Ms Pika Sen
Principal Speech-Language Therapist

Pika graduated from Flinders University in Adelaide, South Australia in Speech Pathology in June 1994. She immediately commenced work at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore managing a paediatric and adult caseload.

Always on the lookout for a challenge, Pika accepted a position at National University Hospital where she gained experience with a wide variety of children's speech and language disorders. She soon discovered that her niche (and her heart!) was in working with children's communication disorders and she began specialising. She completed her Masters Degree in Health Care Management from the University of Wales in 1999.

In August 1998, she set up The Speech Pathology Centre, a private practice where she treated a wide variety of children's communication disorders in her trademark small group delivery format. The practice has been running successfully for the past decade and has grown rapidly the past six years, evolving into a transdisciplinary centre of excellence including specialist allied health professionals from all over the world, including Australia, USA and the UK.

Currently, Pika is the Director of the Excelerate V.2 Program. This evidence-based early intervention programme was specifically formulated for children aged between 18 months – 6 years with developmental delays/disorders and autism spectrum disorders. It is an intensive, daily therapy program conducted in a simulated preschool environment which has had outstanding outcomes in terms of integrating children into mainstream learning environments.

Joanne Silvestri

Senior Speech-Language Therapist

Joanne Silvestri was born and raised in Perth, Western Australia, where she attended Curtin University of Technology. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Human Communication Science and First Class Honours qualifications. She was awarded membership of the Vice-Chancellor's List, which is awarded to the top 1% of undergraduate students based on academic performance. In 2005, Joanne's Honours research was presented at the prestigious Clinical Aphasiology Conference in Sanibel Island, USA.

Joanne has gained a wide variety of experience working with infants, children and adults with communication and feeding difficulties. She has gained experience at Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, Disability Services Commission, Royal Perth Hospital, Curtin University Stuttering & Phonology Clinic, Metro Language Development Centre and State Child Development Centre, just to name a few!

Joanne was also a Research Assistant for the multi-national Looking at Language Study, which is based at the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research in Perth, Western Australia. This study aims to investigate the causal risk factors that contribute to Specific Language Impairment in children.

Her passion towards early intervention along with her love of travel and new experiences led her to The Speech Pathology Centre where she began work in February 2005. Joanne has since been providing assessment and intervention services for infants, toddlers, children, adolescents and adults with a range of communication and feeding difficulties, including but not limited to:

• Autism Spectrum Disorders
• Stuttering and Cluttering
• Phonological and Articulation Disorders
• Verbal Dyspraxia
• Developmental Delay
• Specific Language Impairment
• Cleft Lip/Palate
• Hearing Impairment
• Central Auditory Processing Disorder
• Aphasia
• Dysphagia

Joanne has also provided the following community education initiatives:

• Publications in parenting magazines (including Today's Parents and Young Parents)
• Co-authored Parent Educational Resources (including Raising Independent Children, Teaching Spontaneous Language Skills, Teaching Play Skills, Joint Action Routines)
• Parent Training Workshops
• Community Education Evenings