Sara McCarron, Occupational Therapist

About Sara

Sara McCarron is a warm, playful, and dedicated paediatric occupational therapist who is deeply passionate about helping children and the grown-ups in their lives thrive. With 10 years of clinical experience spanning early intervention, kindergarten-based support, and community health, Sara understands that children do best when they feel connected and families can truly trust their therapy team. Her practice is firmly grounded in a neuroaffirming framework that assumes competence, celebrates individual strengths, and works practically to dismantle the barriers that get in a child's way.

Movement and active play are central to Sara’s everyday therapy style. Out of the clinic, she trains in circus arts, including aerial hoop and silks, several days a week. This is a passion she naturally marries with her occupational therapy practice. Sara loves using dynamic movement games, obstacle courses, and playground spaces to help children with sensory seeking needs regulate their bodies, build motor planning confidence, and achieve their goals through laughter and genuine engagement.

Sara is also an incredibly strong advocate for team collaboration and systemic support. Drawing from her past experience as an NDIS ECEI planner, she is exceptionally skilled at helping Gold Coast families navigate funding pathways and coordinating care across schools, early childhood educators, and external medical teams. Whether working on fine motor tasks, daily self-care routines, or school readiness skills, Sara meets families exactly where they are at, ensuring that every milestone—both big and small—is shared and celebrated.

Sara's Strengths

At Progress Pathways, we believe in leveraging our team members' strengths. Each team member completes a CliftonStrengths analysis within their first week on our team. Sara’s profile highlights her exceptional natural ability to nurture growth, build consensus, and foster deep, meaningful connections with the children and families she serves.

Sara naturally excels at spotting the tiny, incremental signs of progress in a child's development, using these insights to cultivate potential and boost self-worth. She has an innate knack for making people feel deeply valued, heard, and appreciated, ensuring that her interactions are entirely genuine and tailored to the unique history and interests of each family. This relational depth allows her to build lasting, trusted partnerships with parents. Additionally, she thrives in dynamic environments, remaining perfectly calm and flexible when faced with changing or unpredictable therapeutic needs, which helps soothe anxious families and bring stability to complex situations.

Her approach is also highly practical and solution-oriented, allowing her to gracefully guide teams and families toward common ground and balanced workloads. Sara is naturally curious and dedicated to gathering facts, background data, and evidence to make well-informed, credible clinical decisions. Anchored by a strong sense of core values and infectious positive energy, she brings a motivating, optimistic presence to every session, helping children rise above their daily frustrations while remaining fiercely committed to fairness and equality for all clients.

Sara's Learning Pathway

We celebrate our team of lifelong learners. Sara shares Progress Pathways' commitment to professional development, regularly participating in training to enhance her knowledge and skills. Below are some of the key courses Sara has undertaken:

• PRPP Assessment and Intervention – Advanced clinical training in the Perceive, Recall, Plan, and Perform framework to systematically assess and support a child's information processing and task performance strategies.
• Paediatric Feeding Insights & Get Permission Approach to Eating – Specialised strategies from the Get Permission Institute focusing on respectful, child-led feeding interventions for paediatric feeding disorders and selective eating.
• Supporting Young ADHDers Thrive – A practical, neuroaffirming course by Kidlink OT focused on emotional regulation, engagement, and environmental adjustments for young children with ADHD.
• DIR 101 – An introductory course in the Developmental, Individual Differences, Relationship-Based (Floor Time) model, focusing on supporting human development through connection.
• Occupational Therapy and FASD – Training provided by NOFASD Australia to successfully identify, understand, and provide responsive intervention for children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.
• Conquering Wees and Poos – A comprehensive clinical workshop addressing functional paediatric toileting challenges, sensory barriers, and incontinence.
• Learn to Play – A therapeutic framework focused on assessing and developing functional, imaginative, and cooperative play skills in early childhood.
• Traffic Jam in my Brain – A course exploring sensory processing, nervous system arousal, and effective practical tools for emotional and sensory regulation.
• Key Word Sign – An interactive program utilising signs alongside spoken language to encourage and support early communication and language development.
• Read and Grow – An early childhood literacy program training practitioners to foster foundational language, communication, and reading skills through play.

Experience Supporting Children with Diagnoses

Sara has experience supporting children with diagnoses including

• Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
• Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) and paediatric feeding disorders
• Global Developmental Delay (GDD) and cognitive delay
• Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD)
• Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD)
• Anxiety and psychosocial challenges
• Sensory Processing Differences
• Toileting and elimination difficulties (incontinence, withholding)
• Trauma histories and behavioral challenges

Support for Children Without a Formal Diagnosis

Sara also loves supporting children who may not have a diagnosis, but who benefit from having support in the following areas:

• Gross motor and coordination challenges – Difficulty with balance, jumping, catching, climbing frames, running, or general physical clumsiness.
• Sensory processing and body regulation – Children who are constant sensory seekers (craving spinning, swinging, or going upside down) or who are easily overwhelmed by noises, textures, and environments.
• Fine motor skill delays – Difficulties with finger strength, pencil grip, using scissors, drawing, or manipulating small toys.
• School readiness and transitions – Building the attention, executive functioning, classroom routine familiarity, and motor planning skills needed for a smooth transition to school.
• Self-care and Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) – Struggling with everyday functional tasks such as independent dressing, hygiene, toothbrushing, and morning or bedtime routines.
• Fussy eating and mealtime challenges – High selectivity with food textures, mealtime anxiety, or family stress surrounding eating habits.
• Toileting delays – Difficulty moving away from nappies, struggling with day/night bladder control, or showing anxiety around using the toilet.
• Play and social interaction difficulties – Challenges engaging in pretend play, following game rules, playing cooperatively with peers, or sharing space with other children.