Sarah Tilley
Director
Principal Speech Pathologist
Autism Spectrum Disorder Diagnostician
Positive Behaviour Support Practitioner
Sarah is the founder of Connect Allied Health and has over 10 years’ experience as a speech pathologist, working with both paediatric and adult clients across a range of settings including homes, schools, hospitals, early learning centres, residential aged care facilities, clinic and rural/remote locations.
About Sarah:
Sarah has extensive experience in dysphagia management (swallowing impairment), rehabilitation relating to speech, language and swallow function, and augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) following a range of medical conditions, including cerebrovascular accident (stroke), traumatic brain injury, cognitive impairment, and neurological conditions. Sarah is also passionate about working with children, supporting the development of speech and language, social communication, paediatric feeding and dysphagia, and more, to help them reach their full potential.
Sarah completes diagnostic assessments for Autism Spectrum Disorder for both paediatric and adult clients and is also skilled as a positive behaviour support practitioner to support clients who display behaviours of concern.
Sarah believes in a holistic and client-centred approach, where interventions are tailored to suit individual needs. Sarah has enjoyed being a Clinical Educator and repeat guest lecturer on the topic of dysphagia at the University of Adelaide. She is also a Certified Practising Speech Pathologist and current member of Speech Pathology Australia.
Connect Allied Health describe her as:
Hard working, dedicated, passionate and kind
Outside of work
Sarah enjoys spending time with her two beautiful children (Arlo and Isla) and her husband, Shannon. She also enjoys wakeboarding, water skiing, and surfing, and has a love of traveling and experiencing new cultures.
Beach days and coffee
Sleep deprivation and mess
Sarah
Clinical Manager
Senior speech pathologist
Sarah is a dedicated and passionate speech pathologist, with just over three years’ experience in the field. Sarah is passionate about working with children with speech, language, and social communication difficulties and adults with communication and swallowing difficulties (dysphagia).
About Sarah:
Sarah enjoys all aspects of speech pathology and has a special interest in Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) to support individuals who are non-verbal or minimally verbal to find ways other ways to communicate. Sarah is dedicated to providing person-centered interventions and creates personalised and fun sessions that are based on what motivates the individual to support engagement and the best possible outcomes.
Sarah’s role at Connect Allied Health also involves mentoring our dedicated and talented speech pathology team to support ongoing professional development, in line with our commitment to ensuring evidence-based practice. Sarah supports a collaborative approach at Connect Allied Health, working alongside our Director, Clinical Managers, and Senior Clinicians, to maximise client outcomes and continuity of care.
Connect Allied Health describe her as:
Loyal, empathetic, and dedicated
Outside of work
Sarah currently enjoys checking the progress that has been made on her house that is currently being built and is always keeping her fingers crossed that they will be able to move in by the end of this year! She also enjoys spending time with her husband and their families.
Summer, tea, chocolate and Netflix
Early mornings, winter and running late
Laura
Speech pathologist
Laura graduated from Flinders University in 2019 with a Bachelor of Speech Pathology. She has experience working in a variety of settings, including homes, clinic, early learning centres, kindergartens, mainstream and specialist schools and education units. Laura is dedicated to ongoing professional development and the provision of person-centred care.
About Laura:
As such, she collaborates closely with educators and other key stakeholders to maximise a child’s potential across environments. She is also working with senior speech pathologists to develop her skills working with adults.
Laura has a passion for supporting children with speech and language difficulties whilst empowering families to do the same. Having a background in disability support, Laura has experience working with children who have Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Laura has a special interest in early intervention and is committed to providing holistic and individualised care through a client-centred approach. She enjoys the personalised nature of speech pathology as she gets to form positive relationships with her clients whilst contributing to their development across therapy.
Connect Allied Health describe her as:
Empathetic, creative, and dedicated
Outside of work
Outside of work, Laura enjoys all things health and fitness, as well as spending time with loved ones.
Going to the gym and animals
Winter weather and scary movies
Jessica
Speech pathologist
Jessica commenced as a speech pathologist earlier in 2020 and is passionate about supporting people across the lifespan to improve their communication skills and everyday participation.
About Jessica:
Jessica has worked with people of all ages to support their expressive and receptive language skills, articulation of speech sounds, social thinking, and literacy skills, and is thoughtful and creative in supporting clients to effectively communicate their wants, needs, thoughts, and feelings.
Jessica is dedicated to supporting clients and their network to develop skills and knowledge to engage, participate, and thrive, to maximise therapy outcomes and achieve their full potential!
Jessica upholds a person-centred approach and carefully considers the individual needs of her clients to make activities fun and motivating!
Connect Allied Health describe her as:
Enthusiastic, genuine and passionate
Outside of work
Jessica loves animals, spending time outdoors, and living sustainably.
