Kerri Sassen

More about Kerri

Kerri is an Occupational Therapist (OT) who qualified with a BSc (OT) degree from the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, in 2011. 

She has worked extensively in both public and private sectors within fields of Psychiatry, Hands therapy and Physical rehabilitation. Through her diverse work experience, she has developed a special interest in working with children and their families. 

She completed her Ayers Sensory Integration training (2014 – 2017) and ran her own school-based OT practise for 4 years. In addition to treating clients, she presented talks, provided teacher training and developed a variety of therapy resources and programs for an underprivileged school in Johannesburg. 

She moved to Vancouver with her husband in 2017 and has been working at WonderkidsOT for over 3 years. She is registered with the College of Occupational Therapists of British Columbia (COTBC) and the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists (CAOT). 

Kerri’s love for children shows in her friendly, fun and playful interactions with her clients. She is passionate about the value of play; providing a nurturing therapy environment and building up children’s confidence and self-esteem. She has found this to be highly effective in the therapy process and in developing skills and independence in children with various challenges. 

She has experience working with children with Sensory processing Disorders, Anxiety, ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorders, Developmental Coordination disorders (DCD), Pathological demand avoidance (PDA) Cerebral Palsy, Developmental Delays and a wide range of other diagnoses. 

She values building meaningful relationships with her clients, their families and teams as well as setting practical and functional goals. She places a high priority on continuous professional development and is regularly signing up for courses to learn the latest therapeutic techniques and strategies. 

Kerri’s professional education includes:

• SOS Approach to Feeding conference with Kay Toomey  
• PEERS® (The Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills) for Adolescents Certified Training Seminar: Parent-Assisted Intervention
• Sarah Ward courses: New cutting-edge strategies to improve executive functioning 
• Intensive Mentorship Program Level 1 with Lucy Jane Miller: Evaluation, Diagnostic and Treatment of Sensory Processing Disorder
• Dr. Gordon Neufeld: Making sense of the Alpha complex, Making sense of Kids, Making sense of the Digital world
• Various courses on Dr. Gordon Neufeld’s work with Anxiety
• Dr. Gordon Neufeld: The art and science of transplanting children
• Social Thinking: Teaching social thinking® through stories and play
• Social Thinking: What does play have to do with Classroom learning?
• Social Thinking and emotional regulation (Michelle Garcia winner)
• Social Thinking: Superflex® and Friends take on Social Emotional Learning (SEL) and Educational standards (Pamela Crooke)
• Zones of Regulation: newest thinking and teaching tools (Leah Kuypers)
• DIR 101: An Introduction to DIR® and DIRFloortime®
• Ayers Sensory Integration Course 4: Treatment (June 2016)
• Ayers Sensory Integration Course 3: Test Administration (October 2015)
• Ayers Sensory Integration Course 2: Test Administration (March 2015)
• Ayers Sensory Integration Course 1: Theory (March 2014)
• Professional journal article review groups (continued professional development) (2013 – 2017) 
• Workshop on child learning techniques