Our Team
At Aspire we believe in building a supportive community around each child. Only through direct interaction between parents, therapists and program managers can the best outcomes be reached for your child.
Aspire culminates in a network of over thirty Early Intensive Behaviour Intervention (EIBI) practitioners lead by our highly experienced team of Behaviour Support Practitioners (BSPs) and Program Managers
Our Aspire Family is continually growing, we are striving to work cohesively with our parents and children, as well as develop professionally. Our team is at the forefront of Aspire and are all valuable in all that they do!
Founder
Dianne Verstappen
MA. (Linguistics), BCBA
Dianne frequently consults with schools in the Asia Pacific region (Hong Kong, China and Singapore) and provides teacher and staff training for international schools throughout Asia.
Dianne has lectured at Monash University for the Masters of Education. Her specialty area is working with children under 4, and her current research interests are in Relational Frame Theory, its practical applications and complex human behaviour such as perspective taking and Theory of Mind Skills.
Our Sydney Team
Emily – Behaviour Support Practitioner & Program Manager
B.Sc. (Speech and Hearing), M.A. (Speech Language Pathology)
Emily’s prior experience consists of 3 years of private tutoring covering all areas of the school curriculum, with young adolescents with special needs, including Asperger’s Syndrome and ADHD. Emily has also worked in the disability sector as a Direct Support Professional for adults with a variety of disabilities for 2 years.
Emily started working at Aspire in 2013 and has been part of the Aspire team for 9 years. Emily has experience in working with children from 2-10 years of age in the clinic, at home, in school settings and in the community, as well as experience in providing parent training and conducting various assessments.
Emily is passionate about teaching her clients language, functional communication, daily living skills and increasing their independence.
Brittni – Program Manager
BCBA
When not working Brittni enjoys going to the beach, discovering vintage records, traveling, and live music.
Ashley – Behaviour Support Practitioner
BSpHLSc
Ashley has been working at Aspire since 2019 and has experience working in a wide range of environments including school, home and clinic. She loves working with her clients and teaching them new skills that will be functional in their everyday environment, particularly in regards to language development. She is passionate about creating a fun learning environment for her clients so they are engaged and enjoy everything ABA has to offer!
During her free time Ashley likes cooking, spending time with her family and hiking.
Kimberley – Behaviour Support Practitioner
BPsychSci
Having completed her Bachelor's in Psychological Science at the University of Wollongong in 2021, Kimberley is currently completing a Graduate Diploma in Psychology (Advanced) at Monash University. Kimberley has therapy experience across multiple settings including clinical, home-based and school, and wishes to deepen her knowledge in the area of ABA therapy as she strives to achieve her BCBA. She is passionate about developing children’s functional and communicative skills as well as parent training.
During her free time, you can find Kimberley in the gym, spending time with her friends and family, dreaming about travel or watching Netflix.
Jessica-Lily – Behaviour Support Practitioner
BSpHLSc
Jess started working in ABA in 2016 during her bachelors degree to grow her knowledge and practical experience but quickly fell in love with the fun and energetic nature of the role. During her time as a therapist, she has worked in home, school and clinical settings in Sydney as well as Cape Town, South Africa. She is passionate about creating group learning experiences for children to foster social and school readiness skills.
During her free time, Jess loves all things water; kayaking, swimming and scuba diving regularly with friends and family.
Emma – Behaviour Support Practitioner
B.A., RBT
Before coming to Aspire she worked for one year in an early intervention ABA clinic in Indianapolis and for three years in an ABA school specializing in severe challenging behaviours in London. She has experience with clients ages 2-19 with the communication styles vocal, sign language, PECs, Proloquo, Objects of Reference, GoTalk and eye contact. She is passionate about modern, compassionate ABA and specializes in interventions including functional communication training, reduction of challenging behaviours including SIB and aggression, feeding programs, social/emotional skills teaching and reduction of restrictive/repetitive behaviours.
In her spare time she likes to play football, AFL and rugby, go to the beach, travel, hike, sing and dance (not well).
