The boot of Julie Farnsworth’s car is filled with stuff – a baby doll, bubbles, a yoga mat.

As an occupational therapist working with young children, these are important tools.

The doll, for example, can be used to teach empathy.

“The primary goal of occupational therapy is to enable people to participate in the activities of every day life, which is so much fun,” she said.

Her clients have a range of issues from autism and brain damage, to sensory issues, co-ordination problems and anxiety.

She went into private practice for the first time last week, after 18 years with the Department of Health.

“I am now an independent contractor with Solstice Bermuda, working with children and families,” she said.

Ms Farnsworth called occupational therapy one of the “quieter professions”.

“Some people don’t realise occupational therapy exists until something happens and they need it,” she said.

As occupational therapy month got under way last week, she urged more young people to consider it as a career.

There are approximately 30 occupational therapists registered in Bermuda, but Ms Farnsworth felt there was a need for more.

“There are also more babies surviving premature births,” she said. “Some, not all, will go on to have a sensory or visual motor component that they need some help with. We are also seeing an increase in autism and autism-like conditions.”

According to Bermuda Autism Support and Education the prevalence of autism is increasing 10 to 17 per cent annually. Ms Farnsworth did not know the reason why, but said there were hotly debated theories about it.

An occupational therapist can work with autistic children to develop skills for handwriting, fine motor and daily living skills, and assess and target sensory processing differences.

Since Covid-19 began Ms Farnsworth has also seen more toddlers showing anxiety and delayed social skills.

“This is possibly because of Covid-19 and the reduced opportunity to go out and socialise with their peers and playgroups and playgrounds,” she said. “So a lot of our role in early intervention has been to develop those play skills and the fine motor skills.”

There are also occupational therapists needed to work with adults who have suffered physical or mental dysfunction, get back to normal life.

“The rewards of doing this are not necessarily financial, although you will always have a job,” she said. “And you can travel with it.”

She first fell in love with occupational therapy while taking part in the Duke of Edinburgh Awards in secondary school. As part of the programme she volunteered at Westmeath Residential and Nursing Care Home and the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute.

She helped clients decorate Christmas trees and do arts and crafts. They also went for nature walks.

“I was like ‘wow, this is someone’s job?’” Ms Farnsworth said. “You can have fun doing things and get paid? That piqued my interest.”

Adults encouraged her to explore other options such as physiotherapy and nursing, but these other professions just were not for her.

“I preferred the creative, holistic and fun side of occupational therapy,” she said. “Physio was a lot more medical and structured.”

After graduating from the Bermuda High School for Girls, she qualified at Dorset House School of Occupational Therapy, now part of Oxford Brookes University, in Oxford, England.

She is particularly proud to have gone there because it was the first occupational therapy school in England.

While in university, she worked at MWI in the summer.

“I got to work under an occupational therapist called Tina Powell,” she said. “That is when I started to learn the skills I would need.”

Ms Powell introduced her to the concept of snoezelen (pronounced snoozelan), a sensory environment that is purposefully built.

“Initially, it was built for people with profound learning disabilities, but today is used for people with a range of issues, such as anxiety and sensory-processing disorder,” she said.

The room might include relaxing smells, music, and sensory play items such as bubbles or fibre optics.

Solstice Bermuda, MWI and Windreach Recreational Village have snoezelen rooms.

“The occupational therapists job in a snoezelen room is to facilitate interactions with sights, sounds, smells and touch of different fabrics,” Ms Farnsworth said.

Many clients are noticeably calmer after snoezelen.

“You could also see their anxiety and irritability just decrease,” she said. “You would get less of things like self-injurious behaviour.”

She worked in a snoezelen room in a forensic hospital in England, while she studied.

The clients in this hospital had been found guilty of crimes, but had intellectual or mental disabilities.

“Their snoezelen was just starting and I helped to build it,” she said. “The belief is that if you help them build up their skills, you can reduce reoffending.”

She said overseas occupational therapists frequently specialised, but in Bermuda they tended to be a jack of all trades.

“That is good and bad. Everyone knows a little bit of something,” she said. “But there is a need for more specialism, particularly at the early intervention level.”

Ms Farnsworth enjoys the work, but does have rough days, on occasion.

“Telling a family that their child has a serious diagnosis can be hard,” she said. “Sometimes I might be dealing with babies born with difficulties that may not resolve. Or you could be dealing with someone who has had a depressive episode and cannot get out of bed. It is not always enjoyable but it is always rewarding.”

But she said it is important to look after yourself after a tough case, before you move on to the next client.

“I like to go outside,” she said. “In the last year, I have been working a lot in the east, so I would go for drives along the coast. I found that really therapeutic.”

She also writes poetry to relax.

“And sometimes you just need to have a good old moan,” she laughed.

She is married to Troy Farnsworth, who is also an occupational therapist and Bermuda’s boccia coach.

For more information e-mail juliefarnsworthot@gmail.com.