Empowered mealtimes - Expert Guidance for Adults and Kids

Nicole is a registered Speech and Language Pathologist with extensive experience in addressing the unique needs of both children and adults facing complex communication and swallowing disabilities. Her professional journey has taken her across diverse settings in Australia, St Lucia, and Singapore, enriching her practice and perspective.

Nicole attained her Masters of Speech Pathology Studies from the University of Queensland, Australia, and has since demonstrated a commitment to excellence in her field. Her dedication is evident in her focus on supporting children with complex disabilities, where she has made a significant impact through her work in both urban and remote communities for non-profit organizations in Australia. Her passion extends globally, as she volunteered as a Speech and Language Therapist in St Lucia, providing invaluable paediatric speech therapy services. Nicole's multifaceted experience reflects her adaptability and dedication to enhancing the lives of those with diverse communication and feeding challenges.

Nicole specializes in addressing complex communication and feeding challenges in paediatric and adult populations, including Cerebral Palsy, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Down Syndrome, Intellectual Disability, and Global Developmental Delay. She is skilled in assessing and providing evidence-based interventions for various communication difficulties, such as speech sound disorders (phonology, articulation, childhood apraxia of speech), language, fluency, social skills and supports children using Augmentative & Alternative Communication devices.

Nicole actively participates in professional development and remains current with the latest evidence-based intervention practices. She is committed to delivering specialized feeding services tailored to children and adults with mealtime and swallowing challenges. Leveraging her extensive training in Oral Placement Therapy, Sensory Motor Feeding therapy, Myofunctional Therapy, and experience in supporting tube weaning programs, she brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to ensure comprehensive and effective care for clients and their families.

Melanie is a dedicated Speech and Language Therapist, who is strongly motivated by the profound significance of empowering children with the ability to express themselves and communicate their needs to the world effectively.

Committed to fostering the growth of confident and resilient young individuals, Melanie specializes in working with children and adolescents across a spectrum of abilities. Her expertise extends to supporting individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Down syndrome, Global Developmental Delay, fluency disorders, feeding difficulties, and speech and language disorders. Melanie tailors her approach by crafting individualized learning goals and objectives that leverage and enhance each child's innate strengths.

Emphasizing a family-centered approach, Melanie is unwavering in her dedication to collaborative practices. She actively engages with families to support and guide them in fostering their child's development, ensuring they achieve their milestones and goals.

A notable achievement in her career was spearheading a pioneering social inclusion program designed for youths with Autism. This initiative played a crucial role in fostering the enhancement of their social skills and establishing robust friend and familial support structures. Melanie's dedication to creating impactful programs underscores her commitment to the holistic development of individuals.

In addition to her extensive experience, Melanie holds a Master's in Speech Pathology and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. These qualifications reflect her comprehensive knowledge base and interdisciplinary approach in addressing the multifaceted needs of those she serves.

Annie is a Speech and Language Therapist who is passionate about working with people as they journey towards their communicative goals. She holds a Master of Speech Language Pathology from the University of Sydney. Annie brings extensive experience in conducting therapy interventions and assessments across a spectrum of areas, including articulation, phonology, apraxia of speech, language, feeding, stuttering, and social skills, along with expertise in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). Annie’s client profile is diverse and inclusive, encompassing individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders such as stuttering, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), global developmental disorder (GDD) and as well as genetic disorders (e.g. muscular dystrophy) and feeding disorders.

Annie's comprehensive skill set allows her to tailor interventions to meet the unique needs of each individual she serves. She believes in the importance of therapy that is tailored to each person’s unique strengths, interests, background and personal goals. She prioritizes close collaboration with families, schools and other community partners to identify and implement strategies that are not just relevant, but also practical to their real life contexts.

Annie is a keen advocate for disability awareness and inclusion in Singapore. She was previously featured in a National Council of Social Service (NCSS) campaign as an ambassador and invited to be a forum panelist. Annie has also been interviewed on local television and TODAY newspaper on the topics of client and disability advocacy.

