Our Employees

Georgina Ahrens  
Georgina gained her Bachelor of Applied Science—Occupational Therapy from the University of Sydney in 1996.  She has always worked in Paediatrics initially in an early intervention team, working with children with a variety of disabilities.  She then pursued further training by traveling to the United States and England.  While in America she worked with a leading paediatric occupational therapist, Rosemary White OTR/L.

Under her supervision and the guidance of specialist practitioners she was able to develop her skills initially in the area of Sensory Integration and then the DIR®/Floortime Model.   During this time she received extensive training and experience within the fields of  Sensory Integration, Auditory Integration and the Developmental Individual Difference Relationship Model (Floortime).  She has been trained and certified in the Therapeutic Listening Program, The Listening Program, Samonas, The Lift Program and most recently with the Integrated Listening Program (ILS), she has been trained in the Wilbaarger brushing protocol, the Alert Program, Handwriting without tears and a variety of other programs during the years.  She has been to a number of the ICDL conferences both the introductory April conferences and the ICDL professional conference in November and summer institutes and presented her work to her colleagues at these. She continues to be involved with peer reviews and professional groups to continue to refine and develop her skills.

Georgina returned to Sydney in 2003 and established Kids World to provide these services to the clients within the Sydney metropolitan area.  Over the past eleven years Georgina has continued to develop her  experiences in the field of Autism Spectrum Disorders and Sensory Integration Dysfunction.  She has a passion for working with the children and there families and feels that she continues to learn as much from them as they from her.  In addition to her extensive clinical work Georgina provides professional lectures and parent workshops to share her knowledge with others both within Australia and internationally.

Georgina is married to Chris who made the move with her from the states, and supports and assists her with the practice. She has two beautiful girls Mollie and Heidi, who keep her busy in her spare time.  She loves to spend time outdoors especially at the wonderful beaches in Sydney and skiing both in Australia and North America in winter.

Louisa Stephens   
Louisa received her degree in Occupational Therapy from Oxford Brooks University, England in 2001.  Prior to joining Kids World, she has gained experience in a number of psychiatric rehabilitation settings including inpatient and community services, working closely with child and adolescents, adults and the elderly communities.  It has always been a passion of Louisa’s to work with children and their families.

Initially developing this interest through working as a ‘camp councilor’ with Camp America throughout her degree program, following which she worked closely with the National Autistic society, London, to provide help and support to children with autism and their families. Louisa moved to Australia in September 2006, and has embraced the DIR®/Floortime Model and integrated this into her work recognizing the importance of family involvement in therapy and enjoys working closely with her clients.

Louisa has attended continuing education training that has strengthened her knowledge of DIR®/Floortime Model and Sensory Integration.Through this practice Louisa has been involved with the DIR®/Floortime parent training course, and is involved in planning and supervising the DIR®/Floortime social camps held each holidays.

In her spare time, Louisa enjoys traveling, exploring cultural and ethnic diversity, visiting new places here in Australia.  She has an enthusiasm for arts and staying healthy through running, surfing and swimming and diving.

Janie Rutter   
Janie graduated with a Bachelor of Occupational Therapy from the University of Newcastle in 2003.  She started her career as an Occupational Therapist working for the Department of Ageing, Disability and Home Care with clients with Developmental Disabilities in residential care.  In 2005 Janie headed to the United Kingdom to broaden both her professional and life experiences.  She worked throughout the United Kingdom addressing the postural and mobility needs of both adults and children. Upon returning to Australia she took a position consulting on the customized wheelchair and positioning needs of children with physical disabilities.  

Janie has always been passionate about working with kids with sensory processing and developmental disabilities and over the past few years has continued to expand her knowledge in this area.  She has attended a number of post graduate training in the areas of Sensory Processing, Paediatric Anxiety Management and Developmental Orthopedics.  Through this practice Janie has been involved in specific DIR®/Floortime Model training and is strengthening her skills in weekly mentoring and supervision. Janie is involved in the planning and running of our holiday social camps. 

In her spare time, Janie enjoys socializing with friends, exploring the city and its culture and hanging out at the beach. 

Kylie Marquenie 
Kylie graduated with a Masters of Occupational Therapy Studies from the University of Queensland in 2006. Prior to this she had worked briefly as a scientist after graduating with a Bachelor of Science (Biochemistry) from the Queensland University of Technology in 2003. Kylie has always been driven to support children with special needs and their families and has developed a strong interest in working with families and children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Sensory Processing Disorder. Initially developing this interest during her post graduate studies where she conducted a research project exploring routines and rituals in families with children with an ASD.

Before joining Kids World, Kylie has worked as an Occupational Therapist in a number of different paediatric early intervention settings, working specifically with children diagnosed with an ASD, Sensory Processing Disorder and Speech and Language Disorder.  During this time Kylie has been very motivated in expanding her knowledge and skills in this area in order to provide the best service possible to the families and children she works with. She has attended a number of continuing education training in the areas of Autism Spectrum Disorder, Sensory Processing and the DIR/Floortime Model. When moving to Sydney from Queensland in 2009, Kylie was keen to embrace the DIR/Floortime model into her work after completing a DIR®/Floortime Introductory Training course and a DIR/Floortime Infancy and Early childhood Basic Training course. Kylie continues to strengthen her skills in DIR®/Floortime through weekly mentoring and supervision.

In her spare time, Kylie enjoys visiting family and friends in Queensland, exploring the sights and culture of Sydney, and travelling with her husband.

Alison O' Toole

Alison O’Toole gained her Bachelor of Applied Science – Occupational Therapy from Sydney University in 2004. She initially worked on a community mental health team before pursuing her career overseas in England and Canada.

Alison found her passion for paediatric therapy when working at the Society for Treatment of Autism in Alberta, Canada. It was here that she attended training in Sensory Integration therapy, Handwriting without tears, Sequential Oral Sensory feeding program and a variety of other programs.

Upon returning home to Australia Alison worked in Outback NSW, providing fly-in fly-out paediatric therapy to children from a varying cultural backgrounds with a wide range of disabilities. Alison enjoys running, hiking, swimming, scuba diving and anything that allows her to spend time in the great outdoors with her friends.

Chris Ahrens

Chris earned his Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Bradley University in the US.  He is a licensed US Certified Public Accountant and an Australian Chartered Accountant.  He manages the Kids World finances along with providing general managerial support.

Shortly after moving to Australia, he and Georgina were married and quickly started a family along with a budding new business.  He has two daughters and enjoys spending as much time as possible with them.  In his spare time he enjoys mountain biking, snowboarding and fly fishing and is looking forward to introducing his children to these activities