Meet Our Team
Talk Sense in Riverclub Sandton is run by Vicky McDermott and has been operating since 2008. Prior to this the practice was based at The Talk Shop Pre-school. Our early intervention therapy team now includes Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, Speech Therapy, Play therapy and a Magic Blox MagicEQ programme for children.
Vicky McDermott
Occupational Therapist
Vicky is a co-owner of Talk Sense. Since qualifying from Wits University in 1995, she has been passionate about developing as an Occupational Therapist, as she is about working with and helping children to grow and develop. She is an experienced Sensory Integration and Neuro-Development trained therapist, who has also completed her basic training in DIR/Floortime, completing the course for professionals through Profectum in the USA. Thus her professional development is now on a new path of focusing on the emotional connection and relationship with the child and using the DIR Floortime framework. She is passionate to share this with as many families as possible. She works through building a strong relationship with the child and family, carefully considering the unique individual makeup of the child and specifically adapting her interventions to the child. Vicky has a special interest in working with children under 5 years of age, specifically those with relational and language difficulties. She trained in Sensory Integration while working both in Kerry Wallace and Candace Brown’s practices, Vicky loves family time, traveling and the great outdoors!
Danielle Keating
Occupational Therapist
Dani completed her studies with a BSc Occupational Therapy at the University of the Witwatersrand in 2016. She then went on to do her community service year in KwaZulu Natal in 2017 where she gained experience treating children in the hospital. She has been working in private practice since 2018 and has experience working with children of all ages and various needs. She has a particular interest in treating children with special needs and completed her MAES (Movement Analysis Education Strategies) training in 2018. Dani also has a special interest in Sensory Integration and is in the process of completing her training. She is a fun-loving, passionate therapist who focuses on providing effective and compassionate therapy to each child and family she has the opportunity to work with.
Catherine McGown
Speech and Language Therapist
Catherine completed her Bachelor in Speech Therapy and Audiology at the University of Stellenbosch. After qualifying, she spent a year working at The Hope School for Physically Disabled Children where she met Taryn. She thereafter moved over to London and worked for 10 years in both the Pre-School Clinic and Mainstream School settings. Over the years she has developed a special interest in stuttering and has worked with children of all ages. She received this specialist training at the Michael Palin Centre (MPC) for Children for Stammering Children. She also completed the Lidcombe Program, which is an Australian based stuttering intervention. She also gained experience in the early intervention sector after completing the Hanen Program, which is aimed at parents with children with language delays. After returning to South Africa she set up her own Pre-School based practice. She also worked at The Talk Shop in a private capacity where she developed experience with Verbal Dyspraxia and more recently Dyslexia. She enjoys trail running and mountain biking. She loves nothing more than spending time with her family and taking their dogs for a walk. Her other interests include reading and cooking up a storm.
Aamina Hoosain
Occupational Therapist
I am a fun-loving Occupational Therapist with intense passion for Paediatrics and Community-Based Rehabilitation. I am enthusiastic about empowering families and communities. Since graduating from the University of Kwa Zulu Natal in 2017, I completed my Community Service at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital and thereafter began working within the Ekhuruleni District, Gauteng, for the Department of Basic Education. Later in 2019, I joined the Talk Sense Team.
Between the two workplaces, I provide Occupational Therapy services for learners between the ages 4-21 – alternating between Early Intervention and Prevocational Rehabilitation.
My career highlights and skills include:
- Currently completing my Sensory Integration Training through the South African Institute for Sensory Integration.
- Began my DIR – Floor time training in July 2021.
- AAC trained therapist (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) – Level 1.
- Registered SGDA (Sandra Griffin Dyslexia Academy) Diagnostician qualified to conduct SGDA Dyslexia Assessment.
- Leading the Prevocational Rehabilitation Process for learners with Severe Intellectual Disability at Isipho Sethu LSEN School – partnered with various work placements for learners to gain practical work skills in attempts to assist learners with Intellectual Disabilities to find suitable work upon exiting school. I want to bridge the gap between disability and employment.
- Trained Facilitator in Media Works Accelerated Learning Programmes for capable learners to exit LSEN School with NQF Level.
- How2Study – Study Skills Coach.
Dominique Freeborough
Speech and Language Therapist
Dominique Freeborough qualified as a Speech-Language Therapist and Audiologist from the University of the Witwatersrand. Whilst studying, she developed a keen interest in rural rehabilitation, where she continued to do her community service at Mapulaneng Hospital in Bushbuckridge. Since then, Dominique has developed an interest in early intervention and childhood language development, especially between the ages of 3 and 10 years. Dominique promotes a holistic approach to therapy that includes parents, teachers, and therapists in order to provide optimal care for a child.