Abigail is a passionate Speech and Language Therapist, who graduated with a Bachelor of Speech Language Pathology from The University of Sydney, Australia. She is driven to support her clients’ full developmental potential through fostering collaborative partnerships with children and their families, as well as other individuals supporting the child's developmental journey. Abigail’s professional experience spans across early intervention therapy in pre-schools, primary schools, and private clinics in both Australia and Singapore.

Abigail has extensive expertise in conducting assessments and delivering effective intervention across various areas, including language, augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), speech sounds, social communication, and stuttering, particularly in the early developmental stages. Her professional journey has nurtured a strong interest in supporting children with feeding and mealtime challenges. Abigail collaborates closely with families to identify concerns and formulate comprehensive mealtime management plans. Her work encompasses a diverse paediatric population, including individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), global developmental delay (GDD), intellectual disability (ID), and hearing impairment.

Abigail believes in developing individualized therapy programs for each of her clients, recognizing and celebrating their unique qualities. Her commitment lies in delivering interventions with a focus on creating a positive and enjoyable atmosphere, ensuring that her clients can learn and grow in a nurturing environment.

Lestari is a registered Speech and Language Pathologist who graduated from the University of Sydney in Australia. With a passion for serving the paediatric population, Lestari is particularly dedicated to the special needs community.

Originally from Jakarta, Lestari has resided, studied, and worked in Singapore for over two decades. Proficient in English, she is also adept at conversing in Mandarin and Bahasa Indonesia.

Lestari brings extensive experience working with the paediatric population, spanning a range of ages from toddlers to school-aged children, including those with complex communication needs such as autism spectrum disorder, global developmental delay, and cerebral palsy. Her expertise encompasses conducting comprehensive assessments and delivering evidence-based interventions in various speech domains like articulation, phonology, language, fluency, social skills, and augmentative and alternative communication. In addition, Lestari is well-versed in the SOS Approach to Feeding intervention, offering support to children experiencing diverse feeding challenges. She collaborates closely with parents and caregivers, providing guidance on practical feeding skills that can be implemented at home.

Lestari is a firm believer in the unique potential of every child and is dedicated to customizing her therapy sessions to meet their specific needs, ensuring they are both enjoyable and engaging for optimal learning. Her passion extends to providing steadfast support to families through personalized home programs. Lestari actively empowers and collaborates with parents, caregivers, and other professionals across various settings to foster the holistic development of each child.

Yael is an Occupational Therapist with over 20 years of experience. Yael is the founder of Dynamics Therapy Group and holds the role of Group Clinical Director. Yael holds a degree in Occupational Therapy, but also a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a Masters degree in Educational Psychology.

Yael is trained in Sensory Integration (SI), having attended post-graduate courses both in Israel and in the USA, and is SIPT certified by Sensory Integration International (License Number SIPT #8148).

Yael is passionate about working with children of all ages from infants to teenagers, guiding parents of how to support their children at home and advising school teachers, learning support teams and counselors how to accommodate teaching styles to the child’s needs.

Over the years, Yael had the opportunity to work with all kinds of diagnosis, work with mainstream children, children with special needs, twice exceptional children and gifted children. Yael sees each child as unique and thinks out of the box to identify new ways to help them overcome their challenges.

Working closely with parents is key component in Yael’s practice, to ensure they understand the goals, clinical reasoning and how to handle their children at home and in social situations. As a mother of a child with developmental challenges, she empathizes with parents’ parenting journey and is able to offer holistic support.

As the Clinical Director of Dynamics, Yael has a wide perspective on therapy and rehabilitation. She frequently helps her clients with useful insights and advice. Having lived in Singapore for over 20 years, she has a deep understanding of the local and foreign school systems, and specializes in school observations and making recommendations for adaptations within the classroom. This special support that she offers to her clients has made considerable difference in their coping ability within the school environment.

Yael worked in Sheeba hospital in Israel, and then joined Child Guidance Clinic (CGC) in Singapore. In CGC, Yael created the Occupational Therapy service and designed the Sensory Integration (SI) gym. Yael has extensive experience working with children having various developmental delays such as ASD, ADHD, selective mutism, coordination problems, sensory processing disorder (SPD), dyspraxia, visual-motor dysfunction, and handwriting difficulties and many more.

