Dr Mellissa Prunty
Honorary Reader
Mary Seacole 301
- Email: mellissa.prunty@brunel.ac.uk
- Tel: +44 (0)1895 268843
Summary
Mellissa was the Divisional Lead for Occupational Therapy at Brunel University London until November 2024. 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 childrens' services and specialises in working with children with coordination difficulties. She founded the Kidspace children's occupational therapy research clinic 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. Separate to this Mellissa co-led the development of wheelchair basketball and disability sport on campus. She has organised a series of inter-professional training days for health care students and has incorporated wheelchair basketball into the occupational therapy curriculum. The wheelchair basketball project has now expanded into the local community and a new club for children and adults is now underway (Brunel Bulls).
Mellissa joined Brunel University London as a Lecturer in October 2013 and left her position in November 2024. She remains in an Honorary Reader position with a focus on research and scholarship projects.
http://www.brunel.ac.uk/occupational-therapy/research/kidspace
http://www.brunel.ac.uk/life/sport/community-activities/Wheelchair-Basketball
Responsibility
Divisional Lead and Reader in Occupational Therapy 2022-2024
Senior Lecturer in Occupational Therapy 2018-2022
Lecturer in Occupational Therapy 2014-2018
Former Programme Director for the ACOTE accredited MSc Occupational Therapy Programme (2020-2022)
Former Programme Lead for the BSc Occupational Therapy Programme (2022-2024)
Newest selected publications
Steenbergen, B., Valtr, L., Dunford, C., Prunty, M., Bekhuis, H., Temlali, TY., et al. (2024) 'Awareness about developmental coordination disorder'. Frontiers in Public Health, 12. pp. 1 - 7. ISSN: 2296-2565 Open Access Link
Sumner, E., Nightingale, R., Gurney, K., Prunty, M. and Barnett, AL. (2023) 'Doing the ‘write’ thing: handwriting and typing support in secondary schools in England'. Literacy, 58 (1). pp. 25 - 36. ISSN: 0034-0472 Open Access Link
Nightingale, R., Barnett, A., Sumner, E. and Prunty, M. (2022) 'Handwriting or typing: occupational therapists' experiences of supporting young people with handwriting difficulties'.Royal College of Occupational Thera[pists Annual Conference (RCOT 2022). Virtual. 1 - 15 June. British Journal of Occupational Therapy. pp. 20 - 21. ISSN: 0308-0226
Nightingale, R., Sumner, E., Prunty, M. and Barnett, AL. (2022) 'Handwriting and typing: Occupational therapy practice when supporting adolescents with handwriting difficulties'. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 85 (11). pp. 891 - 899. ISSN: 0308-0226 Open Access Link
Barnett, A., Gurney, K., Nightingale, R. and Sumner, E. (2022) 'HANDWRITING AND TYPING SUPPORT IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN ENGLAND'.International Developmental Coordination Disorder -14 conference. Vancouver, Canada. [unpublished]