Management Committee

Ruth Bowron is a Senior Speech Pathologist at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead. She works in the diagnostic assessment team in the Child Development Unit (CDU). Ruth works collaboratively with the NSW Centre for Effective Reading, leading a team of Speech Pathologists who support NSW primary school students with complex reading difficulties. Ruth also works for the LPF Centre for Autism, providing neuroaffirming intervention for personalised communication and academic goals. She also has a passion for Clinical Education work, supervising 2nd and 4th year Speech Pathology students with the Australian Catholic University (ACU).

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 3 children 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 Fellow of the APS College of Educational and Developmental Psychologists and also has specialist endorsement by the Psychology Board of Australia as an Educational Psychologist.

Annette Guterres is a retired Secondary Teacher and Special Education Learning Support Coordinator who was employed in the education field for over 35 years. Annette has a Bachelor and Masters of Education, Certificate of Learning Difficulties and Integration Studies, and a Post Graduate Diploma of Special Education. Having studied Psychology and Special Education Annette has considerable experience in the school system with learning support in both the classroom and leading staff. Annette keeps up her involvement with the education field as Secretary of the Professional Association for Learning Support (PALS) where the focus is on supporting all professionals who work in support roles helping students. Annette has a special interest in inclusive practice, effective teaching of vocabulary and multi-levelled systems of support. From The Professional Teachers Council of NSW Annette received the awards – Outstanding Professional Service (2009) and Exceptional Service Award (2019). She was also awarded the Medal of the Order of Australian in 2019. Annette is currently Vice-President/Treasurer of the LDC, Secretary/Treasurer of PALS, Secretary for the Bomber Command Association in Australia, and is the Australian Coordinator for the International Bomber Command Centre (Lincoln UK).

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 over 20 years. Natalie has also completed a post-graduate certificate in gifted education.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.