Ashley Dearling
Owner and Occupational Therapist
Ashley graduated from the University of Cape Town (UCT) with a BSc. Occupational Therapy degree in 2013. She completed her community service year at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital. Working in a multidisciplinary team, Ashley had the opportunity to treat people with neurological and psychiatric conditions, and fabricating pressure garments for patients with burns. Ashley then joined a pediatric private practice, called ADDnova OT, in Johannesburg where her passion for working with clients with Sensory Integration difficulties was discovered. Here she commenced her Sensory Integration training through SAISI, attended Meg Faure’s Infant Sensory Integration Training course and became certified in the Wilbarger Therapressure Brushing Protocol for children and adults with Sensory Defensiveness.
In September 2015, Ashley joined Kerry Evetts Occupational Therapy in Ballito and found her love for school-based Occupational Therapy, working in close collaboration with teachers to help each child overcome their challenges and reach their full potential. Additionally, she loves working closely with parents and equipping them with the skills and knowledge to better understand what makes their child “tick” and how to help them soar. Ashley strongly believes it takes a village to raise a child and that when teachers, therapists and parents work together as a team, there is very little that cannot be achieved. Two years after joining Kerry Evetts Occupational Therapy, Ashley was promoted to Senior Occupational Therapist.
In January 2018, with the founding of Ashley Dearling Occupational Therapists, Ashley began running the practice. Whilst Ashley loves the variety that comes with being an Occupational Therapist, she particularly enjoys helping people across the lifespan overcome their sensory challenges to lead fulfilling and productive lives. As a result, she not only treats children, but also offers sensory assessments and therapy to adults. When not at work, Ashley enjoys relaxing and unwinding by watching series, drinking tea and spending quality time with her husband and son.
Ashley’s mantra in life is “If you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life” –Marc Anthony, and this is why she feels blessed to be an Occupational Therapist.
Tahlita Sparg
Occupational Therapist
Tahlita, more affectionately known as Tilly, graduated from UKZN in 2016 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Occupational Therapy. Thereafter she moved to rural KZN to complete her Community Service year at St. Apollinaris Hospital, where she treated premature babies, young children, adolescents and adults with a variety of diagnoses. Here she discovered her passion for children with special needs and learnt a great deal about Sensory Integration, NDT (Neurodevelopmental Therapy) and treating premature babies. Tilly loves the little things about being an Occupational Therapist, like the small successes and improvements one notices and loves that the more you learn, the more you can have a positive impact and influence on people’s lives. Whilst Tilly enjoys working with all children, she has a passion for addressing and treating those with sensory processing, postural control and fine motor difficulties. Tilly is currently busy with her Sensory Integration training through SAISI. When Tilly isn’t working she enjoys mountain biking, nature walks, water sports, playing with her dogs, and competing in dog shows.
Tilly’s favourite quote by Kid President, Robby Novak is “Sure there’s bad stuff in the world, but there’s also YOU. You can be anything that you want today; so be bold, be kind, be awesome. Repeat. It’s like shampoo, but with your life!”
Britt Fourie
Occupational Therapist
Britt graduated from the University of Cape Town (UCT) with a BSc. Occupational Therapy degree in 2006. She completed her community service year at Murchison Hospital on the KZN South Coast. Working as the only Occupational Therapist at the hospital for much of the year, she enjoyed working closely within a multi-disciplinary team and with various stakeholders within the community. She set up new programmes and protocols including a tendon repair protocol for hand therapy and a cerebral palsy therapy programme to support mothers and their children within the community. These initiatives are still in place today and at the time earned her the community service therapist of the year award.
Britt then joined Livingstone Primary School, a short-term remedial school in Durban. It is here where she discovered her passion for helping children with specific learning and sensory integration difficulties. The saying ” teamwork makes the dream work ” was firmly cemented during her time at Livingstone. Intensive collaboration took place between parents, teachers and therapists which Britt believes is the key to shaping happy, confident children and allowing them to reach their full potential. She completed her sensory integration training through SAISI in 2011 before moving to Johannesburg in 2014.
