ABOUT RCOT

Resident Cavoodles

Lewis – 10-year old male

Pippa – 9-year old female

Pippa and Lewis might get excited, bark and jump, but they are very friendly and love meeting new people. They love cuddles and respond well to “NO” and “Ta”. You’ll know they are in the office from our sign on the door, if you prefer not to say hello, just let one of our staff know.

Reid Chester – Director / Senior Occupational Therapist

Reid graduated from Curtin University in 2013 with a Master of Occupational Therapy.

Prior to this he completed a Bachelor of Exercise and Sport Science (2008) and a Post-graduate Diploma of Exercise Science (2009) where he became a qualified and accredited exercise physiologist. Since graduating as an occupational therapist, Reid has maintained his roles in the paediatric field. His roles have included a private practice, focusing on sensory integration, gross and fine motor development. He then moved into a role as a live-in professional therapeutic carer, looking after 3 young boys full-time, providing therapeutic care and managing challenging behaviours and past trauma, preparing them for foster care. It was after this role, that Reid went into community-based therapy, and worked for larger organisations focusing on therapeutic support and consultation for children on the autism spectrum and their families. In his spare time, Reid loves getting outside.

He has 2 dogs (Lewis and Pippa), chickens (who all have names but get called “the girls”) and loves just hanging out in the garden or at the park with the dogs. Reid strives to always engage his clients in therapy, and is often seen climbing on the equipment, completing the monkey bars and being challenged by the kids to keep up, and complete some interesting activities.

Jarred Stenfors – Director / Therapeutic Teacher

Jarred has been a primary school teacher for 9 years. In this time, he has worked in various roles in the education department, including a classroom teacher, learning support coordinator and the lead curriculum specialist (mathematics). In 2017/2018, he was employed by the Autism Association of WA as a key therapist in their early intervention team, with a primary role of developing and delivering therapy plans, along with re-writing school curriculum to ensure the inclusion and support of all students on the autism spectrum.

Jarred has expressed a desire to move away from full-time teaching, and focus on supporting RCOT clients in their participation in schooling. With his knowledge and experience in autism, emotional regulation, social skills, curriculum and education, we believe Jarred can contribute so much to our team, our clients, their families, and their schooling.

He will be accessible to our NDIS clients through their capacity building (CB), daily living budget (the same budget used for OT, speech, psychology etc), as an “other professional”, in line with our senior OT rate of $193.99/hour.

Some areas where Jarred can support clients are,

• 1 on 1 therapy
• School meetings, including IEP meetings
• Education assessments (primary school)
• Implementation and review of IEP’s
• Implementation and review of behaviour management plans
• School visits and observations

Jarred brings a vast knowledge of the education department with him, and this will enable him to better express therapy needs and ideas to teaching staff, he knows the challenges teachers face when implementing strategies into a classroom and is better equipped to support teachers in doing this.

Tiarn Chester – Administrative Coordinator

Tiarn has completed a Certificate IV in Business (2014) and a Diploma in Event Management (2015). In 2023 she will also be completing a course to become a Yoga instructor.

Tiarn has previous experience in hospitality and the events industry, coordinating and set up of weddings and corporate events. Due to the seasonal nature and pandemic, Tiarn expanded her horizons and re-educated herself as a Medical Administrator/ Receptionist, accumulating knowledge in the Allied Health industry and National Disability Insurance Scheme  since 2019. Tiarn is passionate about helping everyone around her, supporting and assisting families to her best ability.

Outside of work, Tiarn enjoys being active outdoors, camping and spending time with her family, friends and cat Billie.

Lachy Broun – Senior Occupational Therapist

Lachy studied at Curtin university, graduating with a Bachelor of Occupational Therapy with second upper class honours in 2019.

He has focused his attention on working within the area of developmental paediatrics with a focus towards emotional and sensory regulation, gross and fine motor skills as well as building greater capacity with activities of daily living. Lachy has a wealth of experience in supporting children and adults with disabilities and developmental delays including autism, global developmental delay, sensory processing difficulties and down syndrome. He has productively supported his clients who experience challenging behaviours, anxiety and depression. Lachy has developed these skills through a wide range of support worker roles while studying, including private roles and most recently working as a Lifeskills team member at Intelife Group in Balcatta.

Lachy has a special interest in therapy through sport, and plays hockey, cricket, basketball and tennis in his spare time. He has been a coach for the YMCC year 11/12s A-team for the past two years while also volunteering at junior carnivals as a ground controller and referee. Lachy hopes to support every person he meets through his job as an occupational therapist and ensure that they feel special and valued. He strives to leave work every day knowing he’s made a difference in the lives of his clients and their families.

