Rate My Professor Amy Hodges

Amy Hodges serves as an Adjunct Lecturer in the Curtin School of Allied Health, Faculty of Health Sciences at Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia. A registered paediatric occupational therapist, she possesses over a decade of clinical and research experience in Australia and Canada, focusing on supporting neurodivergent children aged 0–18 with emphasis on school participation and inclusion. Hodges completed her Doctor of Philosophy in Occupational Therapy at Curtin University, with her thesis entitled "The Development and Evaluation of the Feasibility, Appropriateness, and Preliminary Effectiveness of a School-Based Intervention to Improve the School Participation and Connectedness of Primary School Students on the Autism Spectrum and Their Peers." Her career includes clinical practice as a paediatric occupational therapist and founding Nurtured Minds OT, a private practice dedicated to neurodivergent students.

Hodges' research specializations include school participation and connectedness for neurodiverse children, particularly students on the autism spectrum in mainstream school settings, inclusive education, psychometric evaluation of school connectedness measures, and Delphi-based development of interventions. She developed "In My Shoes," a teacher-led school program to enhance belonging for autistic students. Her key peer-reviewed publications encompass "Evaluating the psychometric quality of school connectedness measures: A systematic review" (PLOS ONE, 2018, co-authors: Reinie Cordier, Annette Joosten, Helen Bourke-Taylor, Renée Speyer); "School participation: The shared perspectives of parents and educators of primary school students on the autism spectrum" (2019); "Expert Consensus on the Development of a School-Based Intervention to Improve the School Participation and Connectedness of Elementary Students on the Autism Spectrum: A Delphi Study" (2021, co-authors: Reinie Cordier, Annette Joosten, Helen Bourke-Taylor); "Closing the Gap Between Theory and Practice: Conceptualisation of a School-Based Intervention to Improve the School Participation of Primary School Students on the Autism Spectrum and Their Typically Developing Peers" (2022); "Evaluating the feasibility, fidelity, and preliminary effectiveness of a school-based intervention to improve the school participation and feelings of connectedness of elementary school students on the autism spectrum" (2022, co-authors: Reinie Cordier, Annette Joosten, Helen Bourke-Taylor, Yu-Wei Chen); and "Promoting Social-Inclusion: Adapting and Refining a School Participation and Connectedness Intervention for Neurodiverse Children in UK Primary Schools" (2024). These works have collectively received 154 citations, influencing occupational therapy and inclusive education practices. She continues teaching, research, and higher degree supervision at Curtin University.