Meet The Team

Lauren Steele 

Lauren is a Certified Practicing Speech Pathologist who has experience working in Early Childhood Intervention and private practice. Lauren is passionate about early intervention and working with children and their families in their natural environments to support communication development. 

Lauren's interest and expertise includes:

• Speech and Language Assessments 
• Developmental Delay
• Developmental Language Disorder
• Autism
• Learn to Play
• SKILL- Supporting Knowledge in Language and Literacy
• LAMP Words for Life
• ReST- Rapid Syllable Transition Training
• Nuffield Dyspraxia Program
• Lego Based Therapy
• Group therapy programs 

Emily Dowd

Emily is a Certified Practising Speech Pathologist who has experience working in Early Childhood Intervention Services, kindergartens and primary school settings. 

Emily is passionate about working in collaboration with young children and their families/carers to reach their goals. 

Emily's interest and areas of speciality include:

• Speech and Language Assessments 
• Articulation and Phonological Delays/Disorders
• Hearing Loss- Auditory-Verbal / Listening and Spoken Language Approach 
• Childhood stuttering-  Lidcombe Program
• Childhood Apraxia of Speech- Rapid Syllable Transition Training (ReST) and Dynamic Temporal and Tactile Cueing (DTTC)
• Group therapy programs

Caitlin Young

Caitlin is a registered Paediatric Occupational Therapist with AHPRA who has experience working in Early Childhood Intervention Services, community health, private practice, kindergartens and school settings. Caitlin's passion is to partner with families to support children to reach unique goals. 

Caitlin's areas of speciality and interest include:

• Developmental Delay
• Intellectual Disability
• Parent-child and family relationships
• Infant, child and family mental health
• Motor skill difficulties
• Autism 
• ADHD
• Anxiety 
• Behaviour difficulties 
• Genetic disorders (e.g. Down syndrome, Fragile X)
• Play
• Supporting home routines: Toileting, sleep, mealtimes, family leisure activities

Merrin Millard

Merrin is the Administration Coordinator at Little Fox Children's Therapy. She has a wealth of knowledge and experience in her field, having worked in the disability sector for the past 20 years. Merrin has also previously worked in administration for local government, medical services and retail organisations. 

Merrin is the friendly face behind the admin@littlefoxchildrenstherapy.com email. She takes care of the administration tasks at Little Fox Children's Therapy, including invoicing, managing our waiting list, responding to queries via email and much more.

Rebecca Williams

Beck is a Certified Practising Speech Pathologist with experience working across a range of educational settings and private practice. Beck is passionate about supporting the child and their family to achieve meaningful goals while celebrating the child’s own individual strengths and interests.

Beck’s interest and expertise is with:

• Language Assessment and Support
• Speech Sound Assessment and Support
• Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)
• Phonological Awareness and Literacy Support
• Autism
• Executive Functioning
• Engagement and Interaction 
• Hanen - More Than Words
• Parent Support Groups
• Mealtime Support

Alex Lever

Alex is a Certified Practising Speech Pathologist who has experience in community health, private practice, and school settings. Alex’s journey in Speech Pathology has been driven by a deep passion to empower families and aid children to achieve their unique goals. With a keen focus on fostering growth and development, Alex’s approach demonstrates personalised care and evidence-based practices.

Alex’s interests and experience includes:

• Speech and Language Assessments  
• Articulation & Phonological Delays/Disorders 
• Language Disorders (Phonological Awareness and Literacy Support)
• Childhood Stuttering (Lidcombe Program)
• Developmental Delays, Autism, ADHD and Intellectual Disabilities  
• Group Therapy Programs
• Childhood Apraxia of Speech
• Pragmatic Language
• Swallowing and Feeding Disorders

Meagan Bothe

Meagan is a Certified Practising Speech Pathologist who has experience working in Early Childhood Intervention Services, private practice, non-for-profit organisations, and education settings.  Meagan is passionate about building positive relationships with children and their families, empowering them to achieve their goals.

