Occupational Therapist
Shannan McDowall
I love that I can make a difference in a child's life and I get to empower children to achieve what is important to them.
Some Fun Facts About Shannan
What did you love to do as a kid? I loved reading as a child, Harry Potter was my favourite book.
What did you want to be when you were growing up? I wanted to be an air hostess and travel around the world.
What is your favourite food? Pizza! My go-to favourite meal.
Where is your favourite holiday destination? I’ve been to Japan 5 times! I love visiting the snow and snowboarding.
Where in the world would you like to go where you haven’t been before? I want to go to the Amazon rainforest to see all the exotic animals.
Tell us an interesting fact about you. I grew up on a farm. We had lots of cows, chickens, cats, dogs, ducks, horses and 1 goat.
What is your life motto? “The willingness to show up changes us. It makes us a little braver each time.” – Brene Brown
Shannan is passionate about giving children the best opportunity to do what they want to do and to live their lives to the fullest. She aims to bring a fun, supportive and goal-directed approach to therapy, where children are excited and motivated to work on their OT goals.
Shannan is enthusiastic about early childhood intervention, early skill development and preparing children for prep. She has worked with a wide range of children, adolescents and teens to achieve their occupational therapy goals.
Shannan graduated from The University of Queensland with a Master’s degree in Occupational Therapy and holds an undergraduate degree in Biomedicine and Exercise Science. She has completed training courses in the following areas of occupational therapy:
- Developing pretend play skills in children (Siobjan Casey, 2024)
- Occupational performance coaching (Fiona Graham, 2025)
- Social Attention and Communication Surveilance SACS-R trained (Josephine Barbaro, 2025)
Shannan is a member of OT Australia and works from our Cleveland clinic.