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Continue reading →: Popular Culture Through an OT Lens: Strategy and Survival in The Traitors and the Occupational Adaptation Model
The Traitors is one of my favourite programmes, and tonight the celebrity version launches on BBC One and iPlayer. As someone who has followed every series, I am really looking forward to seeing how familiar faces adapt to the unique pressures of the castle. What I have noticed across every series…
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Continue reading →: Black History Month: Why It Matters in Occupational Therapy
October is Black History Month in the UK. Every year it is a moment of celebration, reflection, and education. But it is also a month that makes me stop and think carefully about my own role. I want to begin with an acknowledgement: I am not Black. Some people might…
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Continue reading →: Popular Culture Through an OT Lens: The Turner Prize, Nnena Kalu, and Doing, Being, Belonging
As part of my series exploring occupational therapy through popular culture, I was inspired after watching Channel 4 News and a story about the Turner Prize. What struck me was the feature on one of this year’s nominees, the first ever person with a learning disability to be shortlisted. I…
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Continue reading →: Popular Culture Through an OT Lens: Rose Ayling-Ellis, Strictly Come Dancing and the Model of Occupational Justice
A national phenomenon with mixed feelings I am not what you would call a Strictly superfan. I might watch occasionally, but I do struggle with many elements of the show. I often choose to catch up afterwards and usually focus just on the dancing, missing out the competition or the…
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Continue reading →: Why I Do Not Use the Word “Independent” in Occupational Therapy
As occupational therapists, we often pride ourselves on supporting people to live the lives they want to lead. But there is one word that has crept into our everyday language and professional documents that I believe we need to pause and challenge: independent. At first glance, “independence” seems like a positive…
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Continue reading →: Popular Culture Through an OT Lens: Creative Chaos in Taskmaster and the Vona du Toit Model of Creative Ability (VdTMoCA)
Today, 11th September, marks the launch of a brand new series of Taskmaster on Channel Four, but it also holds a very personal meaning for me as tomorrow 12th September should have been our wedding day back in 2020, but both my hospitalisation and the pandemic put a stop to that. It…
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Continue reading →: The Updated World Federation of Occupational Therapists Definition of Occupational Therapy: My Thoughts
If you have been reading my blog since the early days back in 2013 you will know I have always had a bit of a love for definitions. I often begin with one because definitions give me something solid to hold on to. They frame my thinking, they help me…
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Continue reading →: Popular Culture Through an OT Lens: Podcasts and the Person–Environment–Occupation Model
Occupational therapists talk a lot about occupation, but what we mean is not simply a job or employment. Occupation refers to the everyday activities that people need, want, or are expected to do. These are the meaningful things that fill our time and shape who we are, from self-care and…
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Continue reading →: Popular Culture Through an OT Lens: Lizzie Acker, Bake Off and the Canadian Model of Occupational Participation
Tonight, 2nd September, The Great British Bake Off kicks off a brand new series. Like millions across the UK, I will be tuning in to see the first batch of nervous contestants step into the tent. Bake Off is more than just a television show. Over the years it has become a…
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Continue reading →: Occupational Deprivation in Plain Sight: What Asylum Seekers’ Stories Tell Us
My Development and Why I Write My awareness that news is never simply neutral goes back to school. In English during the 1990s, we were asked to analyse how the same subject was presented across different newspapers. At first, I assumed that the news was just fact, but I soon…
About me
I began my career in Occupational Therapy in 2000 as an assistant in a mental health hospital. I graduated from Teesside University in 2006 and have accumulated 20 years of experience working in Acute, Rehabilitation, and Forensic mental health settings. I currently work full-time for a large NHS mental health and learning disability trust in the northeast of England.
I was born with Cerebral Palsy (right hemiplegia) so have personal understanding & experience of disability. I have experienced much therapy over my life time mainly occupational therapy and physiotherapy. I am dyslexic & have had periods of depression as an adult. In 2020 I contracted Covid 19 spending over a year in hospital recovering.
Blogger
I have been writing about topics that are important to me on this blog since 2013. My blogs often centre around my personal lived experiences with disability, neurodiversity and my job as an Occupational Therapist.
Activist
I focus on raising awareness, influencing policy, and fostering environments where everyone, regardless of ability, has the opportunity to thrive. Understanding the importance of intersectionality, I work to ensure that disability rights are considered alongside other social justice issues, recognising how various identities interact. Through education, outreach, and active allyship.
Voluntary work
I’m active within the wider Occupational Therapy community, with voluntary roles including; Network Lead for the RCOT Northern and Yorkshire network,
I’m a founding member of AbleOTUK a network and advocacy group for Occupational Therapy staff and students with lived experiences of Disabilities and or Long Term Health Conditions.
I have volunteered to help run OTalk a free platform to enable to the UK occupational therapy community to learn and connect with each other since 2006
Private work
I conduct occupational therapy work privately, which includes carrying out occupational therapy assessments and interventions for private clients, working in an advisory capacity with organisations and companies, and providing expert advice.