8944 182 Street NorthWest, Edmonton, Alberta T5T 2E3, Canada
PHONE: (780) 890-0393
PHONE: (780) 890-0393
Bridging Barriers | Guest: Rubina Dhanji, Occupational Therapist
If you've ever stood in the middle of a meltdown wondering "why is this happening, and what am I supposed to do?" — this conversation is for you.
Host Susan Jansen sits down with Rubina Dhanji, an Occupational Therapist with 20 years of experience across rural and urban Alberta — in community, acute care, outpatient, and school settings — for a warm, practical conversation about what children's behaviour is actually telling us.
Rubina's central idea: behaviour is the tip of an iceberg. The tantrum, the refusal, the thrown backpack — that's what we see. Underneath sits the real driver: sensory overload, an unmet need, a lagging skill, or a nervous system locked in fight, flight, or freeze. Borrowing from Dr. Ross Greene — "kids do well if they can, not if they want to, if they can" — she invites parents to trade frustration for curiosity.
From there the conversation gets refreshingly concrete: why a child's brain goes "offline" mid-meltdown (and why that's the worst possible moment to teach a lesson), how your own calm becomes the tool that regulates your child through co-regulation, and what genuinely helps in the moment — sometimes simply letting the meltdown run its course, sometimes deep pressure, a weighted blanket, or a quieter space.
Rubina also walks through how to tell sensory needs apart from behaviour by tracking what happens immediately before and after, clears up what negative reinforcement actually means (it isn't punishment), and shares a real story from her practice about a boy who threw his backpack across the room — and the calm, respectful way she turned it into a teaching moment.
Mealtime struggles get their own segment, including her Food Explorer Wheel and the fascinating physiological reason a stressed child simply can't eat well: fight-or-flight shuts down saliva and digestion.
The episode closes where it matters most — with parents. Rubina makes the case that filling your own cup isn't a luxury, teaches a simple 4-in / 6-out breathing technique, and shares how she used it to bring her own heart rate from 110 down to 60 bpm.
Her final word: "Parents have it really hard, and I just want them to know that they're not alone."
When the Recommendations Don't Work at Home
You leave the doctor's office, the OT, or the physical therapist with a list of recommendations… you try them at home, and they just don't work. Sound familiar?
In this episode, host Susan Janzen welcomes back Rubina Dhanji, registered occupational therapist and Co-founder of Abilities Occupational Therapy, to talk about the very real gap between professional recommendations and everyday life at home — especially for busy parents and caregivers supporting someone with adaptive needs.
💙 Serving individuals of all ages and stages of life (17 to 87 and beyond!), Rubina shares why a "cookie-cutter" approach doesn't work, and offers practical, doable strategies families can actually use in real life. In this episode, we talk about:
✅ Why recommendations often fall apart at home — and how to fix that
✅ Why therapy must consider environment, family dynamics & follow-through
✅ Navigating the overwhelm (and grief) of a new — or multiple — diagnoses
✅ Simple at-home ideas: sensory spaces & "heavy work" for regulation
✅ How connecting with an OT/PT/SLP helps you decode recommendations
✅ A real success story integrating ASD, ADHD & sensory therapy
✅ The Wilbarger Brushing Protocol — what it is and how it helps focus
💬 The message that matters most: You are not alone — and there's no shame in picking up the phone to ask, "What am I actually supposed to be doing?"
Feeling Lost After Diagnosis
What do you do after you receive a diagnosis for your child — when you feel overwhelmed, unsure, and like you're piecing it all together on your own?
In this first episode of Bridging Barriers, host Susan Janzen sits down with Rubina Dhanji, registered Occupational Therapist and Co-founder of Abilities Occupational Therapy, for an honest conversation about what families really experience after a diagnosis — and the practical first steps that can help.
With 20+ years of experience across rural and urban Alberta, Rubina supports individuals of all ages and stages of life — from paediatric and sensory-based therapy to feeding support, driving assessments, life care planning, vehicle modifications, and adaptive equipment.
💙 In this episode, we talk about:
✅ Why so many families feel lost and frustrated after a diagnosis
✅ How the referral pathway works
✅ How OT looks beyond the diagnosis to a child's everyday functioning
✅ The most common diagnoses Rubina sees — ASD, ADHD & sensory regulation
✅ Practical first steps and a mindset shift for overwhelmed parents
✅ Public vs. private resources, wait times, and why options matter
✅ Real-life adaptive tips & equipment that make daily tasks easier
💬 The biggest takeaway? You are not alone — and there's a whole community of parents, caregivers, and professionals who understand your journey.
A quick rundown of the driving evaluation process and what to expect.
Our Co-Founder, Rubina Dhanji, was a guest at the True North Success Podcast hosted by Gary Mah and Amy Kim.
Amy talks with Rubina, an OT with 19 years of experience. She shares how she helps people gain back independence through driving assessments, feeding therapy, and ADHD coaching.
Rubina also talks about her own ADHD journey and why mindset and strategies matter before medication. This is a powerful and honest conversation about growth, resilience, and helping people live better lives.
Take a look at our vehicle Modifications for Assessments. Left Sided Gas pedals and Hand Controls
Building on lesson 1- we now tackle letters that make more than one sound- A-E-I-O-U and sometimes Y. Look out for lesson 3 which will explore Y a bit more as well as other letter patterns and sounds associated with those. These videos will help you to start seeing patterns with letter combinations and how positioning of letters in words makes them sound differently. We're going to unpack all of this and more in future videos so start building your reading rules book!
This video is for parents or care givers who are looking for new ideas and some general strategies to help their child or children decode written language. This is not meant to replace formal programming provided for children following standardized assessment by an Occupational Therapist and/or Speech Language Pathologist. If you are concerned that your child may have a learning disorder please consult with your child's Paediatrician and/or an Educational Psychologist, as a first step. A multidisciplinary approach to developing reading, writing, and learning skills is best practice.
A candid video with horrible editing, on vehicle modifications and driving assessments for independence with...You got it- Driving! One of our many occupations that this therapist can help you navigate. I've easily conducted over 100 driving assessments and have assessed people with cognitive impairment, and neurological and/or physical injuries or illnesses, on a rare occasion I have gotten cases where people have lost part of their visual field BUT were still safe to drive. This is just one of many video series on driving modifications and evaluations where I share my knowledge and experience. And because I love learning and sharing learning- you're going to learn a thing or two..too!
If you suffer from chronic pain then this video is for you. I get some face time with Ms. Lea Vespa who works with the Pain Society of Alberta (PSA). One of Lea's roles is to design the PSA website so it reflects the purpose and values of this distinguished organization. The goal this year is to make their website more user friendly so people like you who live with chronic pain can easily access everything the PSA has to offer.
If you live with chronic pain, you're not alone. Abilities Occupational Therapy wants to hear your pain story and share your experience, strength, and hope with others. Connect with us on https://www.myabilities.ca.
An introduction to occupational therapy, answering the commonly asked question of: What is an Occupational Therapist? Presented by Occupational Therapist and co-owner of Abilities Occupational Therapy. The first of many videos to come, that will answer some of the frequently asked questions, on a variety of topics.
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