Management Committee

Dr Julia Starling, President

Dr Julia Starling is a speech-language pathologist who has extensive clinical and research experience with populations of children, adolescents and young adults with language and literacy disorders. Julia has worked with community health multidisciplinary teams, with remote outreach organisations, with mental health services and as a university clinical educator and lecturer. Julia now lives and works just outside Sydney; she develops resources, regularly lectures and presents seminars and workshops, and continues an active involvement in research projects.

Annette Guterres OAM, Vice-President

Annette Guterres is a Special Education Learning Support Co-ordinator. She has been employed in the education field for over 35 years. Annette has a special interest in inclusive practice and effective vocabulary instruction. In 2009, she received an award for Outstanding Professional Service.

Elizabeth Burns, Treasurer

Elizabeth is the past President of the Tourette Syndrome Association of Australia Inc. She has been involved with parent support groups since 1994 and is the current Treasurer/Secretary of the LDC. Elizabeth is an Australian Citizen originally from Hawaii where she attended University of Hawaii majoring in Anthropology/Sociology. Elizabeth has lived in Australia since 1967 and is married with two children with learning difficulties. Elizabeth has previously owned a kindergarten and other businesses and is now semi self-employed along with her charity work.

Natalie Miller, Secretary

Natalie Miller is the Director of Learning Enrichment at St Catherine's Anglican Girls School in Waverley. Her current teaching position oversees academic support, English as Another Language and Gifted & Talented students from Kindergarten to Year 12. Natalie originally trained as a Visual Arts and History secondary school teacher, however, after working with students with emotional and behaviour disorders she retrained in special education. Natalie has completed both a Post-Graduate Degree in Special Education and a Masters in Special Education and worked in this field for 15 years. She has recently completed a post-graduate certificate in gifted education, which has enabled her to better support twice-exceptional students (those students diagnosed as Gifted and Learning Disabled).

Caroline Zambrano

I am a parent of a child with ADHD, language disorder and learning difficulties and have been on a journey of discovery with my husband to help make her life a little less challenging. I became a member of the LDC in 2010 and decided to join the management committee to help make a difference for other children and families who are on the same rollercoaster journey. I am a freelance pet journalist (specialising in the pet industry), in promoting the LDC and the work they do to support families and schools. Born and raised in Turkey by a multicultural (European) family, I went to the United States where I received my postgraduate degrees in Journalism/Communications and met my Australian husband. I followed him to Australia in 2001 and made this beautiful country my home.

Andrew Greenfield

Andrew Greenfield is the Principal Psychologist of "Psych Support Assessment Services" (PSAS), a private practice in the Eastern, Northern and Western suburbs of Sydney. He is a Consultant Child and Educational Psychologist with many preschools and schools across NSW. He is also the resident Psychologist for the Australian Multiple Births Magazine, writing from the perspective of a child psychologist, father of 2 (a girl and a boy) and an identical twin. Andrew works with children with Learning Difficulties, ADHD, Asperger's Disorder and Giftedness. He also has an interest in Behaviour Management and works closely with Paediatricians, Speech Therapists, Occupational Therapists and other allied health professionals. He has worked in the area of Learning Difficulties for about 17 years working at places such as the Sydney Developmental Clinic, The Child & Adolescent Psychological Centre, The Educational Psychology Department at Sydney University and Royal South Sydney Area Health Service. He is a member of the APS College of Educational and Developmental Psychologists and also has specialist endorsement by the Psychology Board of Australia as an Educational Psychologist.

Mary Kerba

Mary Kerba is a passionate and dedicated Special Education consultant and Director of "The Hills Learning Centre" in Castle Hill, working with children with learning difficulties/disabilities, aged 4-18 years. Mary has a Diploma in Teaching, a Post-Graduate Certificate in Learning Difficulties, Certificate in Counselling and Advanced Communication Skills, and a wealth of knowledge from her 32 years combined Special Needs teaching and school leadership experience. She has taught at infants, primary and TAFE levels, developed and implemented a school learning-support program, and has been the Head of Infants and the Head of Junior School at an independent girls' school in Sydney's north-west. Mary is committed to supporting and changing the lives of students with learning difficulties, and their families, during their school journey.

Paul Briggs

My early life was typical of that experienced by most kids with ADHD and Aspergers. School was a life sentence! Leaving school behind, I found solace of kindred spirit within the military and the electricity industry. In 1987, my sister confronted me with a copy of Dr Gordon Serfontein’s book, ‘The Hidden Handicap’, rightly telling me, “This is your life!” In the mid nineties, I read and related to Donna Williams book, ‘Nobody Nowhere’ on autism, which after a workshop, led to the formation of the Autism and Aspergers Support Group Inc., of which I have been Vice President since its inception in 1998, which is how I have come to be our groups’ representing member on the LDC.

Dr Saba Nabi

Dr Saba Nabi is the NSW P&C representative on the LDC Management Committee. She is based in regional NSW and is a pharmacist as well as being P&C President at her child's school. She has been named as one of 100 Women of Influence Award 2018 by Australian Financial Review in the local and regional category. Dr Nabi recognises the struggle many parents face when advocating for children with special needs and how important it is to find helplines and resources to support them.

Christine Goddard

Christine is currently the Learning Support Coordinator at Tara Anglican School for Girls where she has worked for 13 years. Christine began working in Learning Support as a classroom teacher in primary schools in the 80's and later completed her Certificate of Integration Studies with Loretta Giorcelli. She began working in secondary schools and supported her own daughter who experienced difficulties with reading. Christine worked at Learning Links when her children were young and enjoyed working in a team with both Speech and Occupational Therapists. Christine has been a regular attendee of the LDC seminars for many years and enjoys working with parents to gain a broad perspective of the children we are educating.

Elizabeth Singhi

Elizabeth is a Speech Pathologist who enjoys working with children and adolescents who are striving to develop their communication skills. Elizabeth has over 20 years of experience working with adults and children in a variety of settings including acute hospitals, community health, telehealth and in private homes. Elizabeth's area of specialty includes working with literacy development, young children with early communication delays and speech sounds disorders. Elizabeth is currently an academic at the Australian Catholic University, where she teaches the undergraduate Speech Pathology program, in addition to providing clinical supervision to students from ACU and Sydney Universities.

Natalie Smith

Natalie Smith is a passionate and dedicated educator of students with diverse learning needs. Natalie has a Bachelor's degree in Special Education, and Post-Graduate Certificates in ESL and Gifted Education. She has over 20 years experience teaching and advocating for the needs of students in NSW and internationally. In her current role as Head of Learning Enrichment, she promotes a quality inclusive educational environment for students with additional needs, including special education, gifted and talented education and English as an additional language.

Wendy Bowman

LDC Parent Helpline Co-ordinator

	Supported by the NSW Department of Education and Communities
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