Inclusive education

Supporting teachers in teaching and managing a neurodiverse class

Supporting neurodivergent initital teacher education students

Codesign of research, support programs and training about the needs of neurodivergent students

Collaborations between educators and allied health to support students

Dr Karen Oakley is a Clinical Neuropsychologist and Senior Lecturer in Educational Psychology within the Faculty of Education. Karen’s early career included 15 years in research which focussed predominantly on neurodevelopment including disorders of neurodevelopment, and paediatric rehabilitation and intervention. She then moved into the clinical workspace, engaging as a Psychologist within the ACT Education Directorate across mainstream and specialist schools as well as commencing work in private practice. During this time, she developed a keen interest in developing the understanding and capacity of people to work with students who have neurodevelopmental disorders, different cognitive profiles, been impacted by trauma, or difficult behaviours to enable the student to reach their potential. This led to her accepting the opportunity to work within the Faculty of Education in the teaching of pre-service and established teachers.

In addition to working with the University of Canberra, Karen continues to keep her clinical skills current through her private practice. This includes providing assessment, diagnoses and interventions for people with neurodevelopmental conditions and supervision to other psychologists.

Karen is an endorsed Clinical Neuropsychologist with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) and Board Approved Supervisor. She completed her PhD in Psychology with the University of Sydney in 2016, and (doing things backwards!), her Master of Clinical Neuropsychology with Macquarie University in 2018.