Dogs and the beach
Rain and single use plastics
Ivona
Speech pathologist
Ivona graduated from Flinders University in 2019 with a Master of Speech Pathology, previously graduating with a Bachelor of Psychological Science from the University of Adelaide in 2015. She has experience working with young children (aged 1-5 years) and school-aged children (aged 5-13 years) on the Autism Spectrum across private clinics and schools.
About Ivona:
Motivated to make the positive, lifelong, and functional changes for her clients and their families, Ivona collaborates closely with parents, carers, educators, and support staff to maximise a child’s potential across environments.
Ivona has a passion for supporting children with pre-linguistic, social, and language difficulties whilst empowering families to do the same. She enjoys establishing and maintaining rapport with her clients and ensuring that her clients are having fun, whilst contributing to their development across therapy. Ivona has a special interest in early intervention and is dedicated to providing holistic and individualised therapy through a client-centred approach.
Connect Allied Health describe her as:
Passionate, energetic and bubbly
Outside of work
Ivona enjoys going on nature walks, swimming, and spending time with family and friends.
Going to the beach, making smoothies and listening to music
Heights and peak hour traffic
Mary
Clinical Manager
Senior Occupational Therapist
Positive Behaviour Support Practitioner
Mary is an experienced occupational therapist, with approximately 6.5 years in the field, and has been with CAH for just over 1 year. Mary has worked with clients of all ages and in a range of settings from aged care to paediatrics.
About Mary:
Mary has always held a true passion for assisting and supporting people of all ages increase their independence, achieve their individual goals, and improve their quality of life.
In the adult population, Mary has experience in equipment prescription, rehabilitation, and minor home modifications. In the paediatric population, Mary has experience working with children who have difficulties with fine and gross motor skills, behavioural difficulties, and sensory sensitivities, including children diagnosed with Intellectual Disability, learning delays, and Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Connect Allied Health describe her as:
Loyal, kind, calm and approachable
Outside of work
Mary loves spending time with her partner, family, friends, and her two cheeky sausage dogs (Kevin and Gary) who keep them very busy. Mary loves reading, good food, travel, music, and coffee. 😊
Good food and good coffee
Traffic and mess and disorganisation
Gael
Occupational Therapist
Gael is a calm and friendly clinician who enjoys working with a wide range of clients. She loves the diversity and freedom of occupational therapy and is passionate about helping her clients to reach their full potential and achieve their goals.
About Gael:
Gael is experienced working with children who have difficulties with fine and gross motor skills, sensory sensitivities, and behavioural difficulties, including children diagnosed with Intellectual Disability, learning delays and Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Gael also has additional training in both paediatric feeding and yoga, and is further developing skills working with the adult population.
In her spare time, Gael enjoys spending time with her own family and kids, exploring new hiking trails, playgrounds, beaches and listening to music.
Connect Allied Health describe her as:
Friendly, positive and determined
Outside of work
In her spare time, Gael enjoys spending time with her own family and kids, exploring new hiking trails, playgrounds, beaches, and listening to music.
Going to the beach and driving through the hills
Early mornings and magpies
Tara
Occupational Therapist
Clinical Mentor
Tara has experience working with toddlers, school age children, teenagers, and young adults. Tara is deeply passionate about supporting children to reach their full potential and to have some fun along the way! Tara cannot wait to learn more about working with adults and the elderly in their homes and within the community to support their goals.
About Tara:
Tara loves to watch her clients learn, grow, and increase their independence. Tara loves that occupational therapy has no “one size fits all” and everyone is different and possesses different skills!
Tara is very excited to be a part of the Connect Allied Health team! 😊
Connect Allied Health describe her as:
Kind, cheerful and enthusiastic
Outside of work
Tara has a young border collie puppy, Luna, who keeps her on her toes! She is a country girl at heart and because of that she loves the outdoors and being down at the river. Tara loves her sport and plays netball and volleyball.
Dogs, coffee and the river
SPIDERS!
Karice
Occupational Therapist
Clinical Mentor
Karice is an experienced occupational therapist, with approximately 6.5 years in the field and has recently commenced with CAH.
About Karice:
Karice is experienced working with adults, post a range of medical conditions, such as stroke, neurological conditions, and cognitive impairment, to support mobility and independence, to maximise the quality of life!
Karice also has experience working with children with learning difficulties and Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Karice loves the diversity of occupational therapy and is passionate about supporting people of all ages to achieve their individual goals.
Connect Allied Health describe her as:
Outgoing, passionate, and energetic
Outside of work
Karice is studying naturopathy and loves spending time with her partner and family.
Music, politics and cats
Moths, spiders and traffic
Tierney
Dietician
Tierney is a Bachelor of Nutrition and Dietetics Honours Graduate from the University of Newcastle, Australia. Tierney has completed several accreditations in specialist nutrition topics, including sports nutrition, paediatrics and maternity, chronic disease management, allergy and intolerance, emergency response nutrition and international development.
