Presented at ResearchED Canberra, Saturday 29 August: Beyond the Pencil. The slides, the session handout and the three research briefs are now on the Research​ page.
ABOUT
The person & practice behind the work
FIRST Occupational Therapy is a Canberra-based paediatric OT practice founded on the belief that early, targeted support can change a child’s learning trajectory.
James Lyra
Director, FIRST Occupational Therapy
Registered Occupational Therapist
Master of Learning Intervention (Specific Learning Difficulties)
University of Melbourne, 2023
BSc (Occupational Therapy) / BEd (Early Childhood)
Curtin University, 2006
JAMES LYRA
Nearly 20 years at the intersection of therapy and education
James Lyra is a paediatric occupational therapist and early childhood teacher with nearly two decades of experience. Trained at Curtin University in both occupational therapy and early childhood education, he holds a Master of Learning Intervention from the University of Melbourne with a focus on specific learning difficulties. His dual qualification shapes every aspect of how he assesses, plans, and intervenes.
James has held roles across clinical practice, specialist literacy teaching, early learning centre leadership, and classroom teaching. He has delivered over 500 days of professional learning to more than 3,500 educators across NSW, VIC, and ACT. At FIRST Occupational Therapy, he works with children aged 5 to 18 presenting with learning difficulties, sensory processing differences, ADHD, autism, developmental coordination disorder, and related neurodevelopmental profiles. The goal is always the same: meaningful participation in school, home, and community life.
CLINICAL FRAMEWORK
The Integrated Hourglass
A Framework for Enabling School-Based Occupational Participation
At FIRST Occupational Therapy, all assessment and intervention are guided by the Integrated Hourglass, a clinical practice framework James developed to make his reasoning transparent to families and caregivers. The framework works in two directions. One stream develops the thinking skills essential for learning, such as attention, memory, organisation, language, and literacy. The other strengthens the foundational capacities beneath them, including a regulated nervous system, sensory processing, and coordinated movement. Both streams converge at your child, who is engaged as an active participant in the process.
Regulation enables learning · Learning refines regulation
OUR APPROACH
What FIRST stands for
Every session, every resource, and every professional learning program is shaped by these five principles, the same ones that have guided FIRST Occupational Therapy since it was founded.
F
FUN
Children engage most deeply when sessions are engaging and pitched at exactly the right level of challenge.
I
INNOVATIVE
Programs are individualised and evolve as each child's needs, capacities, and skills develop over time.
R
RESEARCH-INFORMED
Drawing on current evidence across occupational therapy, cognitive science, and education research.
S
STRENGTHS-FOCUSED
Using each child's strengths and interests to guide their program and build confidence for harder challenges.
T
TAILORED
Strong partnerships with children and families, with family involvement built into the therapeutic approach.