Mr John Christie
Mr John Christie began teaching in 1965. He has been a teacher and principal in mainstream independent schools in three states and is has been Principal of Giant Steps Tasmania since 2000.
His first contact with autism came through directing two camps for autistic children at Chakola in Kangaroo Valley in the 1970s. Now he is wholeheartedly involved in the Autism community in Tasmania.
He was the instigator and coordinator of a Rotary project to provide a new school for Autism in the Philippines. The four-year project resulted in the building of a three classroom school looking after 40 children of families from the lower socio-economic group in the regional city of Calamba.
He is married with one son and one grand-daughter. He is looking forward to semi-retirement and more involvement in similar projects.
Ms Christine Kendall
Christine Kendall is one of the directors and principal speech pathologists of Spectrum Speech Pathology Services, a large Private Practice and Consultancy Service specializing in the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Christine has had extensive clinical experience of over 20 years in the area of complex communication needs, including working with children with Autism Spectrum Disorders, Motor Speech Disorders (including Dyspraxia) and Augmentative and Alternative Communication. Christine has been a Consultant Speech Pathologist to the Western Autistic School for the past eleven years and has worked in numerous Special Schools, Special Developmental Schools and Early Intervention Settings, as well as mainstream settings.
Christine is an experienced presenter of Professional Development courses and Training Workshops and has presented at numerous national and state conferences with her colleague and co- director, Gloria Staios. Christine and Gloria present the communication lectures to the Certificate and Diploma students at the Autism Teaching Institute, Melbourne. In collaboration with the Department of Education and Training Vic and the Western Autistic School they developed and delivered the Communication Project, ‘Complex Communication needs of students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (non technical)’, a state-wide training package.
Christine is currently a member of the Parenting Research Centre Early Days (National Workshop Program) Expert Panel and is on the
Speech Pathology Australia Advisory Group on Autism Spectrum Disorders. Christine is currently engaged as a Project Officer for Speech Pathology Australia in a multidisciplinary project for Health Professionals on Autism Spectrum Disorder for DoHA. She was also a member of the Steering Committee for the establishment of the Autism Teaching Institute.
Christine has a Master of Arts Degree in Applied Linguistics and a degree in Applied Science (Speech Pathology) and is a member of Speech Pathology Australia.
Dr Natalie Silove
Dr Silove is the Head of The Child Development Services at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead. This comprises three diagnostic and assessment teams in different geographical locations in western Sydney. She is Senior Staff Specialist and Consultant Paediatrician in the Child Development Unit at The Childrens Hospital at Westmead (CHW), which provides a state wide tertiary level of diagnosis and assessment for developmental disorders. Natalie is primarily a clinician directly involved with individuals and families affected by developmental disorders. Her clinical practice is guided by the current evidence and best practice.
Natalie was invited by Federal Parliament, on recommendation of the RACP, to be a member of the National Autism Advisory Group. In this capacity she advised on the role of the paediatrician as part of the “Helping Children with Autism Package” and worked closely with Medicare Australia and DoHA on the new medicare initiatives for Autism. Her clinical expertise in ASD has been recognized by the RACP when requested to co-ordinate and write an evidenced based consensus statement for the diagnosis and assessment of ASD, which is published on the RACP web. Natalie teaches extensively to pre and post graduates in medicine and psychiatry and has been an invited plenary speaker at a number of national and international conferences. Publications include peer reviewed journal articles, and book chapters. Cochrane publications include Auditory Integration Training in ASD and SSRI’s in ASD recently submitted. Natalie believes strongly in collaboration and consults for and liases with Government, on both a State and Federal level, DADHC, community and educational departments, all of whom play a vital role in the care of children with special needs. She is a strong protagonist for Early Intervention and evidence based practice.
Dr Michael Taylor
Dr Michael Taylor (MBBS Adel, Dip Child and Community Health, FRACGP) has more than twenty years working in rural General Practice. He is a full-time General Practitioner and co-owner of a small group medical practice in Mt Barker, South Australia, having worked previously in rural general practice in Pt Lincoln. He has been involved with Divisions of General Practice since 1995, and is currently the Medical Director of the Adelaide Hills Division of General Practice. He is also the Chair of Australian General Practice Network’s rural palliative care program. He was previously chair (for ten years) of Port Lincoln’s Child Development Unit and his local division’s Aged Care Panel.
Mr Anthony Warren
Anthony Warren is Director of Young Children and Families, Autism Spectrum Australia (Aspect). He is a Psychologist and Special Educator who has worked in various educational, developmental and clinical psychology roles in government and non-government agencies in Tasmania, New South Wales and briefly in the United Kingdom.
During 2004 the Autism Association's Division of Outreach and Consultancy provided BUILDING BLOCKS® early intervention programs to 227 children and their families in NSW and consultancy or education support to an additional 160 families.
The Division includes a School Outreach Service which supports school-aged children in mainstream educational settings, including diagnostic assessment. The Behaviour Intervention Service, in Western Sydney, assists families whose children present with challenging behaviour. "Someone to turn to…"™ is a service which links parents who provide invaluable support to one another.
Anthony is committed to developing collaborative, inclusive, evidence-based services for people with Autism Spectrum Disorder, with a particular focus on early intervention and support for families.
Other interests include group social competency programs, cognitive behavioural treatment for adolescents with anxiety, and the development of gold-standard diagnostic assessment services.
Dr Norman Swan (Chair)
Dr Norman Swan regularly presents Rural Health Education Foundation satellite broadcasts.
He is best-known for his wide broadcasting experience, including the award-winning Health Report, which he produces and presents for ABC Radio National - as well as his other ABC Radio and Television program hosting.
Dr Swan trained in Medicine in Scotland and in Paediatrics in London and Sydney. A broadcaster and journalist with the ABC's Science Unit since 1982, he has been Australian Producer of the Year and was awarded a Gold Citation in the United Nations Media Peace Prizes.
In 2004 Dr Swan was honoured by the Australian Academy of Science, which presented him with an Academy Medal, only the third time such an award has been made. The Academy gave it for his outstanding contributions to science in the public domain. Around the same time, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow made him a Fellow.
He has won an Australian Writers' Guild Award, three Walkley National Awards for Journalism and the Michael Daley Award for Science Journalism on two occasions.
In addition to his broadcasting, he edits his own newsletter, The Health Reader, published in association with Choice magazine, and has been the Australian correspondent for the Journal of the American Medical Association and the BMJ. He has also consulted to the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Geneva.
