Joan Medland

Originally from Belfast, Northern Ireland, I left Belfast at 20 years of age to pursue a Clothing

and Textiles degree at Manchester Polytechnic. After qualifying I realized I disliked the

world of fashion and was fortunate to gain employment as a pattern cutter in the

wardrobe department of the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester. I spent nearly 15

years working as a theatrical costumier for companies such as The Royal National Theatre

in London, The Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford upon Avon and supervising

various wardrobe departments and going on numerous tours in Europe until I left the

theatrical world to have a family. It was during this time I decided to retrain as an

Occupational Therapist.

On qualifying as an Occupational Therapist in 2005 and throughout my career I have

gained specialist knowledge and application of Occupational Therapy assessments and

interventions relevant to Paediatrics and Adults with neurodiverse conditions, neurological

developmental disorders, Learning Disability, Spinal injuries, Head injuries, Mental Health

Rehabilitation, and acute settings. I have a good understanding of Occupational Therapy

outcome measures as well as knowledge of current legislation, national drivers, and current

practice.

In April 2012, I was invited by the Saudi Arabia Autistic Society, to go to their newly built

school in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The purpose was to deliver seminars, training, and

interactive workshops to educational staff within the school and the parents and carers of

the children. One part of the school provided education for 1 to 4-year-old males and

females, however the other part provided education for from 4- to 16-year-olds but only for

the males. The remit I had been given was to focus on the 4 to 16-year-old males. This was

an amazing experience of working with autistic children within the parameters of the

countries culture. Both parents and education staff attended and were very motivated to

learn as much as they could within the time I was there.

In October 2014, I had the opportunity to move to and work for the Cayman Islands

Department of Education establishing a historically undervalued and underfunded

Occupational Therapy service for the government- run primary schools in the Cayman

Islands and supporting Caymanian oversea Occupational Therapy students in completing

their BSc (Hons) Occupational Therapy degree. This was initially a two-year contract,

however I stayed for four years to ensure the service was fully established before passing

the role to a Caymanian national.

I have worked in private, international and NHS practices at a clinician, supervisor, team

manager, regional lead, clinical manager and currently as an ADOS-2 assessor. I have

many years’ clinical and managerial experience working with children, adults, and their

families both as an autonomous practitioner and a member of a multi-disciplinary team.