Gemma Tily-Laurie – Senior Occupational Therapist

Gemma completed her Bachelor of Science (Occupational Therapy) at Curtin University and graduated with Honours in 2019.

Since University Gemma has focused her efforts in the field of developmental paediatrics and comes to us with substantial knowledge after 14-month employment, as a lead Occupational Therapist at a local multidisciplinary clinic. Gemma has experience working with children with Autism, Global Development Delay, and sensory processing difficulties. Gemma is passionate about working with children and their families to achieve their goals and has a passion for working in areas the of sensory processing, fine motor skills, gross motor skills, emotional regulation, and activities of daily living.

Outside of work, Gemma loves spending time with her chocolate Labrador, family and friends. Gemma enjoys playing football for her local team.

Janet Gowland – Senior Occupational Therapist 

In 1999, Janet completed a Bachelor of Science at UWA with a Major in Human Movement. Here she became involved in group programs aimed at developing the basic building blocks of movement and witnessed how children thrived with play based and activity related therapies. This led her to her further study in Occupational Therapy.

Janet graduated in 2003 from Curtin University with a Master of Occupational Therapy. She has worked in rural and remote locations as an OT working with children with fine and gross motor delays and visual perceptual difficulties. Janet also has a teaching background and has been working in Secondary Schools for 12 years. She is passionate about instilling confidence in students to foster learning and social development goals.

When she finds the time, Janet enjoys travelling and exploring the outdoors on the Bibbulmun Track, which she is completing section by section. She is a Mum to her three girls and can be seen visiting the park and beach with her Border Collie puppy.

Sacha Downing – Occupational Therapist 

Sacha graduated from Curtin University with a Bachelor of Science – Occupational Therapy and class honours in 2021.

Following graduation, Sacha worked at the East Metropolitan Youth Unit which is an acute psychiatric unit for adolescents. Sacha progressed to work within the school aged service at the Autism Association of Western Australia. Sacha has a wealth of experience in sensory processing, fine and gross motor interventions, self care intervention, social skills development, speech and language support, functional assessments, positive behaviour support and mealtime interventions.

Sacha has an immense passion for supporting and empowering individuals to live a life as their best version of themselves, despite the constraints placed upon them due to their disability/diagnosis. Sacha has had a vision since she was young girl coaching a disability swim squad, to enhance the lives of young individuals with a disability, support their families and siblings, allowing them to live the life they see for themselves. Sacha decided to study OT for the reason – to make a difference in the lives of people. Sacha strives to be an advocate, mentor and support to people living with a disability and stand for the achievement of their personal goals. Sacha has high interests in mental health’ standing in support of creating increased awareness and care for those experiencing mental health difficulties.

Outside of work Sacha loves to spend time outdoors in nature or at the beach, going to the gym and spending time with her friends and family.

Hamish Rodgers – Support Worker/ Occupational Therapy Assistant

Hamish has been a support worker in the disability sector since 2019 with an introduction into the industry through private practice with clients with down syndrome. In early 2021 was employed with down syndrome WA working casually in group support sessions and camps. He started with RCOT in June 2021 working with children and young adults on the autism spectrum and other developmental disorders.

Working with RCOT has inspired Hamish to become a occupational therapy assistant commencing his studies in 2022.

Outside of work Hamish enjoys playing country AFL for Dandaragan, going to the gym, camping and spending time with his family’s golden retriever, Mango. 

Tyler Hughes – Support Worker

Tyler has commenced studying to become an Occupational Therapist at Curtin University at the start of 2022, sparking her interest in paediatrics she started working as a support worker around the same time. 

Tyler grew up in Busselton 2.5hr down south from Perth, her background is in Secondary Teaching at Murdoch University and previously worked as a lifeguard in Fremantle since 2019. Tyler’s experience falls in young people with Autism, Pathological Demand Avoidance and Speech Developmental Delay.

She is passionate about supporting young people to reach their goals through engagement and independence. When she’s not studying in her spare time, Tyler loves being around family, spending time outdoors and loves anything to do with the beach, swimming in the ocean and diving.

Michael Dwyer – Support Worker

Mike is currently pursuing his Bachelor of Psychology at Curtin University. Afterwards, he hopes to undertake further study and research into the field of human behaviour.

Mike’s interest in psychology is born from a combination of his time working in the Perth hospitality industry and a wide range of reading. When the pandemic hit, he was able to take the time to pursue tertiary education. Now in his 3rd year, he has a keen interest in identity formation, learning and behaviour formation, the nature of attention and focus, and how the everchanging landscape of the internet is impacting individuals.

When Mike has free time, he enjoys cooking new dishes, going to the gym, reading, playing hockey and catching up with his mates.