About Tierney:
Tierney has extensive Practicing experience within private, public, and not for profit sectors including Rural Generalist Dietitian, Primary Project Officer, Senior Aged Care Dietitian, Senior Clinical Dietitian, Team Leader of Dietetics, Senior Dietetic Clinical Educator, Nutrition and Dietetic Health and Education Officer, and Senior Paediatric and Maternity Dietitian. Tierney has also practiced internationally and conducted nutritional research which has been published and presented at conferences domestically and internationally. Tierney has a strong passion for evidence-based nutrition and person-centred care.
Tierney is sensitive to the personal journeys and challenges of her clients and strives to create frameworks, goals, and outcomes which are effective and achievable. Recently starting a family of her own, Tierney is based in Brisbane, Australia, and available via telehealth to assist in achieving your individual goals.
Connect Allied Health describe her as:
Adaptable, reliable and cheerful
Anything chocolate, scuba diving and filling her house with rescue pets
Poverty, world hunger and peas and carrots
Debbie
Finance Manager
Debbie joined Connect Allied Health in April 2019 and heads up our Finance department, she brings 30 + years’ experience working within the Health industry in a financial role doing end to end accounting including payroll.
About Debbie:
Debbie is passionate about working in a health service industry where in the background she can help to support the team by assisting to build a strong financial company.
Connect Allied Health describe her as:
Caring, positive, generous and approachable
Outside of work
Debbie enjoys going to church where she helps run the Alpha course, she also enjoys reading, walking her dog, and spending time with her family.
Walking and reading
Spiders and people leaving trolleys in car parks
Jemma
Governance and Coordination Manager
Jemma has a varied history prior to joining Connect Allied Health including being a former school teacher, working as a complaints case manager for a telecommunications company, and working as a therapy coordinator.
About Jemma:
Connect Allied Health describe her as:
Friendly, diligent, approachable and ambitious
Outside of work
Jemma spends most of her time with her son Caleb, husband Daniel, and her numerous pets (3x cats, 1x dog + lots of fish). Jemma also has a love of traveling and has been to a number of countries including, Egypt, Jordan, China, the UK, America, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
Summer and travelling
Winter and housework (cleaning)
Jaime
Quality and Client Coordinator
Jaime started with Connect Allied Health in 2019 in an administration position and progressed into the Quality and Client Coordination role. Jaime has extensive experience in client liaison including developing and fostering relationships to ensure a holistic family approach.
About Jaime:
Connect Allied Health describe her as:
Kind, compassionate, empathetic
Outside of work
Jaime loves spending time with her son Oli, mostly at skate parks or getting a milkshake down the beach!
Beach, wineries, sunshine, sports, spending time with family and friends
Pieces of Lego left on the floor 😑
Sabina
Therapy Coordinator
Sabina Joined Connect Allied Health in early 2020 in an office administration position and shortly later was given the opportunity to progress into therapy coordination. Previous to working with CAH, Sabina worked for the government in a ministerial office.
About Sabina:
Connect Allied Health describe her as:
Sabina has experience working in administration, retail, and hospitality. In her role at CAH, Sabina is responsible for arranging and scheduling appointments, liaising with families, schools, and other key stakeholders, mitigating travel to maximise therapy time, supporting clients to access supports that are important to them in line with individual needs and goals, ensuring all relevant paperwork is completed and supporting the therapists.
Sabina is passionate about helping people and working in a team environment and she looks forward to seeing what she can achieve at Connect Allied Health.
Helpful, efficient and caring
Outside of work
Sabina enjoys going to the river with her friends and loves camping and spending time with her partner Jordan and their border collie, Nelly. Sabina has a huge love for animals, her favourite being seals. Sabina was born in Czech Republic and moved to Australia at a young age, she would love to travel back there one day to visit her family and to again see where her life began.
Animals, pasta and going to the gym
Heights, spiders and shopping
Zoey
Therapy Coordinator
Zoey started with Connect Allied Health in early September 2020 in therapy coordination, where she is responsible for arranging and scheduling appointments including liaison with families, schools, and other key stakeholders to ensure suitable appointment times, mitigating travel to maximise therapy time, supporting clients to access supports that are important to them in line with individual needs and goals, ensuring all relevant paperwork is completed, and communicate regularly with therapists to ensure they feel supported in their role.
About Zoey:
Zoey has a Bachelor of Arts and previous to employment at CAH, Zoey worked in the Disability sector as a Disability Employment Consultant in the southern area of Adelaide. This role involved working collaboratively with people living with a range of disabilities, finding their strengths and skills, and creating vocational goals.
Zoey is excited about her position at CAH and looks forward to the future and the positive contribution she will make here.
Connect Allied Health describe her as:
Caring, bubbly and helpful
Outside of work
Zoey loves playing competitive country netball in the winter. She loves all things camping, beach and fun. Zoey recently built her first home with her partner by the ocean, along with their four-legged baby – Leni.
Keeping fit and good food