Mellissa Prunty

Mellissa is the Divisional Lead for Occupational Therapy at Brunel University London. She is a children's Occupational Therapist by background. She qualified from the MSc (pre-reg) programme at Glasgow Caledonian University in 2010. She previously completed a BSc (Hons) in Kinesiology at Memorial University of Newfoundland in Canada, while on athletic scholarship for women’s basketball. She completed her PhD on handwriting difficulties in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), which she undertook at Oxford Brookes University under the supervision of Prof. Anna Barnett, Dr. Mandy Plumb and Dr. Kate Wilmut. Mellissa has worked in a variety of children's' services and specialises in working with children with coordination difficulties. She founded the children's occupational therapy research clinic (Kidspace) at the university which investigates key skills and participation in childhood including handwriting, activities of daily living and cycling. The clinic currently offers placements to occupational therapy students at the university.

Membership and affiliation
Mellissa is a Professional Member of the British Association of Occupational Therapists (BAOT) and the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). She is Chair of the National Handwriting Association (NHA) . She has developed a West London Handwriting Interest Group, which brings together local parents, teachers and therapists to discuss issues concerning the teaching and learning of handwriting in children.