Expert care for complex needs.
Functional, person-centred support that builds independence, participation, and wellbeing.
What do our Occupational Therapy Services offer?
SAL Consulting’s Occupational Therapy team delivers comprehensive, person-centred assessment and intervention for children, young people, and adults with complex support needs. We focus on building functional capacity in a way that’s trauma-informed, strengths-based, and grounded in real-world participation.
Our Occupational Therapists are AHPRA-registered professionals who engage in ongoing professional development and are committed to evidence-based practice that meets people where they are—emotionally, physically, and developmentally.
How does it work?
An Occupational Therapy assessment includes direct observation, interviews, and standardised assessments with the individual and key support people to form a holistic picture of strengths, challenges, and priorities. We work closely with family, carers, and other professionals—including the broader SAL Consulting team—to ensure that support strategies are consistent, practical, and embedded into everyday life.
We provide assessment and intervention in areas such as:
Sensory processing and modulation
Self-care skills (e.g. toileting, showering)
Daily living tasks, such as meal preparation, cleaning, meaningful activities, learning, budgeting, and sleep
Social and relationship skills
Community access and participation
Motor skills
Safety awareness and environmental access
Engagement in day programs and routines
Holistic Functional Capacity and Support Needs Assessment
Home and Living Assessment
Sensory Assessment
Multi- Disciplinary Assessments
Who We Work With.
Our team has extensive experience supporting individuals with profound and multiple disabilities, such as:
Developmental Delay
Intellectual Disability
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Physical Disabilities
Neurological Disabilities
Substance use
Social-emotional, attachment and trauma-related challenges
People who present with mental health or dual diagnosis
People who live in Out of Home Care
and people who are in contact with the justice system
We aim to build capacity, confidence, and engagement by working with the person, their support networks and within their usual settingnot just around them.
Holistic Needs Assessment
A comprehensive look at daily living to guide meaningful, person-centred support.
What is a Holistic Needs Assessment?
This assessment provides a broad, functional overview of an individual’s daily living skills and support needs. It’s a valuable tool for gaining insight into how a person navigates their environment and routines and identifying where additional support, interventions or more targeted assessment may be required.
At SAL Consulting, we take a person-centred, strengths-based approach. We gather information through direct observation, standardised assessments and interviews with the individual and key members of their support network.
How does it work?
Our Occupational Therapists assess a range of domains related to independent living and community participation, including:
Mobility and transfers
Community access (e.g. transport, shopping, managing money)
Domestic tasks (meal prep, laundry, cleaning)
Personal care (dressing, bathing, toileting, eating)
Social interactions
Emergency and safety awareness
Health management skills
Engagement in meaningful activities
An individual’s support needs
How does it work?
This assessment provides a broad picture of the individual’s current capabilities, highlighting both areas of independence and potential risks or support needs. It is often used to inform the planning for services, interventions, transitions, and overall funding needs.
Where required, we may recommend more in-depth assessments in specific areas such as sensory needs, cognition, or mobility, to guide further intervention.
Home and Living Support Needs Assessment
Targeted assessment to support independence in everyday life.
What is a Home and Living Support Needs Assessment?
This assessment provides a detailed, functional assessment focused on key areas of daily living. These assessments are typically completed in preparation for a life stage transition or a change in circumstances, such as when an individual moves out of the parental home.
The goal is to understand the individual’s current abilities and capacity-building needs and outline their personal support and environmental requirements. This report provides practical, person-centred recommendations to maximise independence, safety, and participation.
How does it work?
For this assessment, Occupational Therapists will assess:
Mobility and transfers
Community access (e.g. transport, shopping, managing money)
Domestic tasks (meal prep, laundry, cleaning)
Personal care (dressing, bathing, toileting, eating)
Social interactions
Emergency and safety awareness
Health management skills
Engagement in meaningful activities
An individual’s support needs
An individual's environmental needs, if applicable
What’s the goal?
These assessments include direct observation, standardised assessments, interviews with the individual and key support people, and collaboration with relevant professionals where needed.
The outcome is a comprehensive, goal-focused report with clear recommendations for support needs and strategies, environmental considerations, or further therapy where appropriate. This assessment is also often used to provide the information funding bodies require to make funding decisions.
Sensory Assessment
Understanding sensory preferences to support regulation, engagement, wellbeing and learning.
What is a Sensory Assessment?
A Sensory Assessment explores how an individual processes and responds to sensory input in everyday environments. For children, young people, and adults with complex needs, understanding sensory preferences is critical to supporting emotional regulation, participation, wellbeing and learning.
SAL Consulting’s Occupational Therapists use standardised tools and clinical observation to assess how sensory input—such as sound, touch, movement, and visual stimuli—impacts a person’s ability to function, feel safe and remain regulated.
How does it work?
Using relevant standardised assessments and observations, we build a detailed picture of the individual’s sensory system and its effects on behaviour, engagement, wellbeing and learning.
Our assessment process includes:
Interview and collaboration with the person and their support network
Use of formal assessment tools appropriate to age and developmental stage
Observation of sensory responses within the usual environments (where possible)
A comprehensive written report outlining key findings and practical recommendations
What’s next?
Sensory Assessments can support:
Planning and implementation of sensory-based strategies
Adjustments to learning or daily environments
Design of sensory diets and regulation plans
In some cases, this assessment can assist in the diagnostic process for Sensory Processing Disorders, Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, ASD, and ADHD.
Our goal is to provide insight that helps the person and their support network create environments and routines that feel safe, calming, and engaging.