"There's many ways to swim" a lecture on participation for the APA
Shayna presented to the APA on the many ways to support participation in swimming across the lifespan.
Aquatic and land physiotherapy for babies, children & young people
Principal Splash Physiotherapist ®
Shayna equally loves supporting families of babies, children and young people to participate in everyday life, as much as she is passionate about supporting our wonderful team of physiotherapists to do the same!
At Splash Physiotherapy we provide innovative services to engage children at all ages from babies through to transition to adult services, to identify their goals and play towards them.
If you can come up with the goal, we will find a way to play towards it!
Our team is firmly grounded in evidence based practice, and at the same time, we work hard to integrate those principles into playful, enjoyable, real life activities that children thrive in. We don't work in gyms or clinical settings where we have to manufacture fun. We work on your real goals in real life, and we will stick with you until those new functional skills are being used in true participation.
Shayna is working clinically in all services offered at Splash, developing and supporting the Splash team, and driving the Sports and Recreation Intensives program starting in 2018.
She graduated from physiotherapy at the University of Melbourne in 2002 and has since completed extensive further study in paediatrics, aquatics, swim teaching, neurodevelopment, motor learning, motor control, pain, and evidence informed practice in early childhood intervention.
She has swum all her life, loves introducing kids to a variety of sports, and loves kayaking and bushwalking.
Shayna is passionate about:
working with families
supporting children to participate at home, school, sport, leisure and in the community
playing with children towards their goals
translating the science behind neuroplasticity into practical strategies to help us learn
discovering each individual's learning needs
finding the "just right challenge' for a child as that changes throughout a session
complementing your team's goals in communication, play, fine motor and social skills
fitting in practice of new skills into your every day life in a way that suits you and your family
starting with babies as early as possible
everyone having a chance to learn, at any age
life long learning, and staying up to date with the evidence base in paediatrics
combining paediatric and aquatic physiotherapy with swimming teaching to develop novel treatment strategies in the pool
swim safer skills and behaviours to enable participation in water and reduce drowning risk
creatively designing services to meet participation goals (physiotherapy visits, aquatic physiotherapy in community pools, sports & recreation intensives, pathways to swimming)
growing an enthusiastic, playful, supportive team culture at Splash Physiotherapy that is committed to excellence and continual improvement
Shayna's background:
Shayna has worked with children and adults in private, public and community sectors in Victoria and the Northern Territory since 2002. She has a wide experience base in rehabilitation, and in musculoskeletal, neurological and cardiopulmonary conditions. She has consistently worked in aquatic physiotherapy, enjoys the opportunity to combine these physiotherapy skills with her background as a swimming teacher and coach. She has worked in early childhood intervention in the community sector as a keyworker in transdisciplinary practice.
She established Splash Physiotherapy in 2010, eager to combine her skills in paediatrics, Contemporary Neuro Developmental Treatment, aquatic physiotherapy and swimming teaching to help children get on the move and achieve their goals.
Shayna believes strongly in carefully coordinating care between health care providers, and complementing goals in all areas of development, to optimise chance for learning.
Shayna's teaching and sharing:
She enjoys sharing her approaches in providing professional development training for physiotherapists, allied health staff, and swimming teachers.
She is involved in the ongoing training of the swimming teaching staff at both pools we work with, facilitating a developmental approach to swimming teaching, and promoting inclusion of children with specific learning needs in to the swim school lessons. She also trains ASCTA swim teachers.
She provides lectures and practical workshops on the Australian Physiotherapy Association Aquatic level 1 and 3 courses, and Paediatrics Level 1 course
She continues to provide lectures for the Australian Physiotherapy Association aquatics, disability and paediatric groups
She has presented at conferences of the World Congress of Physical Therapy and the Australian Physiotherapy Association.
She developed and taught aquatic physiotherapy units of first the RMIT Allied Health Assistance course.
She has assisted in research projects through Latrobe into community gym based physiotherapy interventions in young adults with Prader Willi Syndrome; and with Southern Cross University into goal directed intensives for children with neurodevelopmental conditions
She was awarded the "Contribution to the profession" award in 2018 by the Australian Physiotherapy Association. She has volunteered with in positions with the Australian Physiotherapy Association
the Aquatic Physiotherapy Professional Standards Committee (PPSC) 2014 - 2019
the Victorian committee for the National Paediatrics Group 2015 - 2021
the Victorian committee for the National Aquatics Group 2015 - 2022
the Northern Territory Branch President of the Australian Physiotherapy Association 2004 - 2006
the Northern Territory professional development convenor of the Australian Physiotherapy Association 2003 - 2006
the APA Indigenous Health committee 2004 - 2006
Bachelor of Physiotherapy (Hons) University of Melbourne, 2002
Graduate Certificate in Health Promotion, Curtin University, 2006
Aquatic physiotherapy Level 3 (practical component and clinical examination), Australian Physiotherapy Association 2008
Certification Neuro Developmental Treatment, Neuro Developmental Treatment Association, 2012.
Advanced Babies Course in Neuro Developmental Treatment, 2013.
Advanced Course in combining Neuro Developmental Treatment, Sensory Integration and Motor Learning for Optimal Function in Children with Neuromotor Challenges, 2015
Advanced Course for Handling with Neuro Developmental Treatment with research, 2016
Contribution to the Physiotherapy Profession Award 2018, Australian Physiotherapy Association
Australian Swimming Teachers and Coaches Association qualifications (Swim Australia Teacher, Swim Australia Teacher of Babies and Toddlers, and Swim Australia Teacher of Learners with a Disability)
Cert IV TAE Assessment and Training
Presenter for ASCTA (Australian Swimming Coaches and Teachers Association) courses (see more here)
professional development in: aquatic physiotherapy, paediatric physiotherapy, Contemporary Neuro Developmental Therapy, motor learning principles, neuro motor control, neuroplasticity and neurosciences, running and bike riding physiotherapy, formal outcome measures, play based therapy, Strengths Based Approach, persistent pain
physiotherapist for research trials into Prader Willi Syndrome, cerebral palsy, developmental delay and Contemporary Neuro Developmental Therapy
Member Australian Physiotherapy Association National Paediatric and Aquatic Groups
Volunteer work for Australian Physiotherapy Association: Aquatic Physiotherapy Professional Standards Committee; Victorian branch committee member of the Paediatric National Group and Aquatic National Group; past NT branch president and professional development convenor
View Shayna's profile on Linked in
Image description: Shayna in mask, face shield and bathers on the first day back of aquatic physio post Melbourne lockdown, November 2020
We see children are part of a family
Families know their children best
Children do best in their own environments
We find strategies that fit in with your everyday life
We form respectful, cooperative partnerships with families
We are professional, playful and up to date
We are professional, friendly, fun, and love the work we do
Coordinating with your health and education services helps everyone work towards their goals
We are committed to life long learning. We are highly skilled and up to date.
We are constantly improving
We teach the way kids learn
Children learn through play
Every achievement is celebrated
We apply the science behind neuroplasticity in practical strategies to optimise learning
We use a strengths based approach
The earlier the better and it's never too late! We work with babies through to young people
We observe carefully, adjust moment to moment, to: meet your individual learning needs; find the 'just right challenge'; optimise your chance to learn
We celebrate small steps towards participation goals
Participation is key
We start with your participation goal. Then we drill down to small details in body structure and function to help you learn functional skills
We support all areas of development
We advocate to address social, environmental, policy and institutional barriers to participation
Swim safer skills and behaviours are part of every aquatic physiotherapy session
Being active is good for everyone