Meet the OT
Hello and thank you for visiting Reaching pOTential
My name is Sharon Shelley-I am a paediatric Occupational Therapist with over 16 years experience and Manager of Reaching Potential. I am also Mum to my delightful son Jed, who has Cerebral Palsy and Sensory Integration Disorder. Jed was born at 25 weeks gestation and we spent a long 10 months in hospital before coming home for the first time—a day i will never forget! Along the journey, I have found Jed's diagnoses' to be helpful in many ways but most of all I feel a need to honour him for who he 'is' underneath those labels. He is just a kid, like other kids but he learns differently.
I have experienced first hand how concerns or problems, regarding his (or our) ability or inability to join in every-day activities, can all of sudden become a priority 'TODAY'—and that receiving guidance and input in a time-frame that is useful is often hard to find! Often the thought of making an appointment, fitting it in amongst the other commitments, allowing travel time and coordinating it with my son's sleep time and the therapist's busy diary-well, it just seems unnecessarily hard.
As my two worlds combined, therapist and parent, I became passionate about offering a service that gives timely guidance and support to families. A service that is not dependent on geographical location, travelling time or a nine-to-five appointment slot. An online service seemed an obvious solution.
I hope it brings support and solutions to your family.