Meagan’s interests and areas of speciality include:

• Speech and Language Assessments
• Articulation and Phonological Delays/Disorders
• Childhood Apraxia of Speech
• Phonological Awareness and Literacy
• Engagement and Interaction
• Hanen – It Takes Two to Talk, and More than Words
• Group therapy programs

Courtney Shears

Courtney is a Certified Practising Speech Pathologist located in Gippsland. Courtney is passionate about working with primary school aged children to support their unique goals in speech, language and literacy development. Courtney has experience working in regional and remote Victoria, across private practice and primary school settings. 

Courtney’s areas of interest and expertise include:

• Autism
• ADHD
• Dyslexia and learning difficulties 
• Intellectual disability 
• Developmental language disorder 
• Speech and language assessment 
• Pragmatic language
• Lego based therapy  

Kelsey Ridsdale

Kelsey is a Certified Practising Speech Pathologist who has experience working with clients of all ages within community and school settings. Kelsey is passionate about early intervention and supporting families with a functional and holistic approach to achieving individual goals.

Kelsey’s interests and experience includes:

• Speech and Language Assessments
• Developmental Delays, Autism, ADHD and Intellectual Disabilities
• Pragmatic Language
• Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)
• Articulation and Phonological Delays/Disorders
• Language Disorders 
• Phonological Awareness and Literacy Support
• Swallowing and Feeding Disorders
• Hanen Programs

Fern Gan

Fern is a Certified Practicing Speech Pathologist who has experience working in Early Childhood Intervention, private and not-for-profit organizations. Fern believes that every child deserves the opportunity to reach their fullest potential and to lead lives full of happiness. Fern is passionate to support the child, their family and support networks to achieve their unique goals that are meaningful to them.

Fern’s areas of interest and speciality include:

• Support the implementation of AAC (augmentative and alternative communication) systems –electronic/high tech and non-electronic.
• Complex communication needs (CCN) due to genetic disorder and/or physical disability/differences.
• Developmental delay
• Early communication
• Hanen – It Takes Two to Talk
• Swallowing and Feeding disorder, mealtime support
• Autism
• ADHD
• Intellectual Disability
• Parent – child and family relationships
• Language assessment and support
• Sounds-write trained (literacy)

Taylah Wright

Taylah is an APHRA registered paediatric Occupational Therapist who has experience working in Early Childhood Intervention Services, kindergartens, childcare, primary schools and community health. Taylah is passionate and dedicated to working with children in their natural environments to achieve their wants and needs with a family/carer focused partnership. 

Taylah's areas of speciality and interest include:

• Parent-child and family relationships
• Motor skill difficulties
• Developmental Delay
• Intellectual Disability
• Autism 
• ADHD
• Anxiety
• Genetic disorders (Down syndrome, Fragile X)
• Play
• Self-care goals
• Toileting, sleep and mealtime difficulties
• Sensory processing patterns 
• Group therapy programs

Rachel Hodder

Rachel is an AHPRA registered Paediatric Occupational Therapist who enjoys working with children and youth. She has a Bachelor of Occupational Therapy (Distinction) and is currently studying for her Graduate Certificate in Child and Youth Mental Health. She strives to provide accessible and non-judgemental therapeutic support. 

Rachel has undertaken professional development in trauma-informed practice, sensory and emotional regulation, and Neurodiverse Affirming Practice. Rachel has completed her Yoga Teacher Training and is able to support her clients to use movement and breath work, as well as inviting play and creativity into her sessions to support their wellbeing. 

Rachel’s areas of interest include:

• Emotional and Sensory Regulation
• Fine and gross motor skills
• Self care skills 
• Play 
• Autism
• ADHD
• Anxiety
• Developmental Delays
• Intellectual Disabilities.

