Explora Learning Company Pte Ltd sponsors continuing education workshops and symposia of interest to medical, allied health & education professionals who provide services to children & adults with special needs.

The company is registered with Singapore Medical Council to sponsor continuing medical education courses. Professionals with whom we work with are listed below.

Anita Bundy, ScD (Boston), MS (Boston), BS (WMich), FAOTA is chair in the School of Occupation and Leisure Sciences, University of Sydney. Prior to joining the University of Sydney, Professor Bundy taught at Colorado State University. Her primary research and scholarly activity has been in three areas: play and leisure; the role of occupational therapists in public schools, and intervention for children with central nervous system dysfunction. She has published widely in American journals of occupational therapy, has lectured in North and South America and Scandinavia, and supervises graduate students from all over the world in these areas. She is the lead editor and author of several chapters in Sensory Integration: Theory and Practice (2nd ed.), published in 2002 with colleagues Professor Shelly Lane and Dr. Elizabeth Murray. Professor Bundy also is the author of three assessments in play and leisure: the Test of Playfulness (ToP), the Test of Environmental Supportiveness (TOES), and the Experience of Leisure Scale (TELS).

Dr Amanda Kirby, MBBS(Wales), MRCGP, MFFP is the founder & Medical Director of The Dyscovery Centre in Cardiff, Wales, UK. The centre is internationally recognised for its work in Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) and related Specific Learning Difficulties. Dr Kirby acts as medical advisor to the Dyspraxia Foundation UK, Ireleand & other support organisation. She has authored several books on DCD and has published internationally, as well as lectured internationally.

Kylie Gray, PhD, Research Fellow at the Centre for Developmental Psychiatry and Psychology at Monash University, has over 10 years experience in both research and clinical experience in autism diagnosis and assessment. Dr Gray is a trained administrator of the Autism Diagnostic Interview ñ Revised (ADI-R) and the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS). She is qualified as an independent ADOS trainer able to lead clinical training workshops in Asia Pacific. Dr Gray has recently developed a screening tool for autism in infants and young children with developmental delay, and have recently published in these areas.

Carla Cay, O.T/L Carla Cay Williams, OT/L, is owner of Albuquerque's KIDPOWER Therapy Associates. Since 1988, Carla Cay Williams travels internationally to present The Alert Program, incorporating it into speech/language/motor groups, social skills groups and camp settings. She began working with Therapyworks, Inc & authors may Sue Williams and Sherry Shellenberger, in 1988. She continues to develop the program's concepts by providing services to her clients and consulting with school staff. She has received rave reviews from audiences in over 60 Alert Program Trainings across the country.

Mary Kawar, M.S., O.T.R. is a private practitioner in San Diego, USA. For over 18 years she has specialized in programs for children and adults with learning disabilities. She was director of Occupational Therapy at Children's Hospital in San Diego and has lectured widely in the area of sensory integration. Ms Kawar has been particularly successful at designing treatment to improve vestibular and ocular motor abilities. Ms Kawar is a well respected professional and speaker both in the US and internationally, having addressed audiences in Europe and the Asia Pacific.

Theresha A. Szypulski, M.A., CCC-SLP has over 34 years' of experience in the oral communication field. She earned her Bachelor's and Master's degree in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of South Dakota and holds the Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech-Language Association, the ASHA-ACE Award and a South Carolina State License in Speech-Language Pathology. Her career has included teaching at the University of South Dakota, the College of Charleston, the Medical University of South Carolina and serving as Department Head of Speech, Humanities and History at Trident Technical College in Charleston. Mrs Szypulski specializes in the evaluation and treatment of communication disorders with a specialty focus on treatment of autism, oral motor disorders, and central auditory processing disorders. She serves as the SLP for the Coastal Autism Resource Evaluation Clinic at the Medical University of SC and for the South Carolina DDSN- Autism Division- Coastal Autism Resource Evaluation Center in Charleston. She is also member of the Advisory Board for the National Autism Association.

Michelle G. Winner, M.A., CCC-SLP has over 20 years' experience as a speech language pathologist in a variety of settings including the elementary and secondary levels of public school, in neuro-cognitive rehabilitation programs for persons with head-injuries and strokes and in a clinical research program in Bloomington, Indiana under the mentorship of Nancy Dalrymple. Ms Garcia currently runs a private practice in San Jose, California and specializes in the treatment of students with social cognitive deficits, including diagnoses such as Asperger Syndrome, autism and nonverbal learning disabilities. Ms Garcia has written two books, Inside Out: What Makes the Person With Social Cognitive Deficits Tick (2000) and Thinking About You, Thinking About Me (2002). Her video "Social Thinking Across the Home & School Day" was released by Carol Gray's The Gray Center in 2003.

