Hi there, I’m Jenny – the driving and vehicle mods OT.
This is a pretty amazing area of practice – we change lives.
I have been an OT since 2005 and was interested in the area of driving assessment from a pretty early stage; I eventually did the driving training in 2012 and ran a community health driving clinic for a short time, then started my family (my kids are now in primary school). When on maternity leave, I was continually drawn to the area of driving assessment and so started my own business to be able to provide services to clients needing this service. I love being able to help people to be safe and independent, or to give them an opportunity to have their driving assessed.
I have gained experience with complex clients (eg driving from wheelchair) and have gained the additional qualification for heavy vehicle driving assessments.
Clinical excellence, leadership and partnership are really important to me – I am a full member of OT Australia and the QLD driving special interest group; we engage and create a lot of professional development opportunities for our team and colleagues. It is a privilege to have been recognised for our work in bringing the Drive Focus app to Australia – check out our “Awards” section to find out more!
Being a small business owner and mum doesn’t leave me much time, but I do make sure I have some down time for pilates and yoga, massages, doing fun activities with my family, and I love going to musicals!
Qualifications
- B Occ Thy, UQ 2005
- Post grad OT driver assessor, University of Sydney 2012, registration 0912312
- HR driver’s licence
- Heavy vehicle driver assessment 2018
- Vehicle modifications prescription workshop 2019
Professional Achievements
- Pioneered implementation of the “potential to drive” approach into Australia, May 2020
- Collaborated to launch Australian context of the Drive Focus app, July 2020
- Winner of the Technology Category at the Australian Road Safety Awards, June 2022
- Finalist of Best Assistive Technology Product at the Australian Disability Services Awards, November 2023
- OT Australia QLD driving interest group: secretary 2016; co-convenor 2017 and 2018; convenor 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023 and 2024.
- OT Australia National Driving Taskforce 2024
- OT Australia Oration Award 2024
- OT Exchange Pitch It! Competition – People’s Choice award for the “Get Driving” online therapy toolkit 2024
- Co-host of the Drive-Able podcast with Brad Williams 2024
Delivered workshops and webinars
- Redlands Palliative Care team, May 2018
- EKCO Hand Therapy team, October 2018
- QEII Hospital Occupational Therapy Department, June 2019
- Invited speaker for the QLD Medicolegal Society conference “Driving Me Crazy”, August 2019
- At breakout of COVID-19, facilitated national zoom discussion for OT driver assessors to determine actions for ongoing / ceasing work; took leadership throughout this period and liaised with local MPs with QLD Roadmap to be able to return to assessments in QLD
- Potential to Drive “PTD” eight-hour workshop x 2, May 2020
- PTD workshop, August 2020
- Facilitated panel “Navigating Vehicle Modifications applications in the NDIA” at National OT Exchange conference, September 2020
- Paper “Assessing insight into driving performance” – OT Exchange conference, September 2020
- “Keeping an Eye on It” webinar, November 2020
- Webinar for OTs on driving readiness x 2, February 2021
- Northern NSW driving interest group webinar (vehicle modifications), February 2021
- ABIOS inservice, July 2021
- PTD workshop August 2021
- Rehabilitation Physicians inservice “OT driving assessment”, September 2021
- ATSA panel May 2022
- Webinar “Preparing Senior Drivers for an OT driving assessment”, launched June 2022
- OT exchange conference: Drive Focus booth June 2022
- PTD workshop, July 2022
- Launched “Get Driving” online therapy toolkit, July 2022
- Aggressive Behaviour Management workshop, August 2022
- Driving day workshop for OTDAs, September 2022
- PTD workshop, March 2023
- Small group coaching program, March – June 2023
- Webinars: “Is my young adult ready for driving?” and “Overview of Potential to Drive approach for OTDAs”, launched July 2023
- E-poster: “An online therapy toolkit to develop fundamental skills for driving” at OTA National Cairns, June 2023
- OT National conference: Drive Focus booth June 2023
- SA driving SIG Q&A “potential to drive”, August 2023
- PTD workshop, September 2023
- Verve OT live webinar: “Is my young adult ready for driving?”, October 2023
- Verve OT live webinar: “Vehicle mods 101 for non-driver trained OTs,” November 2023
- Interview with Madonna King, November 2023
- ABC articles, November and December 2023
- Podcast x 2 with Brad Williams (Williams OT), December 2023
- Potential to drive workshop May 2024
- Implementing potential to drive – half-day face to face workshop June 2024
