Stephanie Hajjar

Tell us about your working life before Aspect?

I grew up in the Northern Rivers but moved to Sydney straight from school to study Occupational Therapy at Sydney University. After graduating my (now) husband and I decided to live in Canberra for a stint where I took my first job at the Royal Society for the Blind (RSB) – supporting people in the community living with a vision impairment or blindness to develop greater independence in their daily lives.

My husband and I were later offered jobs with the RSB in Adelaide, which we took as it was a bigger location with greater learning opportunities…and Guide Dog Puppies. After working at the RSB for 3 years, I decided to move into paediatrics and got a job working with an amazing multidisciplinary team called Can Do for Kids, who offered therapy to children in the Adelaide community to support their development, independence and participation in their daily activities. I have now come full circle and moved back to the Norther Rivers – where I intend to stay!

How long have you worked with Aspect and what are some highlights?

6 months! My highlights include belly dancing at the last team meeting, hearing from all the great minds at the National Conference, collaborating with colleagues, and the first smile I got from a little client who had previously not shown any notice or attention towards the people in his day care.

What is the most rewarding part of your role as an OT?

It has been amazing to join the Aspect Therapy team. I love how Aspect strives to work with families to feel empowered in their children’s therapy process and learn how to integrate therapy into everyday routines. Being able to view a person for all of their parts including their values, aspirations and what they want to do in their life - not just their diagnosis. OTs are concerned with all of what makes up the person, as well as the Environment and the specific Occupations which they engage in, and we consider how each of these factors influence the person’s occupational performance.

What’s it like working with our Northern New South Wales team?

I get to work in a very flexible workplace with truly wonderful therapists who I get to call my colleagues. I live a 45-minute drive from the office so it is great that I can have the flexibility to work from home when I want to. This does mean that I need to make opportunities to meet up and collaborate with my colleagues, but because the team in NNSW are all so friendly, it’s really easy to jump on the phone or zoom calls - which I do multiple times a week. It’s also nice to have the option to be able to work from the office if you like. There will almost always be some friendly faces around to chat with or share lunch. We also have monthly discipline specific meetings, and each Term we have a whole team meeting day. These are always really lovely opportunities to learn and share with each other, go out for lunch or a beach walk and have a lot of laughs as well.

What learning opportunities has Aspect provided you with?

Aspect provides multiple learning opportunities to all new staff. I really enjoyed the Positive Behaviour Support training which all staff complete when starting at Aspect. More recently, I have learnt so much by listening to presentations at the National Conference. I especially enjoyed, and learnt a lot from the presentations delivered by people on the autism spectrum.

What’s your advice for people thinking about a career with Aspect?

There are so many things which make Aspect a great place to work. The team is incredibly warm and supportive. Staff are genuinely cared for, valued and appreciated. There is real workplace flexibility, and we get to work with fantastic people in their homes, schools or community settings