Yael has made numerous presentations in professional forums such as the Asia Pacific Occupational Therapy Congress (APOTC), and NHG Annual Scientific Congress. She is frequently invited as a guest speaker at schools and local VWOs. Yael has also been an Occupational Therapy consultant for some of the local special schools and VWOs.

Yael brings to Dynamics a high level of professionalism and integrity together with a commitment to helping children. In her work she makes sure to balance between therapy goals and the child having fun.

Yael's Summary of Trainings and Courses:

• SIPT (Sensory Integration and Praxis Test) Certified (License Number SIPT #8148)
• SI Therapist (post graduate certificate in Sensory Integration, by Haifa University Israel)
• Practical Sense in SI parts: 1, 2 & 3 (by Dr. Julia Harper)
• ADOS (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule) Certified both in Clinical administration & in research reliability administration
• Thera-Pressure Protocol (by Wilbarger & Wilbarger)
• FloorTime 101
• FloorTime 201 (Certified Practitioner)
• Vestibular Activation
• The Handle Approach Level I & II
• RMT (Rhythmic Movement Treatment)
• Samonas I & II (Sound Therapy)

Specialises in Oral Motor Therapy and Feeding:

• SOS (Sequential Oral Sensory) Approach for Feeding
• Talk Tools level I & level II (Oral Motor)
• MORE (Motor Oral Respiratory and Eyes)
• IOSM (Interactive Oral Sensory Motor)

Pei Shan is a graduate of the inaugural cohort from the Honours Degree in Occupational Therapy program at the Singapore Institute of Technology. Subsequently, she achieved full registration with Singapore's Allied Health Professions Council. Following her graduation, Pei Shan entered the public health sector, collaborating closely with a multi-disciplinary team to deliver personalized therapy sessions to geriatric patients, aiming to enhance their recovery. In addition to her therapeutic role, she conducted training sessions for caregivers, equipping them with the skills to manage patients' conditions and care effectively.

Pei Shan takes pride in her capacity for continuous learning, unlearning, and relearning. Before embarking on her journey as an Occupational Therapist, she served as a special education teacher within a voluntary welfare organization. In this role, she provided support to children with diverse learning needs, including autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, speech and language delay, and global developmental delay. Pei Shan brings valuable experience in utilizing activity-based strategies to enhance children's literacy skills, promote social and functional abilities, and effectively address behavioural challenges.

Driven by a longstanding passion for working with children, Pei Shan is dedicated to extending her support to them as an Occupational Therapist. She values open communication and actively seeks to collaborate with parents in their children's learning journey. Pei Shan is committed to engaging parents, involving them in the process, and empowering them with personalized care plans tailored to each family's unique needs.

As an Occupational Therapist with experience in feeding therapy, Pei Shan found immense reward in witnessing the transformative impact of therapy on independent eating skills and overall quality of life. Focusing on enhancing sitting posture, Pei Shan supports individuals to develop improved sitting tolerance for more comfortable mealtimes. In addition, Pei Shan is experienced in supporting children and adults with motor coordination challenges to learn independent self-feeding skills. Pei Shan adapts various evidence-based therapy recommendations for adapted feeding utensils, incorporating body awareness exercises, exercises to master spoon grasp for self-feeding and strengthening for bilateral hand coordination. Pei Shan believes in the importance of collaborating with Speech Therapists to ensure a comprehensive approach that addresses both the physical and communicative aspects of feeding therapy.

Natalie is a Registered Psychologist with the Singapore Psychological Society (SPS), a member of the International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions (IACAPAP), and an Associate Member with the American Psychological Association (APA).

Prior to her joining Dynamics, Natalie worked as a psychologist in a public healthcare sector. She worked on projects that focused on prevention and promotion of wellness and health of school age population and their families and workplace health. She developed and implemented mental health programmes and interventions, and conducted talks to students, parents and teachers. Natalie also wrote modules on mental health at the workplace for workplace leaders.

Prior to her current work, Natalie was a Senior Psychologist with REACH North at Child and Guidance Clinic, IMH. She continued her clinical practice in the private setting. Natalie has more than 15 years of extensive experience working with children, adolescents and adults mainly with Anxiety and Depression. She assessed and worked with children and youth with learning disabilities, ADHD and Autism. She also worked with families, specifically with parents who had difficulties managing their “challenging” children. To help more teachers, parents and children, she shared her expertise through interviews and workshops, and written articles for magazines related to family and parenting.

