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Gia graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Applied Sciences (Speech Pathology) with Honours. Gia has worked across private practice, NDIS providers, and not-for-profit organisations. She is a neurodiversity affirming speech therapist and has an interest area in trauma-informed care, AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication), and the intersection of mental health and communication. Gia is passionate about helping children and young people reach their functional communication goals and working with their communication partners including family, peers, and teachers.

Outside of work, Gia enjoys reading, running her book club, swimming, and watching ballet, theatre, and the orchestra.

Mikayla graduated from Australian Catholic University with a Bachelor of Speech Pathology. She is experienced in providing community and clinic supports for a range of practice areas including speech, language, literacy, and Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC).
Mikayla is passionate about early intervention and supporting families, teachers, and educators to build confidence in supporting children’s communication while helping children develop their skills in everyday environments.

Outside of work she enjoys spending time with family and friends, taking coastal walks, and exploring new restaurants.

Melissa graduated from the University of Sydney with a Master’s in Speech and Language Pathology.
She has 9 years’ experience working with children, young people, adults, and their families. She is passionate about working in collaboration with parents and carers to build their confidence, and making a lasting improvement in the quality of life of children, young adults and their families.
Melissa has done training in Foundation Coach Approach, the Keyworker Approach and Hanen More than Words.

Outside of work she enjoys road trips, special events, make-up and hair, going to the beach and playing boardgames.

Constance graduated from Australian Catholic University with a Bachelor of Speech Pathology.
She has over five years’ experience working with children and young people and their families. She is passionate about working with young children and adults to achieve their goals with the support of their family. Constance has completed training in Hanen More Than Words, Foundation Coach Approach and the Keyworker Approach.

Outside of work she enjoys spending time with family and going for walks along the ocean.

William has been at Lifestart for over seven years and graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Applied Science Speech Pathology (Honours). He is passionate about supporting teenagers and young adults to work on the goals they would like to achieve for themselves.

Outside of work, he loves fishing and camping, as well as spending time with his beautiful family.

Yusra graduated from the University of Technology Sydney with a Master of Speech Language Pathology and completed training in the Foundation Coach Approach and the Keyworker Approach. She is passionate about working with parents and carers to build their confidence in supporting their child.
She is experienced in providing community and clinic-based supports to children with communication difficulties, including speech, language development, feeding difficulties, stuttering, literacy, functional, and multi-modal communication.

Outside of work, she enjoys reading, spending time with her cat, and family outings outside of work.

Sarah graduated with a Masters in Speech and Language Pathology and has been a practicing Speech Pathologist for 17 years. She is passionate about person-centred and client-led practice and says her vavourite part of the job is advocating for the rights of children and families to get the support they require.

Outside of work, she loves spending time with her family and young daughter.

Rebecca has a Master of Speech Language Pathology (Honours) from the University of Sydney and has completed training in Completed training in the ‘It Takes Two to Talk’ program, Key Word Sign, and Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC).
She has over a decade of experience working with children, young people and their families. She is passionate about valuing and supporting all ways of communicating and giving parents/carers the tools to support their child at home and in the community.

Outside of work, she enjoys swimming, coffee, and spending time with family and friends.

Tivonee has a Bachelor’s degree in Speech Language Pathology from the University of Sydney.  She is focused on creating individualised therapy plans tailored to each child and young person’s strengths, allowing them to achieve meaningful and functional goals.

Bec has a Master’s in Speech and Language Pathology from the University of Sydney and years of experience supporting children and families as a key worker and in the areas of speech, language, literacy, AAC and feeding.
She has also completed training in supporting young children with autism and social communication challenges (Hanen, More than Words), the neuro-affirming approach, foundation coach approach, childhood apraxia of speech (DTTC trained), literacy and the key worker approach.
She is passionate about ensuring therapy is engaging, collaborative, and maximises young people’s potential and participation.

Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with friends and family, doing outdoor sports, reading, and going to the beach.

Tamara graduated from Macquarie University with a Master of Speech and Language Pathology and has completed training in Foundation Coach Approach, the Keyworker Approach, the More Than Words program and a range of AAC and Feeding approaches.  She has over 10 years of experience working with children and young people and their families and is passionate about supporting them to recognise and achieve their full potential.

Outside of work, she enjoys travelling and playing and listening to music.

Analise graduated from Macquarie University with a Master in Speech Language Pathology and has completed training including LAMP WFL, Foundation Coach Approach, PODD and Emerging Leaders. She has over a decade of experience working with children and young people and their families.
She is passionate about giving people with disability a voice to be heard and enabling them to access their true potential through Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC). She advocates for people with a disability to participate within their local community and be included at school.

In her spare time, she is a singer-songwriter and dog lover!

Nikki has a Masters degree in Speech Language Pathology from the University of Sydney and is experienced in providing community and clinic-based supports to children with communication difficulties in areas such as speech, language development, literacy,  functional and multi-modal communication.
She is passionate about advocating for every child’s right to communicate in any way they can and focuses on working with families to make therapy as functional, strength-based, and fun as possible.
Her professional interest is in Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC), early language, and neurodiverse affirming approaches to social communication.

Outside of work, Nikki enjoys spending time with family, swimming in the ocean, singing in a band and coffee with friends.

Liz has a Master of Speech Language Pathology from the University of Sydney and has training in the Foundation Coach Approach, Keyworker Approach and the More Than Words program.
She has extensive experience providing support to families and working with children and young people with disability, and is passionate about supporting clients to be able to communicate meaningfully, and empowering families to have the skill, knowledge, and confidence to advocate and support their child.
Her professional specialisations include Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC), providing and meeting sensory needs first in sessions to support language development and using a strengths-based approach when working with young people.
Outside of work, she enjoys reading with a strong cup of tea, lounging with her cats, and eating good food!

Priya has a Master's degree in Speech Language Pathology from Macquarie University. She has experience in providing clinic and community-based supports to children and young people in the areas of speech and language development, literacy, feeding and multi-modal communication.
She is passionate about using the family-centred approach to build the capacity of the carers so that they can support their child in everyday environments to reach their maximum potential.  She values working in a team around a child to ensure consistency of approach that in turn promotes their learning and helps them progress towards their goals.
Priya also specialises in early language, Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC), and neurodiversity affirming approaches to therapy. She has completed training in the It Takes Two to Talk and Tech Talkers programs.

Outside of work, she enjoys hiking, singing, cooking and spending time with her family.

Jacqueline graduated from University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Applied Science in Speech Pathology. She is trained in the It Takes Two to Talk program, the More Than Words program, the Foundation Coach Approach and the Keyworker Approach.
She has been working at Lifestart for more than 20 years and is passionate about supporting families in the early years to connect with their local communities and build their support networks.

Outside of work, she enjoys cooking, walking with family and friends in the National Parks around Sydney, and beach holidays.

Danielle graduated from University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Applied Science in Speech Pathology and also has completed training in the More Than Words program and It Takes Two to Talk program.
She has over a decade experience supporting children, young people and their families and is passionate about supporting them holistically through the key worker model.

Outside of work, she enjoys cooking and going on adventures with family.

Katie graduated from the University of Queensland with a Bachelor of Speech Pathology, as well as completing training in Hanen It Takes Two to Talk, Foundation Coach Approach, Key Worker, Tech Talkers, paediatric feeding disorders and augmented communications.  She has 12 years of professional experience working in early intervention with children and young people and their families, as well as training child care staff in inclusion of children with disabilities.
She is passionate about parent coaching, supporting children with mealtimes, and AAC.

Outside of work, she enjoys gardening, sitting in the sunshine and spending time with her family.