Meet our Committee

These are the people behind the scenes of the AASE 2022 National Conference.

Michelle Davies

Michelle is Principal of Chalmers Road School in Strathfield NSW. Michelle also currently holds the role of Treasurer on the New South Wales AASE Executive Committee.

Rose Dixon

Associate Professor Rose Dixon has taught in universities and special education contexts in Australia and New Zealand for more than 30 years. Her particular interests relate to embedding evidence informed practice into special education classrooms and teacher training.

Chris Grima-Farrell

Dr Christine Grima-Farrell is an experienced teacher, disability leader, teacher educator, system leader and researcher. Chris was awarded a NSW Premier’s Teaching award for Excellence in her work in the area of Inclusive Education and Research to Practice initiatives.

Sally Howell

Dr Sally Howell has been involved in the education of children with special needs for over 30 years. She has worked as a teacher, special education lecturer and consultant for over 30 years. This has involved working in public, independent and catholic schools, as well as within the Disability Programs Directorate of the NSW Department of Education.

Cathy Little

Cathy Little, PhD., is a Senior Lecturer in Special Education at the University of Sydney. Dr. Little’s research interests lie in the areas of autism spectrum disorder, positive behaviour support, and children’s mental health and well-being. Dr Little was the recipient of the 2018 Nancy Fairfax Churchill Fellowship awarded to support her research into best practice inclusive education models for students on the Autism spectrum.

Ying Sng

Dr Ying Sng has taught students with special learning needs for over 10 years. She is a special educator at the Macquarie University Special Education Centre (MUSEC) School. The focus of Ying’s doctorate was on the conversational capacities of people with autism spectrum disorders for which she was awarded the Vice Chancellor’s Commendation for Academic Excellence.

Jennifer Stephenson

Jennifer Stephenson is an associate professor and honorary research fellow at Macquarie University. She has a background in teaching students with severe disabilities and over 20 years experience in preparing special educators. She has published over 100 refereed journal articles and book chapters.

Phillip Whitefield

Phillip Whitefield has worked as a teacher, school principal and consultant in NSW schools. For many years he has provided technical assistance to schools implementing School wide Positive Behaviour Support. He is currently a research student at the University of Sydney and Vice President of AASE NSW.

Leanne Woodley

Leanne Woodley works as a senior education consultant for the Association of Independent Schools, NSW. She provides support to schools on disability legislation, Universal Design for Learning and schoolwide frameworks to assist in strengthening inclusive practices. Leanne coordinates the National Consistent Collection of Data for the NSW independent school sector and is a representative on a various working groups such as New South Wales Education Standards Authority and the Australian Association of Special Education.

Destination Partner

The 2022 AASE National Conference Keynote Speakers are proudly brought to us by BEP.

Conference Convenor

AASE is a broad-based non-categorical association concerned with all who have special education needs.

Conference Organiser

GEMS Event Management Australia is the Professional Conference Organiser for the 2022 National Conference.