Kerry-Anne – Speech Pathologist
B.App.Sc.(Speech Pathology); M. Inclusive Education (Autism); MSPA, CPSP
Kerry-Anne assesses and delivers speech pathology services for children aged 18 months to 18 years with communication difficulties including: articulation; phonological disorders; receptive language; expressive language; literacy and fluency. She has experience working with children who have a range of diagnoses including: specific learning impairments; ASD; Down’s Syndrome; ADHD/ ADD; ODD; VCFS and Foetal Alcohol Syndrome as well as families from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
Kerry-Anne enjoys working with families at the Aspire Early Intervention Centre, Newington Medical Centre, their preschools/ schools and their homes to assist them with improving their communication skills.
Amos – Behaviour Support Practitioner
B Psych
Amos has experience working with young adolescents and children with special needs, formerly as a swimming teacher. He has worked in multiple settings including, clinical, home-based and schools, and wishes to further develop his knowledge of ABA. Amos is passionate about helping children build their social skills with others, and creating opportunities for them to enjoy the time they get to be as 'kids'.
During his free time, you'll find Amos either swimming, jamming on his guitar or baking something sweet.
Justyn – Operations Manager
Justyn has a passion for communication, organization and creative problem solving. She loves working in tandem with clinicians and clients to support therapeutic outcomes.
Justyn enjoys traveling, vegetarian cooking and creating art.
Our Canberra Team
Marie Therese – Clinic Manager
MA, BCBA
MT founded the ABA program at the Special Kids Clinic, part of the Pediatric Neurology Department at the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC), creating a team of ABA supervisors and therapists and expanding ABA services across the country. The services provided included: initial assessments, therapies, parent training, and school and nursery support. She coordinated the team of Speech, Feeding, Occupational, Psychomotor and Physical therapists at the AUBMC Special kids Clinic. MT also completed the training course in the administration of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-2 (ADOS-2).
MT is fluent in English, Spanish and Arabic. Born to parents from different countries and cultural backgrounds, she thrives in a multicultural and dynamic setting. She is passionate about making a difference in the lives of children with special needs and their families.
Darcy - Behaviour Support Practitioner
B.Sc. (Applied Behavior Analysis), B.Sc. (Human Development and Family Science), RBT
During Darcy's time as an clinician, she has worked in various clinical environments and a private school setting with children ages 2 to 13. She is passionate about advocating for children with autism along with teaching them important new skills to gain more independence.
Nicole – Behaviour Support Practitioner
BSc (Management Information Systems), RBT
Having worked in early intervention from 2020, Nicole discovered her passion for helping children develop functional skills in a play-based setting. She loves how her role allows her to support her clients, along with their parents and other technicians as well.
In her free time, Nicole loves spending time with family and friends, going on picnics, and watching movies or TV series.
Rabani – Behaviour Support Practitioner
BApsych,MSc, Dip in NDP
Rabani has immense gratitude and passion for the field and wishes to contribute more by learning and growing through collaborative and community work.
Rabani has a happy-go-lucky personality and is a big Bollywood fan. When she’s not at work, you can find Rabani making Instagram videos or trying out new restaurants.
Syeda Sarah – Program Manager
M.A. (Applied Behavior Analysis)., BCBA
She has been working in the field of ABA for the past 4 years supporting children with special needs ranging from the ages of 2 to 11 years in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. She is consistently working to spread the positive value ABA services have to offer with the hope of bringing a socially significant change in the lives of her clients and their families in diverse settings (home, clinic, school).
Some of Sarah experiences with ABA include performing Functional Behavior Assessments (FBA), designing and implementing function-driven Behavior Intervention and Skill Acquisition plans and supervising professionals and colleagues in multiple settings as well as in different countries.
Sarah is passionate about what she does and takes great interest in coaching and supporting clients, parents and guardians in the best way possible.
In her free time, Sarah loves finding adventure in nature with her family, listening to music, learning, and exploring new things in life.
