AUTHORS
Simon Garbellini MHlthServMgt, BSc (OT),
PhD candidate
Simon has been working as an occupational therapist for more than 20 years. He is currently a Senior Occupational Therapist for the Cerebral Palsy Mobility Service within the Department of Paediatric Rehabilitation at Perth Children’s Hospital. He runs a private practice with a focus on management of neurological upper limb impairment.
Simon is an associate investigator within two multicentre randomised controlled trials, at Australian Catholic University (ACU), investigating the medium to long-term use of rigid wrist and hand orthoses for children with cerebral palsy. Simon is completing a PhD at ACU that is embedded within the trials to investigate clinical decision-making about upper limb orthosis prescription for children with cerebral palsy, and use of the Neurological Hand Deformity Classification (NHDC) as a tool to guide orthotic prescription. Simon is a member of the Australian Hand Therapy Association (AHTA) and Australasian Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine (AusACPDM).
Judith Wilton MSc, PGradDipHthSc, BAppSc (OT)
Judith has worked in upper limb rehabilitation as a clinical practitioner and academic since graduating as an occupational therapist over 35 years ago. She has worked in hand therapy private practice, and consulted to numerous organisations providing services to clients with neurological impairment.
Judith was a member of faculty of Curtin University’s School of Occupational Therapy for over 20 years teaching undergraduate and postgraduate courses. She established the first Australian university-based hand and upper limb rehabilitation graduate programme for occupational therapists and physiotherapists. She has published numerous journal articles and presented courses and workshops on hand therapy and orthotic fabrication across Australia and internationally.
Judith is an active member of the AHTA, and has held numerous executive committee positions including National President. She is responsible for the development and continued presentation of courses on Hand and Upper Limb Orthotic Fabrication conducted by the AHTA across Australia. She was awarded life membership of the AHTA in 2002.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
We acknowledge the generous contribution of the clients and families who have given permission for their photographs to be used in this manual. Thank you to Professor Peter Rosenbaum, Professor Christine Imms, Dr Melinda Randall and Professor Catherine Elliott for their tireless review and assistance in the development of the NHDC manual. Thank you to Telethon for providing funding assistance for the manual and website development.