Rachael graduated from Canterbury University with a Bachelor of Speech Language Therapy in 2001. After working for a short time in Invercargill with children between the ages of two and eleven doing Speech Language Therapy, she transferred to Christchurch and continued working for the Ministry of Education with children from two to six years in age.
Rachael's role was to assess, analyse and compile the information gathered about the children into reports, develop a communication plan and then oversee the implementation of the plan. She worked mainly in the community with the children, their whanau, teachers and teacher's support workers, embedding the communication plan into the everyday routines of the child's home and early childhood environments.
Within her 10 years of working at the Ministry, she was privileged to be able to work alongside other professionals who also had a strong interest in this field (Psychologists, Early Intervention Teachers and Occupational Therapists). However, the most influential teachers during this time were the parents of the children she was working with.
During her time at the Ministry she participated in professional development and was greatly influenced by three courses in particular: SCERTS training with Barry Prizant, a visual strategies workshop with Linda Hodgdon and some introductory courses to the Hanen program.
After leaving the Ministry to have her three children, Rachael continued her own education and interest in the Hanen Parent Education programs. Her aim is to provide speech and language intervention to parents of children with social communication problems in a way which is caring and personal.