Parents
“Also Carly the OT who came out to [my child’s] school was amazing!!! She gave me some really useful info/knowledge and resources to research. I went away feeling like I had a little clearer understanding of how [my child’s] brain works and how I can further support her. Please pass on my thanks.” Feedback following assessment, November 2023
“I just wanted to say thank you so very much for all your support with regards getting a buggy for [our child]. I am so pleased to say we obtained delivery of the Hoggi Zip today, it’s going to make our lives so much easier, being able to go out [as a family] now safely. Thank you again, we really do appreciate it.” Feedback following a successful NewLife Application.
“…Thanks for everything you’ve done for [our daughter] – she always enjoys your visits and will miss you popping in! Particular thanks for teaching her how to drink from a straw and do buttons up – that’s been a godsend!! ” (Parent)
“Thank you so much for your support- your assessment and report was at the beginning of the EHC battle but it was essential to us discovering so much about our daughter. She has been receiving therapeutic work for over a year now, (and) has a ‘working’ diagnosis of ASD and is in a much happier place. thanks again for your support” (Parent)
“Since Thrive have been involved in working with our daughter, she has grown in confidence and looks forward to working with her therapist on their weekly sessions. We receive prompt and useful information on their sessions and helpful suggestions on how we can work on tasks in the home environment. The work Thrive undertake with our daughter is definitely helping her to achieve her goals at school” (Parent)
“[The OT] visited us a couple times to see our child in her environment, then was able to make helpful suggestions as to what we could change, what already worked etc…[The most helpful things were] practical advice e.g. dressing, potty training…We are so thankful this service exists, otherwise, our daughter may not have ‘been seen!” (L. Peters, Parent)
Parent Support Groups
Supporting local parent and carer groups: Hi Jennifer Thank you so much for your fantastic talk last night. I have had so much positive feed back from parents…..they all got so much from your talk. We would love to have you back again sometime. Thank you again Jenny Mould (ACE) 2023
Schools
It is real pleasure to have [Thrive OT] working with us. [OT] gets to know staff and students quickly and has a great manner about her. Her interaction is amazing with both students and staff and she has a good presence about her. She often gets into lessons and observe and support the students. I have also seen her interacting with the students during break and encouraging them in new and exciting challenges such chair press-ups.
[OT] passes on very effective tips to help students engage and befit more from their learning. I value her input and some of the changes made in class groups and class activities or individual students activities are as a result of advice on sensory diets for students derived from her observations. One of such changes is with a student we have here that [OT] requested that we find some practical work for. Acting on [OT] recommendations I found [the student] a plastering and construction course along with work in a country park and these are the two things this young man reports in his PEP meeting that he enjoys the most and he is making great progress.
Recently [OT] has been preparing and passing on tips for staff to support how they deliver the content particularly for some of our students with sensory needs. Though she is very modest about (and I appreciate her approach) staff would benefit from twilight sessions with her. The students and staff are getting to know [OT] very well and she is highly professional and efficient. (Oracle Care & Education, Bedford)
Before we chartered [OT] through Thrive, we had limited awareness of sensory integration and its central importance in managing social and behavioural presentations effectively. She was initially commissioned to focus on individual needs, diagnosing, designing and implementing programmes to enable children to manage their own well-being, an essential tenet of the schools approach. Within a remarkably short tenet of time her practice and doctrine became a keystone, not just of behaviour and well-being, but of our entire pedagogy. Through [OT] training delivery and consultation with staff across the school sensory integration has become embedded in our practice and we are as likely to discuss a child’s sensory profile as to discuss their achievement data. In our environment [OT] brings the expertise of an occupational therapist, but functions in so many ways as a family support worker, a coach and mentor, a curriculum designer and as a strategic leader” (Tom O’Duibhir, Head of Kingsley Special Academy Trust)
“The service from Thrive has made a tremendous difference to our pupils and the quality of provision to meet their complex needs. We are now able to quickly access their needs and ensure that they are well met. The costs are reasonable and certainly provide good value for money. The OTs from Thrive are friendly, professional and efficient. the reports are detailed and timely- thank you!” (Laura Clarke, Head of Rowan Gate School)
Training and workshops
“Some inspirational speakers, lovely to have an OT to discuss role/ impact in schools” (Specialist Schools and Units Conference, Fairfields Teaching School Alliance)
I just wanted to say a huge thank you for giving such a great talk at our Autism Learns webinar on Sensory Circuits last weekend. I really do appreciate you giving up your valuable time to speak at this event – I feel that the event was so incredibly worthwhile and needed right now. (Events Manager at Autism Learns – Understanding Sensory Processing – 27th and 28th January 2023)
