Based in our Takapuna Clinic

British Diploma of the College of Occupational Therapy (DipCOT), 1986
New Zealand Registration (NZROT), 1993 to current day
Australian Registration (AHPRA), 2016 to 2023
Member of Occupational Therapy New Zealand / Whakaora Ngangahau Aotearoa

Experience

Lucy Charles is a UK-trained Occupational Therapist with more than 30 years of paediatric experience in Aotearoa New Zealand. She is the co-founder of Paediatric OT & PT NZ.

Lucy specialises in neurodevelopmental and neurodiversity-affirming practice, child and adolescent mental health, relational and trauma-informed care, and strengths-based coaching.

She is passionate about amplifying children’s voices, supporting positive mental health and wellbeing, strengthening family connections, enabling success at school, and fostering joyful, meaningful participation in everyday life.

Lucy works with tamariki and rangatahi aged 5–18 years, supporting those experiencing developmental, emotional, behavioural, social, and mental health challenges.

Developmental needs: Specific learning differences, dysgraphia, developmental coordination differences (DCD), foetal alcohol spectrum differences (FASD), prematurity, neurological conditions, syndromes, global developmental differences

Neurodiversity: ADHD, Autism, AuDHD, PDA, sensory processing differences, 

Mental health and complex conditions: Anxiety, emotional dysregulation, school refusal, trauma, functional neurological disorder, misophonia.

Specific Training:

Lucy has undertaken extensive professional development including:

• Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS)
• Te Ara Whakamana – Mana Enhancement
• Polyvagal Theory: Befriending Your Nervous System
• Understanding Autism Spectrum Disorder (Attwood and Garnett)
• Emotional Management for Children and Teens with Autism
• Autistic Girls and Women
• If You Can’t Breathe, You Can’t Function (Mary Massery)
• Te Rito o Te Harakeke Bicultural Course
• Child and Adolescent Mental Health Conference Australia
• Neurodevelopmental  (Full Bobath training ) Australia 
• Sensory Integration (Theory and Practice)
• PRPP (Perceive, Recall, Plan and Perform) Information Processing Assessment and Intervention
• Professional Life Coaching (International Coaching Federation approved)
• Occupational Performance Coaching Trainer Programme
• Upper Limb Performance Assessment (ULPA)
• Supervision for Health Professionals (UNITEC)

Registered Supervisor:

Occupational Therapy Board of New Zealand (OTBNZ)
Occupational Therapy New Zealand / Whakaora Ngangahau Aotearoa (OTNZ WNA)

Registered trainer for:

Occupational Performance Coaching (OPC): Dr Fiona Graham 
F-Words Life Wheel: CanChild, McMaster University (Canada).

Conference and Paper Presentations:

• Relational and Coaching Approaches to Bladder and Bowel Care, Pelvic Health Summit USA
• Hearing the voice of the Child: Auckland University of Technology child health symposium NZ
• Non pharmaceutical interventions: Paediatric ADHD assessment management and Care pathway for GPs and Paediatrician NZ
• Introduction to Coaching approaches: Ireland 
• Use of Coaching in Wheelchair provision: Oceania Seating Symposium Rotorua: 
• Research in conjunction with AUT: World Federation of Occupational Therapists: Bangkok 
• Integrating Coaching into Practice with Families of Children with Cerebral Palsy: South Africa
• Hearing the voice of the child: NZ Paediatric Society 
• F-Words Life Wheel: Wired On Collective Summit Online Internationally 
• F-Words Life Wheel: American Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine 
• Australian Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine
• European Academy of Childhood-Onset Disability (EACD) Belgium
• Goal setting with children: Child and Adolescent Mental Health Conference Australia
• Changemakers Conference Geelong
• Better Together Conference Melbourne
• Pacific Rim Development and Diversity Conference Hawaii
• Occupational Performance coaching training: Ireland, Australia, NZ, UK. 

Other Courses Taught:

• Handwriting: Tips and Tricks for Schools
• Navigating ADHD
• Play Workshop
• Developmental Coordination Disorder Workshop
• F-Words Life Wheel workshops for families and parents
• Understanding ADHD, Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder and Anxiety