Dr Charmaine Bernie

Research interests

I am a senior paediatric occupational therapist, lecturer and researcher with over two decades of early years’ experience

across community, tertiary hospital and university settings. I completed my PhD on supporting pathways to autism

diagnosis with the University of Melbourne in 2022, adopting an occupation-focused coaching approach with families

waiting for services, Occupational Performance Coaching, which Charmaine now trains others to incorporate into clinical

practice. Undergraduate and postgraduate training is a passionate area for Charmaine, who also delivers courses in autism

pathways and Cognitive Orientation to daily Occupational Performance (CO-OP). Her special interests include identifying

strengths and barriers to supporting function and participation for children with Developmental Coordination Disorder,

Autism Spectrum Disorder, and other developmental disabilities, while ensuring families are accessing the right support at

the right time. Charmaine has undertaken specialist training in conducting clinical trials, managing research data and

biostatistics programmes. She is a mixed-methods researcher with expertise in survey development and analysis, as well as

clinical trial methodologies including feasibility studies.