Our Consultants

Karen Blackall

Education Consultant

PGDip Ed Learning &Behaviour, BA, Dip Tchg Hearing Impairment, Dip Tchg

Karen is available to help parents navigate the education system, advocate for children and provide support and guidance for teachers.

She works with students, parents and teachers to collaboratively devise interventions to meet students’ individual needs. This includes approaches such as adapting the programme, scaffolding learning, executive functioning coaching and using Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles to promote inclusion. 

Karen has 30+ years’ experience working across the primary, intermediate, secondary and tertiary education sectors. She has held a range of specialised teaching positions and worked in senior management positions in schools. Her past posts include Deputy Principal; Head of Department; Senior Teacher; and RTLB Practice Leader.

Amy Usherwood

Speech and Drama Consultant

Amy is a speech and drama teacher, actor and psychotherapy student. At Kidz Therapy, Amy facilitates our Social Squad course, helping children develop their social skills and confidence in a safe, empowering environment.

She graduated with a BA in acting from NIDA, Sydney in 2007 and has performed professionally on stage and screen since then.

Amy’s past experience includes working as a Captain Starlight, to facilitate play with patients and their siblings at Sydney Children’s Hospital. She has 15 years’ experience teaching speech and drama to children and adults in Australia and New Zealand.  Amy currently works with Head Held High to teach speech and drama in various schools.

Her acting credits include Shortland Street, Hillary, The Brokenwood Mysteries, Pop-up Globe and Auckland Theatre Company.

In 2022, Amy completed her post-graduate diploma in Psychotherapy at AUT and is currently studying for her Master of Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy.

Tracey Rountree

ADHD Consultant

Tracey is our resident ADHD expert and one of the most informed minds on the topic. Through her lived experience of ADHD, Tracey can bring that all important personal perspective of both raising ADHD children and being diagnosed with ADHD as an adult.

As a Board Member of ADHD New Zealand, she works closely with organisations, schools and agencies to deliver up to date, evidence-based information and strategies for people affected by ADHD. She also runs ADHD New Zealand’s Parent and Adult community groups on Facebook.

Tracey has been presenting the programme Everyday with ADHD for over 8 years and facilitating parent courses and professional workshops throughout Auckland. 

​She is also a partner of Safe for Children, OSCAR and SKIDS, providing online training for staff of Out of School Care Organisations and Schools around New Zealand. 

​Tracey has completed her Bachelor of Applied Science (Psychology) following the completion of a Diploma of Psychology through the Open Polytechnic of New Zealand . She has also recently completed a Mental Health First Aid Course through St Johns.

Carla Robinson

ASD Consultant

​Carla is one of our autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experts. 

Her extensive experience includes:

• Advocating at the high school and university level, and the adult employment world
• Working with the neurodivergent community, school teachers and school support staff and government wrap around services.
• Working in the Māori and Pacific Island communities and with many whanau-based communities. Carla is able to adapt her use of resources and approaches to best fit the needs of the person/family/group.
• Facilitating numerous adult and youth social groups in the greater Auckland area

​Carla is also a presenter and has been sought out to deliver talks on neurodiversity to companies, businesses and schools. 

​Currently Carla is working towards her NZ Hypnotherapy Certificate and NLP (Neuro-linguistic programming) diploma and hopes to utilise this skill to further support our ASD community. 

​Carla likes to bring a practical and humorous approach to her clients from a personal and professional experience.