After becoming a mom, which Britt considers her greatest accomplishment and blessing, she continued to work as a paediatric Occupational Therapist at a school-based private practice in Johannesburg. Having her own child with sensory difficulties has influenced her practice greatly and has allowed her to gain greater insight and connection with children and their caregivers.
In July 2023, Britt and her family relocated to Ballito. She worked at Bloom Special Needs School where she gained further experience working with both verbal and non- verbal children with a variety of diagnoses including autism, down syndrome and cerebral palsy. It is here that she loved seeing the DIR FloorTime approach in action which blended perfectly with her Sensory Integration training. This approach aimed to create connection through child-led play and in turn promoted socio- emotional development.
Britt decided to take some time off to help her family settle in early 2024 and then met Ashley whose passion for OT, knowledge, kind and caring personality made her want to be part of the Ashley Dearling team!
Britt loves how close knit the community in Ballito is and looks forward to making a difference in the little lives that are entrusted to her. She celebrates all gains made in therapy no matter how big or small and absolutely loves coming up with creative and engaging activities during therapy sessions. She enjoys connecting and getting to know each child’s individual interests and strengths while helping them overcome challenges and watching them grow in their skills and confidence.
In her free time she can be found going on outdoor adventures with her daughter and husband, painting or gardening.
One of her favourite quotes is by Ralph Waldo Emmerson ” We find delight in the beauty and happiness of children that makes the heart too big for the body”
Kelly Ellerman
Occupational Therapist
Kelly graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) with a BSc. Occupational Therapy degree in 2019. She completed her community service year in 2020 at Tonga District Hospital which is located in Mpumalanga near the Kruger National Park. It was here she gained greater experience treating spinal cord injuries, burns, strokes, brain injuries, orthopaedic and mental health conditions. Kelly had the opportunity to work in the NICU with premature babies, in the peadiatric ward treating children with varied diagnosis, and ran an early intervention clinic once a week for high-risk infants. Throughout her year working in a low resourced area, she developed creativity, resilience, and resourcefulness which enabled her to focus on what is most important to each individual client, facilitate their strengths and minimise their challenges.
In 2021 and early 2022, Kelly had the privilege of Au Pairing for a family in America caring for three boys aged seven, five and a new born. It was in this time she gained invaluable skills of co-parenting, promoted development of her boys through structed and unstructured activities and had constant communication with the parents to best support the children’s development. She learnt first-hand the many joys and challenges of managing the balancing act that is playtime, school requirements, extracurricular activities, screentime and development of skills, mixed in with parents’ busy work schedules and a to do list a mile long. In essence, Kelly learnt raising children is hard work, and this realisation has created greater empathy and an in-depth understanding of just how important context and parental involvement are in a child’s development.
Whilst in America Kelly did a week internship with Maude Le Roux in which she had exposure to the DIR Floortime, IM and Tomatis methods. She also volunteered at a peadiatric outpatient clinic once a week for five months. The 18 months Kelly spent abroad really ignited her passion for peadiatric occupational therapy and to see children succeed in every sphere of their lives from birth into adulthood. Kelly still enjoys treating adult physical clients in a hospital setting but has developed a special interest in early intervention and sensory integration and has applied to do her ASI training through SAISI in 2023. Kelly loves the small and big wins in therapy, wants to foster independence, give hope, bring joy and positively impact and help families and children thrive in everyday life.
Christie Liebenberg
Occupational Therapist
Christie graduated from the University of the Pretoria (UP) with a Bachelor’s degree in Occupational Therapy in 2021. She completed her community service year at King Edward VIII Tertiary Hospital in Umbilo, Durban, in 2022. Here she gained great experience treating patients of all ages who had suffered hand injuries, burns, brain Injuries, strokes and amputations. In this year, working as part of a multidisciplinary team, Christie learnt the value of teamwork, communication, hard work and persistence.
In 2023 Christie starting working as an Educational Therapist at Ethembeni School for children with physical disabilities and visual impairments. It was while working at the school that she fully realised her love for paediatrics, and for helping each little one in her care to reach their full potential.
Christie loves the relationships that get formed in OT, and enjoys partnering with parents and kiddies on their therapy journey.
In her free time you can find her in the gym, trying out new recipes in the kitchen, relaxing outside with a cup of coffee, climbing a mountain, or spending quality time with her husband.