our team

HAYLEY SMITH

PAEDIATRIC OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST
EDUCATIONAL CONSULTANT

Hayley Smith aims to work very closely with parents and teachers to help children with dyslexia, dyspraxia, dysgraphia or dyscalculia reach their full potential in the classroom.

Paediatric Occupational Therapist
Specific Learning Difficulties Assessor and Specialist Tutor
Helping children with dyslexia, dyspraxia, dysgraphia and dyscalculia.

She provides the following services at PosAbility:

• Formal occupational therapy assessments.
• Diagnostic assessments for dyslexia.
• Specialised tutoring for school children with Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD) in reading, spelling, writing, and maths.
• Occupational therapy sessions to develop: fine motor skills, gross motor skills, visual perception, visual motor integration, handwriting, sensory processing abilities and activities of daily living.
• Teacher and Parent training.

Hayley has recently returned from 8 years working at Fairley House School in London. This specialist school is designed for children with dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia and attention deficit disorders aged 5-15 years; providing Hayley extensive experience working with children with SpLD in all aspects of school life.

Hayley initially trained as an Occupational Therapist, focusing on assessing and working with children with dyspraxia (also known as Developmental Coordination Disorder). Developing children’s fine motor skills, gross motor skills, visual perception, visual motor integration, handwriting and sensory processing skills are areas of expertise.

Hayley’s skill-set has expanded beyond occupational therapy as her interest and experience in dyslexia developed. She undertook the British OCR (Oxford Cambridge and Royal Society of Arts) Level 5 Diploma in Teaching Learners with Specific Learning Difficulties, providing the qualifications to teach children with SpLD in the areas of Reading, Spelling, Writing and Mathematics. Beyond this, she became a lecturer and tutor for this course, informing and critiquing teachers’ abilities working with children with SpLD over a yearlong period.

As well as this, Hayley embarked on the OCR Level 7 Diploma in Teaching and Assessing Learners with Dyslexia/Specific Learning Difficulties, allowing her to complete diagnostic assessments for dyslexia and access arrangements for exams. While in London, Hayley presented at the Royal Society of Medicine for community Paediatricians and at the Independent Schools Special Needs conference.

Hayley is currently registered with the following professional bodies:

1. Australia’s Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA)
2. Occupational Therapy Australia
3. British Dyslexia Association
4. Professional Association of Teachers of Students with Specific Learning Difficulties (PATOSS)
5. International Dyslexia Association
6. Working with children check