Emily Echo

I have always told stories. I started out telling my little brothers stories when we were all children, and I’ve never stopped. Stories come to me all the time. When I’m on a train, when I’m on a plane, during a long car ride or soaking in the bath. My daydreams turn into fun little tales.

​

The one thing I couldn’t do, which frustrated me, was draw my stories. Now thanks to the internet I can find talented artists who help bring my stories to life.

​

I can’t tell you how happy that has made me. I am now having a ball coming up with stories, getting them illustrated and sharing them.

There’s no reason you can’t do the same. If you love telling stories, write them down, show them to your friends and get them published! In the meantime, I hope you enjoy Tom and the Dragon, my first children’s picture book.

My Co-author for the book Noah and the Baby Who Won't Stop Crying is Maxine Haller OTR/L.

Maxine and I became friends in high school in South Africa. Our friendship endured despite, me moving to Europe (Lisbon, London and back to Lisbon) and Maxine moving to America (Ohio and now Fort Collins, Colorado). We have always kept in touch and visited each other when we could.

Maxine is a hugely creative and innovative OT who has developed the Haller Method to help her own children and now children around the world overcome problems like ADHD, ADD, autism and general quirkiness. I was amazed at the results Maxine gets when helping quirky kids. It turns out that targeted physical exercise can help brains build connections. Something that may look like a mental or emotional problem for a child can often be fixed through physical actions. Body mapping, which is demonstrated in the book, is a helpful first step that any parent can do.

Maxine and I realised that there was an opportunity to work together to help struggling children and their parents. We could see that a children’s book would be an ideal way to get this simple support across. This first book is just the beginning. We will be collaborating on more books that use tried and tested occupational therapy techniques to solve problems that kids might encounter at home, school, and when socialising with peers.