Wendy Antoine
Educational Psychologist
Wendy is a seasoned Psychologist who has over 20 years of experience. Her practice caters for children and adolescents with emotional, behavioural and learning difficulties, and includes parental counselling and multi-disciplinary networking.Services
- Psycho-educational assessments, including cognitive tests of information processing and examination accommodations
- Play therapy, to help children deal with their thoughts and feelings
- Group therapy for children, to facilitate acquisition of interpersonal skills using an action-orientated approach
- Parent-infant therapy with mother, father and their under-five year old, to assist in their ‘getting-together’ as a family unit
Before Wendy trained as a Psychologist, She was a volunteer counsellor with Anglicare, and an honorary Psychometrist at the Paediatric Psychiatry Unit, Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital. She completed her postgraduate study in psychology at the University of the Witwatersrand (1987 – 1990), and served 18 months internship at a remedial school in Johannesburg. She continued to work at the remedial school for a further four-and-a-half years before going into private practice.
Primary training was with children and adolescents with learning challenges and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and a particular interest continues to be the early identification and intervention of children with learning difficulties. Over the years other areas of specialisation have developed, for example, play therapy for children using a psycho-dynamic approach, and group therapy with children and adolescents. Wendy is particularly interested in early identification and intervention of children with learning, emotional and behavioural difficulties. In this regard she welcomes the opportunity to present talks at schools and associations.
Other Services
Wendy is particularly interested in early identification and intervention of children with learning, emotional and behavioural difficulties. In this regard she welcomes the opportunity to present talks at schools and associations.
Shirley Streak
Virtual Administrator
Shirley has been an integral part of the Talk Sense team since 2014 and experienced many changes as Talk Sense has grown and progressed over the years. Shirley has a love for children and has always been involved with the well-being of children’s development. She has worked at Epworth Children’s Village and has been part of many corporate companies. At Talk Sense, she is responsible for all the administrative functions as well as all client interaction and bookings. Shirley has been a pillar of support to all our parents and children as they progress and develop with their therapy. The children adore Shirley and her open vibrant and loving personality.
Cathy Shields
Speech. Language and Remedial Therapist
Cathy completed her B.A. In Speech & Hearing Therapy at the University of the Witwatersrand. She lectured and tutored in the Speech Therapy Department prior to working for several years at Forest Town School for Cerebral Palsied Children and St Vincent’s School for the Deaf. She soon realized the impact of poor Auditory Processing Skills on Literacy and completed her Diploma in Remedial Education at the University of the Witwatersrand.
She started a private practice at Redhill School which she ran for 26 years and has a special interest in school age children with Speech, Language and Learning challenges.
Cathy recently completed her TEFL course (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) and has extensive experience in online therapy, including local and foreign students overseas.
Cathy is a dynamic Speech, Language & Remedial Therapist with 40 years of experience and a solid reputation for
organization, compassion and attention to detail. She is always enthusiastic to take on new cases and support
speech and communication goals through creative and effective treatment planning. She is a highly personable and
productive clinical professional with strong ethical values and ability to work effectively in a team.
Julie McCarthy
Certified Life Coach and Nia Teacher
Julie launched the Magic Blox 4 Life course in January 2013, following successful pilot programmes since 2010. She has a background in business and spent 15 years building a successful career in the corporate marketing sector. Although she was successful in what she was doing, it felt more like a means to end than making a meaningful difference to herself or the world. She loves being creative, is naturally good at helping others work towards solving their own problems and naturally enjoy teaching – and learning from – children. When she put all these things together her ideal career was created – life coaching for kids. The seed for Magic Blox 4 Life had been planted, so she took the first big step by changing her job to be more aligned to her end-goal and completed a Diversity Training course. Once certified, she worked for the Diversity Institute facilitating workshops with adults in corporate companies, teaching them how to embrace and accept diversity in their lives and careers. In the background she completed a teacher training Life skills for Kids program to combine with her ‘day job’ experience into creating a Life Skills course for kids.
Since launching in January 2013, it has been an incredible journey for Julie and Magic Blox 4 Life and she has continued to learn with each course.
Julie describes her life today as being awesome! She has a wonderful husband and three amazing children who have grown up to be happy, confident, caring human beings. Her eldest daughter is a teacher and assists her with the Magic Blox 4 Life workshops. Her other daughter is at university studying to be an Occupational Therapist and her son is in high school. She believe that the skills she has learned over the years in her various training programmes, being a mother and now running Magic Blox 4 Life courses, continually helps her to create a healthy, happy life for herself and her family.