Meg Houghton, Dip. Sp. Thy.; Dip. Ed.; MA Sp Path; MSPA. Meg is Registered Speech Pathologist in Private Practice on the Gold Coast (Queensland, Australia) where she has been a Director of Combined Therapy Consultants Pty. Ltd. for 11 years. She has 29 years experience as a Speech Language Pathologist working in hospitals, community services, education departments and other facilities in various Australian states and overseas. She currently provides a service to children to 18 years, but largely focuses on infants, preschoolers and those in the early school years with language disorders, motor speech disorders, stuttering, literacy difficulties, and neurological impairment. She has undertaken extensive training in augmentative and alternative forms of communication and as well as providing workshops for both professionals and parents she has been involved in teaching at certificate level. Feeding problems, particularly in early infancy, is another area of special interest. She has a wide range of experience in a variety of communication disorders with all age groups and is a registered infants / primary teacher.

Carol S. Kranowitz, M.A, has over 25 years working with young children both in mainstream and special needs school settings. She has worked closely with educators and therapy professionals in the area of sensory integration dysfunction (DSI) both within the USA and internationally. Grounded in her own experiences and research on how sensory integrative issues impact function, behaviour and learning, Ms Kranowitz has been invaluable in helping families identify their needs and steer children with DSI into early intervention. She currently serves on the advisory board of the Nonverbal Learning Disorder Association and Developmental Delay Resources, USA.

Jeanette Suen, OT(C), SROT, is an occupational therapist with twenty years of experience working with children in Hong Kong, Canada and Singapore. She specializes in treating children with learning difficulty, autism, cerebral palsy and developmental delay. She is a registered occupational therapist of Canada and the United Kingdom, and is certified in the administration and interpretation of the Sensory Integration and Praxis Tests, and in the use of the Bobath Method. Currently, Jeanette runs a private OT centre for children in Singapore. Other than clinical work, she is also actively involved in lecturing and giving talks on topics related to sensory integration and pediatric occupational therapy to parent support groups and professional bodies in Singapore as well as in the region.

Chithra Kathiresan, B.App.Sc.(Speech Pathology), Aust. has worked extensively with infants and children, from birth to early adolescence, with a wide variety of communication, oral motor and feeding difficulties. In particular, her work focuses on children with autism, cerebral palsy, cleft lip and/or palate, genetic abnormalities, language delays, learning disabilities, and slow learners. Chithra is Hanen certified and has received certification in Pediatric Dysphagia. In 1995, her passion for children led her to join Singapore KK Women's & Children's Hospital where she specialized in pediatrics. Her special interests include Early Intervention and Pervasive Developmental Disorders. She was Head of Speech Therapy at KK when she left to care for her two young children in 2000. Since then, she has continued in private practice, working in close collaboration with parents, therapists, teachers and doctors to provide a holistic approach to the care and development of children with special needs.

Vasu Govindasamy, B.Sc (Hons), M.Sc., CCC-SLP is an ASHA certified speech-language pathologist. In 1993, he was awarded the Singapore Therapy Scholarship and has since worked with children and adults with various communicative disorders. He holds the Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech-Language Association (ASHA). He specialises in people with cognitive-communicative disorders, auditory/language processing deficits, motor speech disorders and hearing impairment (AVT). In 1997, he spearheaded the early intervention programmes for Singapore Association for the Deaf and its multi-sensory sound laboratory. He has worked as a medical speech-pathologist at the Veteran's Hospital in Oklahoma City, USA and Singapore General Hospital. He is Director and Consultant Speech Language Pathologist at Communication for Life and at Ovspring Developmental Clinic, Singapore.

Dr Sharon Chan, MBBS, MMed(Psychiatry), FAMS(Psychiatry) is Consultant, Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist at the Child Guidance Clinic, Gleneagles Medical Centre, Singapore. She has over 15 years' experience in the field and currently Visiting Consultant Psychiatrist at the Singapore KK Women's & Children's Hospital.

Dr Alefiya Nomanbhoy, PhD has over 10 years' teaching & consulting experience. She holds a Masters and PhD from Northwestern University in Illinois, USA, in the Field of Learning Disabilities. Prior to her return to Singapore, Dr Nomanbhoy was educational therapist at the Institute for Attention-Deficit Disorders, Northbrook, Illinois, USA, where she evaluated & treated children, adolescents and adults for ADD/ADHD disorders & specific learning disorders. She also collaborated with schools to implement appropriate programmes. She was a full-time lecturer at NIE, NTU, Singapore in the School of Education, Division of Specialised Education from 1994-98 where she was involved in training teachers for both special & mainstream education. Dr. Nomanbhoy works with children, their families & schools to provide psychological & psychoeducational assessment & testing services in the area of LD and currently is the a core team member and Deputy Head of Ovspring Developmental Clinic, Singapore.

Dr Mary Cherian, PhD is an educator and child development specialist who has worked with children in both special schools and the mainstream. A former assistant professor at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, she taught special education teachers, learning support coordinators and other mainstream teachers. Her publications include three books, all of which have teacher-student relationships and children with special needs amongst their key themes.