A.L-Therapies - Independent Occupational Therapist

Taking a Step at a Time

OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY

Based near Plymouth in Devon - Independent Occupational Therapist

A.L-Therapies is the sole trader business of Anita Laidlaw - State Registered Occupational Therapist

Insured, DBS checked, GDPR compliant

With nearly 39 years experience as an Occupational Therapist Anita has a range of skills and offers a free no obligation 20 minutes chat to ensure your needs are something that her service can help with.
Discounts available for certain client groups who require the services of AL-Therapies - Independent Occupationall Therapist

Offering bespoke service for all ages for a wide range of conditions and difficulties.

Welcome to my web site.

My name is Anita Laidlaw and I qualified as an Occupational Therapist in 1985. I offer a bespoke service to all ages and for a range of difficulties. Occupational Therapies core philosophy is to optimise function despite of illness or injury or suffering from any mental health and/ or physical and / or cognitive condition/s. The term "function" encompasses every aspect of daily living you could possibly think of and I have provided some examples in brackets (sleep, dressing, conversations, leisure activities, eating, shopping, travelling)

My logo of steps (the theme also picked up in the photo of Bedruthen steps in Cornwall) represents the steps in the therapy process whether this is simply the step of making a decision to request support and the next step of having a one off assessment through to someone who might require longer term support that involves many steps. Each step in the logo is a different size to represent that some steps may be easy and some more complex or difficult.

Other information

I am based in Devon, near to Plymouth but I travel nationwide if costs are met to provide my services. My curriculum vitae can be made available for enquirers and more information about my services can be found under RCOT ( see last paragraph below).  Please see contact details in the last section. Costs are agreed in advance of my services being provided and discounts for specific situations / persons are available.

I am registered with the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) regarding complying with data protection (ico.org.uk)

My professional registration is with Health & Care Professional Council (https://www.hcpc-uk.org/). I am a member of my professional body - (RCOT) Royal College of Occupational Therapy and listed within their independent practitioners directory (rcotss-ip.org.uk/find)

Links about Anita

The photo of trees represents how everyone is unique and to stand tall ( "to have self worth and cope with the storms of life") develop healthy strong roots. The roots of our lives can be both healthy and not ( from a psychological point of view). Anita approaches all her work from a place of helping a person develop psychological strength in the context of any disability / illness / condition / or difficulties.

The links above are from left to right:

Twitter ; Facebook; Pinpoint Devon listing; Expert Role with Bushco.co.uk; National Autistic Society Listing;

Anita has helped our family immeasurably.

I don’t know why, but getting a sensory needs assessment in Devon is very tricky.

"Having been on various local authority waiting lists for my child to see an OT for nearly two years and not getting anywhere, we were desperate for ‘acceptable’ evidence to add details of our child’s sensory needs to an EHCP. We reached out to Anita who assessed our child really quickly, reviewing all the existing reports, assessments and documents relating to the EHCP and the producing really useful, clear and comprehensive report which joined the dots and helped everyone working with our child to understand how to support better. Anita was able to make a connection with our child really quickly and make sense of what the challenges were, asking questions in just the right way to reach understanding. We felt understood and better informed and we felt that Anita’s wealth of experience was exceptional. We know that her help has made all the difference in supporting our child to be placed on the right setting and feel supported in the best way."

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'I have found Anita's approach to supervision grounding, and she has supported me to develop my reflective and core skills as a therapist. I have had the privilege of sharing her knowledge and experience which has helped to shape my practice for the benefit of the clients I support'.

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"Anita responded in a timely manner to our enquiry for help. The manner she approached our situation provided clarity of the process of the assessment and report that was needed and what costs were involved. Anita's personality was friendly yet professional. The report was very comprehensive and showed us that Anita understood the needs of our child. We were very satisfied with Anita's services especially that the outcome for our child meant the educational placement we considered was best was agreed prior to a planned tribunal hearing. I have no hesitation in recommending Anita to others".

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We have recently (2024) worked with Anita Laidlaw who has supported us on two occasions: an assessment for the housing needs of the family and one for sensory needs of one of my children. Anita has a vast and varied professional expertise and she has a special background in neurodiverse conditions which she applies in her work. For us this made a huge difference as Anita was able to observe and express in her written reports nuances that other professionals were not able to pick up on. Her work is centred around assessing needs in depth but also to give very specific and measured recommendations to other professionals that are involved. With that element to her reports we were able to access help we otherwise would not have been able to.

Anita is very hardworking, thorough and professional. She also is a reliable and responsive communicator and a compassionate and caring human being.

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In late May 2024 I decided I needed the services of an Occupational Therapist to support my appeal after being turned down for a blue badge. I searched the internet for one near to Tavistock and discovered Anita Laidlaw of AL Therapies. I initially contacted Anita by email and she quickly responded and offered me a free consultation by Zoom later that day. After that consultation she decided she could help me and arranged to visit me the following day. That meeting was very comprehensive and she did a thorough investigation into my mobility problems, including watching me walking.

Shortly after she produced a five page report on her findings which formed an important contribution to my appeal. I am pleased to say my appeal worked and I was awarded a Blue Badge. I feel sure that Anita’s report was the biggest contributing factor to my successful appeal. Anita’s services came at a very reasonable price.

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What my service users have to say

Get in touch

Get in touch

Please use the form below or email me at anitalaidlaw63@gmail.com or phone on 07955728002