Most of the young people we see are between nine and seventeen, and most are autistic, neurodivergent, or living with psychosocial disability. Old enough that early-childhood therapy no longer fits, young enough that adult services are not the answer either.
There is a real gap in occupational therapy between the clinics set up for little kids and the services built for adults.
A fourteen-year-old does not want to sit in a waiting room decorated for five-year-olds. They also are not going to engage with a therapist who talks past them to their parent. The work at this age is different: it is about independence, self-management, getting through a school day, and the slow handover of responsibility from parent to young person.
We see this age group more than any other. Sessions happen at home, which is where the routines that matter actually take place — mornings, homework, showers, sleep, getting out the door.
… and more. Every young person and every plan is different.
Autistic young people, and young people living with psychosocial disability, make up the bulk of this caseload.
Autistic and neurodivergent young people. By nine or ten, the work has usually moved on from early skill development. What matters now is sensory self-management a young person can run themselves, routines that hold on a bad day, and environments adjusted to suit them rather than the other way around. We work with how a young person is wired, not against it.
Psychosocial disability and mental health. Anxiety, school refusal, withdrawal from the things a young person used to do. Occupational therapy here is practical: rebuilding a day that works, getting back out into the community in steps small enough to succeed, and sitting alongside a psychologist rather than duplicating them.
The two overlap constantly. A good share of the young people we see carry both, and the mental health picture often makes more sense once the sensory and communication picture is understood.
Goals set with the young person, not just about them.
Showering, dressing, sleep routines, medication, food and cooking. The tasks a young person needs to own before they leave home, broken into steps they can actually manage.
Understanding what a young person's sensory profile means in a noisy classroom, a busy house or a shopping centre, and building strategies they can use themselves rather than ones that depend on an adult noticing first.
Public transport, appointments, part-time work, community activities. Often the difference between a young person's world widening at sixteen or narrowing.
Functional capacity assessments and progress reports written for the plan reviewer, setting out what has changed and what the next plan needs to fund.
The first visit is at home, and it is mostly listening — to you and to your young person, separately if that works better.
You will get a clear plan linking what your young person wants to be able to do with what we will work on, and an honest view of how long it is likely to take. Where a report is needed for a plan review, it is written within a week of the assessment.
If we are not the right fit — if what your young person needs is early-childhood intervention, or a psychologist, or a service we cannot provide — we will tell you at the first call rather than after three sessions.
info@peninsulapathwaysot.com.au
HoursMonday to Friday, 9am – 5pm
Service areaMornington Peninsula
Home visits and telehealth
Young people from around nine through to seventeen, and adults. Nine to seventeen is the age group we see most. For children younger than that, an early-childhood specialist is usually the better fit and we will say so.
Yes — autistic young people are the largest group we see. The focus at this age is independence, sensory self-management and navigating environments that were not designed with them in mind, rather than early skill development. We use identity-first language (autistic young person) because most autistic people prefer it, but we will follow whatever language a family uses.
Yes, and it is the second largest group. Anxiety, school refusal and withdrawal from ordinary activities respond well to practical occupational therapy — rebuilding a workable day and getting back into the community in steps small enough to succeed. We work alongside a psychologist where there is one, not instead of them.
At home, across the Mornington Peninsula, with telehealth available where it suits. Home visits matter more at this age than people expect — the routines a young person is working on happen in their own bathroom, bedroom and kitchen, not in a clinic.
Often more readily than parents expect, because the goals are theirs. A young person who has no interest in a therapy programme set by adults will usually engage with getting a part-time job, catching the bus alone, or being able to shower without being reminded.
Yes. A functional capacity assessment or progress report, written within a week of the assessment, setting out current function, what has changed and what the next plan should fund. Plan review dates matter — tell us the date when you first make contact.
Through the young person's NDIS plan, for self-managed and plan-managed participants. We are not NDIS registered, so we cannot work with NDIA-managed plans. Capacity Building – Improved Daily Living is the usual funding category.
Make a referral using the online form, ask a question, or just say hello. We reply within two business days.