials.

In this Program, I’ve completed intervention planning and reporting, written comprehensive reports, detailed progress reports for NDIS plan reviews and drafted letters of support for particular items.

What work have you been most excited about since starting the Graduate Program?

I have a keen interest in completing participant’s home modifications. In these projects, I’ll have an initial visit with participants’ at their homes, before discussing the home environment and changes required due to current difficulties.

From there, I contact building companies to arrange inspections and discuss the proposed home modifications. I’m in the process of writing a home modification report for a participant, and hope to submit this to the NDIS soon!

What’s something interesting you’ve learnt during your time with the team?

A collaborative, multidisciplinary approach to intervention (psychology, counselling, speech pathology, physiotherapy) is very complementary! I’ve found it interesting to observe the approaches that other allied health disciplines draw on – through this observation, I can develop my therapeutic skills.

How many clinical hours might you have in a day?

A wonderful aspect of the Graduate Program is that each day is SO different!

The clinical hours spent in the community can vary – some days, I complete 3-5 sessions with participants. Other days, I complete reporting or notetaking tasks, plan upcoming sessions and contact stakeholders. We have the opportunity to manage our own calendar and schedules, giving us flexibility within the workday.

What sort of clients might you work with?

We support a diverse caseload of NDIS participants, families and support staff. You can expect to work with children of all ages (with varied levels of support needs) through to adult participants requiring ongoing intervention services, assistive technology or home modifications.

I’m currently completing intervention sessions which focus on creating routine, money management, social skills, emotional regulation and handwriting to reach this participants’ NDIS goals.

Do you feel this program is supporting your career opportunities?

The Graduate Program has been integral in my transition from student to full time clinician!

Through this Program, I have access to weekly clinical supervision, mentoring, weekly manger meetings and PD opportunities. New Graduates are encouraged to slowly increase their caseloads and have plenty of available support.

Do you have any tips for students thinking about applying for this program?

I’d advise students to do some research into the NDIS, to develop a basic understanding of the scheme and how health professionals can effectively support participants.