Nurturing Development Through Early Intervention Support
Sophie Simmons
Early Intervention Practitioner
Areas of expertise:
Social skills and peer relationships
Emotional regulation and confidence
Behavioural support
Cognitive development
Executive functioning
School readiness and transitions
Sophie is an experienced Early Intervention Practitioner with over 8 years’ experience working in early childhood intervention, multidisciplinary allied health settings and paediatric specialist positive behaviour support. She is passionate about supporting young children and their families to build the skills, confidence and developmental foundations needed to thrive across home, education and community environments.
She supports children who may be experiencing challenges with social skills, emotional regulation, communication, confidence, attention, challenging behaviours or transitions such as starting school or childcare.
Through her experience working within multidisciplinary allied health teams and specialist positive behaviour support, Sophie has developed a strong understanding of how children’s developmental, emotional and learning needs intersect. This allows her to provide holistic, practical support for both children and their families.
Sophie provides individualised, play-based early intervention that supports children’s social, emotional, communication and developmental growth. Her approach is relationship-focused, strengths-based and neuro-affirming, creating sessions that feel engaging, supportive and meaningful for children.
Sophie provides support across a range of developmental areas including:
- Social skills and peer relationships
- Emotion identification, expression and regulation
- Communication and language development
- Behaviour and Inclusion Support
- Cognitive development and early learning skills
- Executive functioning (focus, planning, problem solving and following instructions)
- Fine and gross motor development
- Safety awareness
- Confidence, resilience and self-esteem
- School readiness and transitions
- Building independence and everyday life skills
- Supporting children through changes such as starting school or new environments
She works collaboratively with families, educators and the broader therapy team to ensure strategies are consistent across the environments a child participates in.
In addition to working directly with children, Sophie can also provide Key Worker support for families. The Key Worker approach is recognised within national early childhood intervention guidelines as best practice, providing families with one consistent professional who coordinates supports and helps integrate strategies across a child’s team and environments.
Through this approach Sophie can assist with:
- Providing practical strategies and guidance tailored to your child and family
- Coordinating multidisciplinary supports and therapies
- Collaborating with educators, therapists and support providers
- Supporting families to navigate the NDIS early intervention pathway
- Advocating for children’s needs across home, education and community environments
Sophie’s goal is always the same: to nurture each child’s potential and help them feel safe, capable and confident as they grow.
Services are able to be accessed on a private fee paying basis or through your childs NDIS funding.
Michelle Barker
Early Intervention Practitioner
Areas of expertise:
Emotional regulation
School readiness
Early literacy and numeracy
Social skills and independence
Michelle is a Primary Teacher and Psychology graduate with over 10 years’ experience supporting young children and their families. She is deeply passionate about the early years and understands that when children are struggling, whether with learning, anxiety, behaviour, or the transition to Kindy and big school, what they need most is support that nurtures both their emotional wellbeing and their developmental foundations.
Michelle provides individualised, play-based early intervention that supports
- Emotional regulation and confidence
- School readiness and smoother transitions
- Early literacy and numeracy foundations
- Social skills and independence
- Children experiencing anxiety or school reluctance
- Homeschooling families seeking developmental learning support
Her approach is warm, neuro-affirming, and strengths-based. Michelle believes every child develops in their own time and that when children feel safe and understood, learning naturally follows. She works collaboratively alongside the clinic’s psychologists to help implement therapeutic recommendations through play-based, developmentally appropriate support. This integrated approach bridges the gap between psychology and education, helping children practise and strengthen skills in meaningful, everyday ways while supporting families consistently across settings.
Michelle values working in partnership with parents and recognises that families are central to a child’s progress. Her goal is always to help children feel capable, confident, and supported and to help parents feel empowered and understood along the way.
Michelle supports NDIS (self-managed and plan-managed) and private families.