Our Team
The Aspire Team includes caring, talented, and committed people who are dedicated to assisting your child reach their potential.
Clinical Director
Dianne Verstappen
B.A. Education, B. App. Sci. (Physiotherapy), currently enrolled in MA. Comm. Dis.
Dianne Verstappen is a registered physiotherapist in NSW and completed an undergraduate degree in physiotherapy and teaching, specialising in teaching children with special needs and curriculum development. Currently, she is in the process of completing a Masters degree in Communication Disorders at Macquarie University.
From 1994-1999 she has provided programs for children with a variety of special needs, such as children with Cerebral Palsy and Down Syndrome in a variety of settings, including pre-school, primary school and swimming classes. She worked at the Center for Autism and Related Disorders from 2000-2006 where she trained under Dr. Granpesheeh and Dr. Sebastien Bosch. Dianne has provided ABA (Applied Behaviour Analysis) services to children with autism, PDD-NOS and Asperger’s Syndrome for over 7 years in Australia, the United States and the United Arab Emirates.
She has a strong background in providing parent, teacher and therapist training in both theoretical and practical workshops covering a variety of ABA related topics. These include Applied Verbal Behaviour (AVB), Behaviour Management, Discrete Trial Training (DTT) and Theory of Mind. Over the last few years Dianne has specialised in teaching children play and social skills through Natural Environment Training (NET) and PRT (Pivotal Response Training).
Her current research interests are in Relational Frame Theory and its practical applications.
Program Managers
Program Managers design, implement and evaluate programs and behaviour intervention plans. They also train therapists and are available to answer questions about your child’s program. Depending on their availability they also conduct one on one therapy with your child prior to team meetings or in between team meetings.
Kellie Knapton
Registered Psychologist / Program Manager
B.A. Social Science, Majoring in Psychology. Postgraduate Diploma in Psychology.
Kellie Knapton is a registered Psychologist under the N.S.W. Psychologist Registration Board. She completed a Bachelor Degree in Social Science Majoring in Psychology and specialised in Childhood Development. Currently, her research interests are in Learning and Cognition such as Social Learning, and acquiring and using language through Natural Environment Training.
She has provided ABA (Applied Behaviour Analysis) services to children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Asperger’s Syndrome for over five years in Australia. She has a strong background in providing Behavioural and Educational programs for children with special needs in a variety of educational settings.
Kellie has also provided practical training and worked closely with teaching staff to ensure effective teaching strategies to maximise children’s learning potential. She has attended various theoretical and practical workshops covering a variety of ABA related topics such as Cognitive Therapy, Behaviour Management, Assessment of Child Intellectual Functioning and Clinical Assessment strategies and Diagnostic Making for children and adolescents.
Employment
At Aspire, one of our goals is to provide the highest quality treatment to our clients. To achieve this we are looking for dedicated people who want to join our team and are looking for ongoing staff training and development, excellent potential for advancement and competitive salaries. We are also open to staff suggestions and ideas.
We are currently looking for one more program manager to join our team and are also looking for dedicated therapists with more than one year experience to be trained as senior therapists.
If you are interested please contact us by sending your CV and your resume to:
info@aspireearlyintervention.com
Program Managers
Program Managers work under the direction of the Clinical Director assigned to each client’s case to provide top-quality client service. The Program Manager will be responsible for report writing and programming responsibilities for each client he or she is assigned. This is initially a part time training position but will lead to a full time position.
Responsibilities:
- Conduct initial and on-going assessments such as FBA’s, and based on these assessments, evaluate, design and maintain top quality treatment programs
- Conduct program changes during regularly scheduled team meetings
- Learn and implement Aspire’s treatment programs including Verbal Behaviour, Precision Teaching and PRT
- Lead and train treatment teams
- Set and achieve performance goals with client, parents , and treatment teams
- Prepare for and attend client educational meetings (Individual Education Plan meetings, IFSP) and develop treatment recommendations
- Conduct school observations and write recommendation reports
- Assist with training of staff
- Train family members on treatment techniques; maintain positive working relationship with clients’ family; respond to questions in a timely and professional manner
Qualifications:
- Minimum of three years experience providing Applied Behaviour Analysis treatment to children with autism , need to have worked with and implemented treatment programs for at least 10-15 children
- A minimum Bachelor’s Degree from an university in Psychology, Speech Pathology, Early Childhood Education with a teaching credential, Behaviour Analysis, or related field
- Preferred Masters Degree in Special Education, Behaviour Analysis, Speech pathology or Communication Disorders.
- Must be prepared to sit for BCABA or BCBA examination within 12 months of completing program managers training
- Must have completed Aspire Senior Therapist Training Program and pass theoretical and practical components
- Demonstrate knowledge of ABA treatment techniques and treatment program designs for children of varying skill levels
- Proven people-management skills
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills
- Excellent administrative skills
- Key Characteristics: Professional, dedicated to assisting children and their families, organised, creative, motivating, goal-driven
Benefits:
- Competitive hourly Program Managers rate based on experience and Educational qualifications
- Paid training time and office time
- Opportunities to work on research and development projects
- Opportunities for advancement<
- Middle East & International travel opportunities
- Earned vacation pay for full-time employees
- Ongoing training & professional development
- Flexible working hours
Therapists
Job Description
- Work one on one with children in the home, school, and community
- Follow a structured program designed to teach language, play, social, motor, and self-help skills to children with autism or related disorders
- Participate in a thorough initial training program with instruction in autism, Applied Behaviour Analysis, verbal behaviour, teaching strategies, behaviour management, data collection, and ethics
- Participate in ongoing trainings and attend regularly scheduled team meetings for each client
- Work collaboratively and effectively communicate with colleagues, parents, and school personnel
Job Requirements
- At least 2 years of undergraduate education in Psychology, Speech pathology, Education, or a related field
- Some experience working with typically developing children or children with special needs desirable
Benefits
- Earned vacation pay for full-time employees
- Ongoing training & professional development
- Flexible working hours
- Frequent opportunities for wage increase
- Excellent opportunities for advancement
Additional Information
- To ensure that all therapists meet our high performance standards, trainees need to pass a written examination with open ended questions and a practical evaluation prior to working with clients on their own.
- We provide regularly scheduled trainings and workshops throughout employment at Aspire.
- Typically, each full-time therapist works with 3-4 different children. Schedules change regularly to meet the needs of our clients; however, we also offer flexible hours to meet the needs of our employees.