Dr. Esther Zachariah is a Pediatric Occupational Therapist in Dubai who was trained at Christian Medical College, Vellore. She went on to receive her Doctoral degree in Occupational Therapy from Boston University (USA).

She has nearly a decade of experience in supporting children and families with special needs. During her initial years as an OT, she worked in a hospital in India as part of her community service. She was head of the early intervention group and set up the Autism clinic at the centre there. When she moved to Dubai, she started working with Neuropedia, where she was instrumental in setting up the occupational therapy department and currently supports the team as the Clinical Team Lead.

She is a certified Sensory Integration® therapist (SI-cert.) and has had training in working with children using DIR-Floortime® principles. She is also certified in Astronaut Training protocol®, which helps children with vestibular, visual and auditory dysfunctions and its related issues. She is involved in research in various fields within occupational therapy and has received accolades for the same. She believes in using evidence-based practices for each child that she works with. She believes in working with a multi-disciplinary team as it has proved to be the best approach for child care. She is proficient in managing children with fine motor issues, handwriting difficulties, difficulties in using cutlery, independence in everyday tasks, sensory processing issues, attention difficulties, difficulties in social play, etc.

She is an advocate for equipping and educating parents and nannies to continue interventions at home for the longevity of the effects of formal therapy sessions. She has founded a social media page (Therapy with Esther, @otequalsplay) to educate and a toy company (The Toy Pharmacy®) to support families with good resources for the continuation of care at home and during travel.

She is a member of the American Occupational Therapy Association.