Natalie taught adults Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) and counselling skills, supervised para-counsellors and was a mentor to psychology students from different universities during one of the events held by SPS.

Natalie believes that early prevention and intervention is necessary to delay on the onset of health and behaviour problems. For the young, she hopes to impart her knowledge and skills to empower teachers and parents to be enablers of their students and children’s mental health, and for children and youth to be mentally resilient. She wants to continue her efforts in advocating mental health and preventing suicide.

Kavitha is a registered counsellor and a clinical psychologist with a Masters in Psychology (Clinical) from National University of Singapore, with over 12 years of experience in the field of mental health. She adopts an integrative approach in therapy and has been providing therapy for children, adolescents, parents, and adults.

Kavitha is a compassionate therapist who prioritizes providing a safe, non-judgemental space for clients to heal, feel empowered and progress in life. By engaging with her clients in a collaborative process rooted in trust and empathy, she engages her clients to identify/address their challenges and guide them in achieving their goals.

Drawing ideas from Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Schema Therapy and Signposts parenting program, Kavitha combines a decade of experience at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital as well as Singapore General Hospital.

Her areas of specialisation and interest are:

• Depression, Anxiety, Stress, Self-Injurious behaviour
• Issues with self, sense of identity
• Relationship/marital difficulties
• Parenting difficulties
• Trauma
• Gender Identity struggles
• Emotional Regulation
• Work related difficulties

Tracy is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA), and the first Qualified Behavior Analyst (QBA) in Singapore. Her passion to help individuals with special needs started from a young age. While studying her BSc in Psychology, and MSc in Applied Behavioral Analysis, from Bangor University (United Kingdom, Wales), Tracy took the opportunity to intern and volunteer with children (with and without special needs) who faced academic challenges; utilizing ABA techniques to aid them. During her summer holidays back in Singapore, she also volunteered with various schools and organizations working with children with special needs in bid to learn how these organizations worked with and helped these individuals with special needs.

Tracy has worked in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) since 2015. She has worked in Singapore and Dubai, with clients ranging from 2 years to 24 years old. She believes in the importance of individualizing programs for her clients based on their needs, and has worked with her clients on skills ranging from requesting, to imitation, to vocational skills, and etc., according to their needs. Additionally, Tracy has experience (1) working in multidisciplinary settings with psychologists, speech therapists, occupational therapists, and physiotherapists to aid clients in a holistic manner; (2) providing home-based, school-based, and center-based therapy and supervision; and (3) training therapists, teachers, and parents on ABA.

Tracy is passionate about disseminating information on how ABA can be adapted and conducted in different countries, cultures, and contexts. She strongly believes that ABA should be individualized in order to help children and adolescents with developmental disabilities reach their full potential; better preparing them for any of life’s challenges which may come their way.

Dominic is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA), and he is currently pursuing his Doctorate in Applied Behavior Analysis (Ph.D).

After graduating from his undergraduate studies, Dominic found an interest in Counselling, and hence pursued the Master of Guidance and Counselling while working with individuals with special needs. Shortly after, he found interest in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and obtained the Master of Education in Autism and Applied Behavior Analysis.

Dominic has 7 years of experience working with individuals with special needs from ages 2 to 21, in both one-to-one setting clinic-based and home-based as well as in group settings. He specializes in administering procedures such as Teaching Interactions to work with individuals who require assistance in building basic and advanced social skills. He also worked with many local schools in Singapore to run social skills workshops. Besides working with the individual, Dominic has done parent trainings, staff trainings and giving awareness talks to the members of public.

Dominic’s personal belief is that the key role of being an interventionist does not lie with just the relationship between individual and the therapist, it is a commitment to the family from a holistic approach. The individual’s progress and growth are a combination of all environmental factors including family welfare, family stress levels etc. Hence, Dominic believes committing towards a multidisciplinary model of intervention where the whole family is under the care of many specialists.

To understand families with individuals with special needs, Dominic has also attended a Non-Profit Director course in the Singapore Institute of Directors (SID).