Miranda Spence

Miranda is a registered Paediatric Occupational Therapist with AHPRA who has experience working in Early Childhood Intervention Services, private practice, kindergartens and school settings. Miranda is passionate about family centred practice – to meet the family where they are at to support children in reaching their goals. 

Miranda’s areas of speciality and interest include: 

• Complex physical disability
• Developmental delays 
• Play 
• Sensory integration/processing
• Intellectual Disability 
• Parent-child and family relationships
• Motor skill difficulties 
• Autism 
• ADHD
• Anxiety 
• Behaviour and emotional regulation difficulties
• Genetic disorders (e.g. Down Syndrome) 

Ronan Pritchard

Ronan is an Occupational Therapist and is registered with AHPRA. He has experience working as an OT in the mental health and psychosocial space. Ronan has also worked as a personal trainer and tennis coach. 

Ronan has a keen interest in working with families in the community and enjoys building relationships with others to assist them in achieving their goals. He is passionate about looking to improve the health and well-being of his clients in any area of their life that is important and meaningful to them. 

Ronan’s areas of practice include: 

• Motor skills (Fine and gross motor skills)
• Self care skills
• Emotional regulation 
• Sensory processing challenges 
• Play skills

Melody Wooding

Melody is an APHRA registered paediatric Occupational Therapist who has experience working with children and youth in kindergartens, childcare, primary schools and community health. 

Melody is passionate and dedicated to working with children and their families in their natural environments to achieve their goals that is important and meaningful to them. Melody has a keen interest in sensory integration, play skills and processing and developing daily routines.

Melody’s areas of practice include: 

●  Sensory integration/processing

●  Transitioning periods

●  Developing routines

●  Developmental delays 

●  Play skills

●  Motor skills (Fine and gross motor skills)

●  Self care skills

●  Emotional regulation 

●  Autism 

●  ADHD

●  Anxiety 

Tilda Dodson

Tilda is an AHPRA registered occupational therapist. She has experience working with children across childcare, kinder, school and home environments and is passionate about working collaboratively with parents, caregivers and families to support the achievement of their goals. She has a bachelor of Occupational therapy and is an SOS trained feeding therapist.

Tilda’s areas of interest are:

-  Early intervention

-  Play skills

-  Self care skills including feeding and toileting

-  Sensory processing

-  Fine and gross motor skills

-  Challenging behaviours

-  Developing routines

Katie Hatton

Katie is a qualified and practising Physiotherapist, with experience in rehabilitation within the home, kinder and school seings. Katie employs a team-based approach when working with young children, their families and other health care providers to help optimise care and achieve goals. Katie is passionate about providing care in an individual, fun and meaningful way, ensuring Physiotherapy is tailored to each child’s needs.

Katie’s area of interests/specialty include:

- Developmental delay

- Motor skill difficulties

- Plagiocephaly/torticollis management - Neurological conditions

- Orthopaedic conditions

- Post-operative care

Natasha Sevdalakis  

Natasha is a Key Worker and an AASW Registered Social Worker who is experienced in providing Early Childhood Intervention in the home, and across kindergarten, childcare, and primary school settings. With a Master of Social Work, an undergraduate degree in Psychology and qualifications in Mental Health, Natasha is passionate about understanding behaviours and appreciates that every child is unique and requires a tailored support plan in order to achieve their goals. 

Natasha prides herself on being able to develop positive relationships with children and their families, and implements an evidence-based, transdisciplinary approach to provide a range of early intervention supports and strategies across all areas of development. Natasha has undertaken professional training in sensory and emotional regulation, neuro-affirming practice, and is currently completing further study in play therapy. 

Natasha’s areas of interest include: 

- Developmental Delays, Autism, ADHD, and Anxiety 

- Infant, child and family mental health

- Parent-child and family relationships

- Communication supports and language development 

- Emotional and sensory regulation

- Fine and gross motor skill development 

- Self care skills and support with daily routines 

- Play skills

- School readiness