Paediatric ADHD: Assessment, management, and care pathways

Colette is a developmental paediatrician who works at starship hospital at Auckland DHB and also at the Kauri Centre. She trained in Auckland and then completed her developmental paediatric fellowship at the Mater Hospital in Brisbane.

Dr Sophie Mace (FRNZCGP) is a GP specialising in maternal & infant care, especially breastfeeding, sleep, and infant mental health. As well as working as a rural GP in Motueka, she is the founder of Aotearoa Baby Clinic, a private clinic specialising in maternal and infant care.

Sophie has done post-graduate training in women's health, lactation, and infant mental health and is accredited in neuroprotective developmental care (NDC, or the "Possum's" approach). She is the primary care lead for the NMDHB and South Alliance Alliance's infant mental health groups, is a member of the Perinatal Anxiety and Depression Aotearoa (PADA) clinical advisory board, and sits on the Possum's Clinic's Education and Fellowship committees.

Lucy is a UK trained Occupational Therapist specialising in Paediatrics and child & adolescent mental health, who has worked in Aotearoa New Zealand for over 30 years.

She works alongside neurodiverse tamariki/children and their whānau/families helping to shift the lens from “what is the matter” to “what matters” to them. She uses coaching, neuro-affirming, and relational approaches with families, children and the wider community as well as neurodevelopmental clinical reasoning and educational supports to help enable children to develop and thrive.  

She teaches Occupational Performance Coaching (Dr Fiona Graham, Otago University) and co-developed, researched and teaches the “F-Words Life Wheel” internationally. She also have worked alongside children and families in the Pacific Islands. She is the mother of 2 adult children one of whom has ADHD and she hopes the other one is going to grow up to be OK!  😊  

David is a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist working at the Infant, Child, Adolescent and Family Service (ICAFS) based in the Hutt Valley, Mental Health, Addiction and Intellectual Disability Service (MHAIDS) through Te Whatu Ora. He is also an Affiliate Researcher and Clinical Senior Lecturer in the Department of Psychological Medicine in The University of Otago and a member of the Pharmac Mental Health Subcommittee.

David is originally from the Isle of Man (a small Island in the middle of the Irish sea, best known as the home of tailless cats and exceedingly dangerous motorcycle racing), although has been based in New Zealand since 2003.  Outside of work he especially enjoys embarking on adventures with his wife and two children, endeavouring to play some form of sport or treading the boards in a local theatre production.

Dr Melanie Woodfield (BSc(hons), DClinPsy, PhD) is a Clinical Psychologist who has worked within public child and adolescent mental health services for the past twenty years across community, youth forensic and inpatient settings. Since 2018, she has been supported by the Health Research Council to research the real-world implementation of evidence-based parenting interventions. Melanie continues to work for Te Whatu Ora providing clinical care to young children with challenging behaviour and their families, and in supervision roles. She is a Fellow of the NZ College of Clinical Psychologists, and a board member of the Parenting Place.

Arul has journeyed alongside children and families in many areas of paediatric practice spanning over 30 years in New Zealand. She grew up in Fiji and also has a heart for the children of the Pacific and has worked in Niue and the Cook Islands.

She has partnered with Lucy Charles within their private practice with physiotherapists and Occupational therapists. This has included collaboration with the CanChild team (Canada), families, children and educators, being a co-author, mentoring, development and teaching The F words life wheel and Occupational Performance Coaching internationally.

She is on her journey to be a Perform, Recall, Plan and Perform (PRPP) trainer (cognitive information processing in Occupational Performance)

She continues to be passionate about enabling infants and children, parents and families, to share their voice through stories in life, encompassing the F-words and using Brazelton Touchpoints Approach, Bobath clinical reasoning, Neurology, Cognitive Information processing and relational frameworks to name a few.

Professor Sarah Blunden has been passionate about children’s sleep since she undertook her PhD in 2000. In 2004 she founded the Paediatric Sleep and Psychology Clinic to assist families with their children’s sleep concerns, and in 2006 founded the Australian Centre for Education in Sleep to educate communities about sleep problems. In 2017 Professor Blunden developed a Practice Certificate in her Gentle Methods of Self Settling (GeMSS) for health professionals. Sarah believes that all families and communities deserve to be better educated about sleep, as sleep is the foundation of all physical and mental health.

Her main areas of interest are infant sleep and sleep interventions that do not necessitate ignoring nor controlled crying, sleep education in schools and communities, and Indigenous Sleep Health.

She has presented over 100 presentations to health, education, medical professional and academics and has published over 120 academic papers in peer reviewed journals including the Sensible Sleep Solution and the Boss of My Sleep Book.

Merryn is an experienced paediatric physiotherapist with over 20 years of working alongside children and their families. Originally from Johannesburg, South Africa, she completed her Master’s in Physiotherapy before relocating to New Zealand with her husband 17 years ago.

Her career has spanned a range of settings, including acute care, community-based early intervention, and specialist schools—supporting tamariki and whānau throughout their journeys. Now part of the team at Paediatric OT and PT, Merryn enjoys working in a strength-based environment that focuses on the "F-words" framework and what's important to each whānau.

She is passionate about helping every child reach their physical potential in a way that’s fun and engaging—often weaving fitness and friendship into therapy while promoting musculoskeletal health as children grow. Merryn has a particular interest in neurorehabilitation, as well as bladder and bowel dysfunction.

Outside of work, Merryn is a mum to two energetic boys. Her youngest was diagnosed with ADHD at age five and continues to thrive as a lively and enthusiastic football player—bringing joy and energy to every game.