Individual Therapist Profile: Julia Eggles OTR

Background: 

Julia has been part of the Kids Matters Team since 2009. She graduated from the University of Queensland in 1982, and received her Honours degree the following year,. She has been working with children ever since! After a 9 year sojourn in the USA, she returned to Australia in 2006 and has settled in the Pine Rivers area with her husband, young son and puppy Pepper.  Julia works at both our Yeerongpilly and Albany Creek clinics.

Special Achievements:

  • Honours in Occupational Therapy
  • Convenor of 2 paediatric conferences
  • Co-ordinator and developer of the Developmental Assessment Clinic, Toowoomba Health Services
  • Author of Play15
  • Mother of Benjamin!
  • Qualifying as a Cogmed Coach in 2011

Work Experience as an Occupational Therapist:

  • Redcliffe Community Health
  • Intellectual Disability Services, QLD – state wide consultant for children with severe disability
  • Monash Medical Centre, Victoria
  • Independent Living Centre, Melbourne
  • Private Practice (Achievement Unlimited) – Toowoomba
  • Senior Occupational Therapist, Community Paediatrics, Toowoomba Health Services
  • Children’s Seashore House of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, New Jersey USA
  • Senior Occupational Therapist, Voorhees Pediatric Rehabiliation Hospital, New Jersey
  • Virtua Memorial Early Intervention Program, Burlington County, New Jersey
  • Kellie Clayton Occupational Therapy, (Private Practice), Stafford, Qld
  • Children’s Developmental Services, Inala Community Health Centre
  • Therapy & Support Services for Children, Goodna & Ipswich

Experience with children’s issues:

Julia has worked as a home visiting therapist, in schools, hospitals and community settings, with children from birth to adolescence. Conditions and problems that she has experience with include the following:

  • Developmental delay, orthopaedic conditions, degenerative conditions, spina bifida, cerebral palsy, autism, feeding problems/failure to thrive, post-traumatic head injuries, specific learning difficulties (reading, writing), ADD & ADHD, vision and hearing impairments, chromosomal abnormalities, Fragile X, various congenital disorders

Continuing Professional Education:

With a long career has come many professional development opportunities in reverse choronological order from 1995 they include:

  • Neurolinguistic programming (NLP), Timeline Therapy and Introductory Hypnotherapy Training, Advanced Neurodynamics, Sydney, September 9 -15th 1995
  • Sensory Integration & NDT, Princeton, June1997
  • Professional Development Programs Symposium: Combining Sensory Integration & Behavior Modification; & The S.T.E.P.S.I Model, Massachusetts, August 1998
  • NLP Master Practitioner training, NLP Center of New York, 1998-99
  • John Barnes’ Pediatric Myofascial Release, Atlantic City New Jersey, Sept 2000
  • Certification in personal control techniques, Voorhees New Jersey Dec 2000
  • Dealing Effectively with Unacceptable Employee Behavior, SkillPath Seminars, March 13, 2001
  • Care of a Preemie: Medical Aspects of Prematurity & Promoting Development in Preterm Infants, Southern New Jersey Early Regional Early Intervention collaborative Regional Training Day, June 8, 2001
  • Mentoring Workshop, Virtua University, Voorhees New Jersey, November 2001
  • SI for EI – Increasing the Efficacy of your treatment, Therapeeds, February 18th 2002
  • Working with Infants & Young Children Affected by Parental Mental Health Problems, Youth Consultation Service, Institute for Training in Infant and Preschool Mental Health, July 17, 2002
  • The Listening Program, Advanced Brain Technologies, August 22 – 23, 2002
  • Preverbal Experience, January 22, 2003
  • Mental Health Issues in Children, March 19, 2003
  • Pediatric Early Intervention Treatment, Hampton Cares, August 21 – 22, 2003
  • Touchpoints, Youth Consultation Service, Institute for Training in Infant and Preschool Mental Health, September 6, 2005
  • Sensory Integration & Beyond: Power Tools for Treating Children, Professional Development Programs, December 2-3 2005
  • Rhythmic Entrainment Intervention, Authorized Provider training, January 2006
  • Therapeutic Listening, Vital Links, January 2006
  • Understanding Visual Perceptual Skills in Children, with Dr Chris Chapparo, 20th-22nd May 2008
  • DIR Floortime Basic Course Online, April - May 2009
  • Cogmed Professional Training, February 2011
  • CBT Fundamentals: Processes and Techniques in Cognitive Behavour Therapy, June 2011

Other Work History:

In addition to clinical positions, Julia has taught at TAFE and Universities in Queensland and Victoria. She has held voluntary positions as a chairperson and member of district, county and statewide committees in Qld and New Jersey. Public speaking is a passion for Julia, so she has been a frequent and popular presenter at conferences and workshops over the years in Australia and the USA. With Dr Lisa Hudson, she has authored the Play15 Expert Partner’s Series, a parent’s workshop which is offered through Kids Matters (see workshop page for more information).

Areas of special Interest:

  • Specific learning difficulty – reading writing, study skills, attention problems, sensory related behavioural problems
  • Sensory integration
  • Play
  • Early childhood – developmental delay
  • ALL KIDS MATTERS OCCUPATIONAL THERAPISTS ARE ENROLLED IN A FORMAL MENTORING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROCESS UNDER KIDS MATTERS OT, WITH OTHER KIDS MATTERS STAFF.