Occupational Therapy

Mississauga

Taylor received her Masters degree in Occupational Therapy from The University of Toronto after completing her undergraduate degree in Biology at Wilfrid Laurier University. After completing her Bachelor’s degree, Taylor took a year off and completed training in Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) for children with Autism. She then worked as an ABA Therapist for one year until she was accepted into the occupational therapy program at UofT. Working as an ABA Therapist, Taylor realized that her passion was to work with children and their families.

During her Masters, Taylor had the opportunity to have a clinical placement at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation in the Communication and Writing Aids program, as well as in the Neuromuscular Clinic. Taylor also had the opportunity to learn about the role of an occupational therapist during an international clinical placement in Port of Spain, Trinidad. She worked at a school for children with special needs, where she was able to become the most creative during treatment sessions with her kiddos.

Taylor is always interested in learning about new treatment approaches! She has completed courses and workshops in the following: Kim Barthel’s Eating and Feeding Matters, Sensory processing and sensory interventions for children, Introduction into the CO-OP approach, ASIST and most recently Dr. Kay Toomey’s Sequential-Oral-Sensory (SOS) Approach to Feeding 

Some fun facts about Taylor:

• A Disney character that is most like Taylor is Winnie the Pooh because she loves to eat.
• If Taylor could live in any country in the world, she would live in France!
• The one thing Taylor cannot live without is her family.

Burlington

Emma is an enthusiastic new occupational therapy graduate excited to develop her Occupational Therapy skills with the clients at Butterfly Pediatric Therapy!

Emma completed her undergraduate degree at Brock University in Child and Youth Studies. After completing her undergraduate degree, Emma continued to Western University to pursue a Master of Science in Occupational Therapy. Emma has a passion for working with children helping them learn new skills and achieving their goals. Emma has a strong background and passion for gymnastics and continues to pursue this passion through coaching athletes in the competitive program.

During her Master’s degree, Emma had opportunities to develop her knowledge with the pediatric populations during her clinical placements at the Thames Valley Children’s Centre in the Early Years program and at Pathways Health Centre for Children in School Based Rehabilitation Services. Emma values the opportunity to work with families and children being a part of their occupational therapy journey through creating fun, engaging sessions.

Through clinical placements, and during her Master’s degree, Emma has developed knowledge of Handwriting without Tears, Cognitive Orientation to Daily Occupational Performance (CO-OP) Approach, Solution-Focused Coaching, and interventions for fine motor and handwriting skills development.

When Emma is not working, Emma enjoys taking her dog for walks, doing puzzles, spending time with friends and family and doing gymnastics. Emma is excited to be a part of the team at Butterfly and being a part of making a meaningful difference in clients lives!

A few fun facts about Emma:

• If Emma had a superpower, she would want to be able to fly
• If Emma could eat only one food for the rest of her life, it would be pasta
• If Emma were a celebrity, she would be famous for being a professional athlete.

Mississauga

Mr. Elias Salame holds a BSc in Occupational Therapy since 2004 from the Faculty of Public Health and a MSc in Neuropsychology since 2018 from the Faculty of Medical Sciences, both at the Lebanese University. He is certified in Sensory Integration from the University of Southern California, USA. He is also certified in the early childhood education curriculum High/Scope and in Cortical Visual Impairment, both from the USA as well.

He launched his career in 2004, in Kuwait, working in Paediatric Neurology initially at the Conductive Rehabilitation Institution, before moving to Hope School, where he was Lead Occupational Therapist for five years. He also worked in Community Based Rehabilitation with Palestinian and Syrian refugees, and his private practice furthermore covers adult neurology and elderly. Before moving to Canada, he was the Senior Occupational Therapist at the American Special Kids Clinic at the American University of Beirut Medical Center, AUBMC.

Throughout his 18 years of experience, he helped create, establish, and organize several OT departments, created and furnished various sensory rooms, attended numerous workshops, and participated as a speaker in national and international conferences. He has published one article about Screen Exposure and Autism and participated in another one about adaptation of RITA-T (Rapid Interactive Screening Test for Autism in Toddlers) for the Lebanese population. Between 2012 and 2021, he held the position of General Secretary of the Lebanese Occupational Therapy Association (LOTA) and is presently the WFOT delegate member of the Lebanese Occupational Therapists Syndicate (LOTS).

Get to know Elias:

• If Elias could teleport to anywhere in the world, he would teleport to Thailand.
• If Elias were to eat only one food for the rest of his life, he would eat Sushi.
• If Elias were to be an animal, he would be a bird so he could fly!

Mississauga

Kimberly is a dynamic and vibrant therapy assistant who strives to optimize and empower children and youth through meaningful and family centered activities and skill acquisition.

Kimberly received her Occupational Therapy Assistant and Physiotherapy Assistant diploma from Centennial College after completing her undergraduate degree in International Relations and History with a minor in Political Science from York University, Glendon Campus. After working at a few summer camps for children with complex neurological conditions, Kimberly knew she had to pivot away from where her undergrad studies had taken her and find a way to work with children and their families full-time in opportunities that enables life-enhancing skills, self-esteem, confidence and above all, fun!

Kimberly dove headfirst into her passion and worked for the Geneva Centre for Autism in their Group Services stream supporting children, youth and adults with Autism. Kimberly had the opportunity to have clinical therapy assistant placements in a variety of settings including hospitals, fast-paced clinics, school-based care and children treatment centers around the GTA. In her spare time, you can find Kimberly exploring the great outdoors, visiting the Toronto Zoo any time she can get; spending time at her local Orange Theory Fitness classes and searching the world for the next best donuts!