Meet Our Founder
Emily MACKIE
Founder, Director and Speech Pathologist
For over a decade, Emily has continuously worked within the public and private sectors with children ranging from birth up to 18 years of age and adults in hospital. Emily graduated from The University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Applied Science (Speech Pathology) in 2009.
Emily has always had a passion for helping children reach their communication goals and academic potential. Emily also has a passion for teaching and mentoring new graduate speech pathologists. She has developed within Speak About a thorough training program for new team members and enjoys sharing her expertise with the next generation of speech therapists.
Emily has experience with working with children who have receptive and expressive language difficulties, speech sound disorders, stuttering, voice, feeding and literacy difficulties. Emily has also worked with children who present with a variety of diagnoses and conditions (e.g. Autism Spectrum Disorder and Dyslexia).
Emily is also trained in a number of literacy and reading comprehension programs, including The Spalding Method. Emily is a Member of Speech Pathology Australia, Certified Practising Speech Pathologist (CPSP), a Medicare and NDIS Provider.
When Emily is not in at Speak About, she loves getting outdoors, travelling, spending time with her husband and family and trying new foods!
Meet The Sydney Team – Speech Pathologists
Salome Ratnarajah
Senior Speech Pathologist
Salome completed a Bachelor of Speech and Hearing Sciences at Macquarie University in 2016 and then completed a Master of Speech and Language Pathology in 2018.
Salome loves working with all children and their families. She has a passion for helping children achieve their potential, through improving their communication.
Salome has experience in working with a range of communication difficulties, including speech sound disorders, language stuttering and literacy disorders.
Salome also has experience working with children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Down Syndrome and Cerebral Palsy.
Salome is a Member of Speech Pathology Australia, Certified Practising Speech Pathologist (CPSP), a Medicare and NDIS provider.
When she’s not helping children at Speak About, Salome likes playing the piano, reading, travelling and spending time with her friends and family.
Chloe Neilly
Speech Pathologist
Chloe completed a Bachelor of Health Science (Speech and Hearing) at The University of Sydney in 2018 and then completed a Master of Speech and language Pathology in 2020.
Chloe has a passion for working with children and their families to achieve their communication goals and reach their full potential. Chloe has worked with children and adults with a range of communication difficulties including speech sound disorders, language delays, stuttering, and literacy difficulties.
Chloe also has experience working with children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Down Syndrome and Cerebral Palsy.
Chloe is a Member of Speech Pathology Australia, Certified Practising Speech Pathologist (CPSP), a Medicare and NDIS provider.
When she is not helping children at Speak About, Chloe enjoys going to the gym, spending time with her friends/family, bushwalking and going to the beach.
Elayna D’Ermilio
Speech Pathologist
Elayna completed a Bachelor of Speech and Hearing Sciences at Macquarie University in 2019 and then completed a Master of Speech and Language Pathology in 2022. Elayna is a Certified Practicing Speech Pathologist and a member of Speech Pathology Australia.
Elayna has a passion for supporting children to develop their communication skills and reach their full potential. Elayna has experience working with children presenting with a range of communication difficulties including speech sound delays/disorders, language delays/disorders, stuttering and literacy difficulties.
Elayna enjoys working collaboratively with families to identify personalised goals that support the child’s needs and the families’ priorities.
When she is not helping children at Speak About, Elayna enjoys doing anything creative, cooking, and spending time with her family and friends.
Allied Health Assistants (AHA’s)
Isabella Apap
Allied Health Assistant
Isabella completed a Bachelor of Speech and Hearing Sciences at Macquarie University in 2021. Isabella is in currently in her final year studying her Master of Speech Pathology at Macquarie University.
Isabella has found her passion in speech therapy as she loves seeing children build their confidence through their ability to communicate. She has worked with children from a variety of ages working on a range of literacy skills.
When Isabella is not at Speak About or studying, she is at the beach or at the snow with her friends and family.
Mikayla Butler
Allied Health Assistant
Mikayla is in her final year of studying a Bachelor of Speech and Hearing Sciences at Macquarie University. Mikayla will be continuing her studies next year into a Master of Speech Pathology.
Mikayla has a passion for supporting children to develop their social and communication skills. Mikayla has worked with children with literacy difficulties and speech sound delays.
When Mikayla is not at Speak About or studying, she enjoys spending time to socialise with her friends and family. Mikayla also enjoys playing netball, travelling, and shopping.
Chloe Harris
Allied Health Assistant
Chloe is in her fourth year of studying her Bachelor of Applied Science (Speech Pathology) at the University of Sydney.
Chloe has a passion for supporting children to develop their communication skills and reach their full potential. Chloe has a strong interest in working with a range of communication difficulties particularly speech sound disorders and stuttering. Chloe has also worked with children with literacy difficulties and language delays.
When she is not helping children at Speak About, Chloe enjoys being outdoors, camping, bushwalking, spending time with her friends/ family as well as going to pilates.
Administration
Janneene – Hobartville
Janneene joined our administration team back in October 2019.
She came to us from a management background in the field of Retail, completing a Certificate1 though to Certificate 3 in retail, then continuing to complete her certificate 4 in Retail Management. Janneene has also continued here to complete her certificate 3 in Medical Administration.
Janneene has a passion for being around and helping people in the community and their families.
Janneene has grown up and lived most of her life here in the Hawkesbury area alongside her family. And for a few years had moved away with her husband and child to be apart of the Mudgee community, returning home to the Hawkesbury now for the past 10 years.
Janneene is happy to help with any enquires you may have and happy to pass on any concerns to your speech pathologist when needed. Being a family person, Janneene loves being with the children and the families, watching them grow and learn each day. When not being here to help answer your questions she is spending time with her husband, going on picnics and long Coastal Drives or spending time with her son and family.
Meet The Central Coast Team – Speech Pathologists
Brianna Simmons
Senior Speech Pathologist/Clinical Operations Manager
Brianna (Bree) joined the Speak About team in January 2016. She completed a Bachelor of Speech and Hearing Sciences at Macquarie University in 2013 and completed a Master of Speech and Language Pathology in 2015. With her experience and dedication to her development she has also taken on the role of our Clinical Operations Manager. Bree continues to develop her own leadership skills to impart to the team.
Brianna grew up in the Hawkesbury region but has now moved to our Tuggerah clinic to support the team on the Coast! Brianna has worked with a range of preschool and school age children with various communication difficulties including speech, language, literacy, stuttering and voice disorders.
She has been trained in the diagnosis and treatment of Childhood Apraxia of Speech using Dynamic Temporal and Tactile Cueing (DTTC), Down Syndrome, Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD), Oppositional Defiance Disorder (ODD), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Global Developmental Delay (GDD). The Nuffield Dyspraxia Programme NDP3, Rapid Syllable Transition Training (ReSt), attended seminars for Velopharyngeal Insufficiency (VPI), Cleft palate and Neurodiverse Affirming Practises for Autistic children.
Bree also enjoys supporting students and new graduate speech pathologists as they enter the workplace over the last 5 years. Brianna is a Member of Speech Pathology Australia, Certified Practising Speech Pathologist (CPSP), a Medicare and NDIS provider.
When she is not helping children at Speak About, Brianna loves spending time with her two dogs (Sunny and Cooly), horse riding and shopping.
Allied Health Assistants
Madeline
Madeline is in her final year of studying her Bachelor of Speech Pathology at the University of Newcastle.
Madeline feels very passionate about supporting all children’s communication development and their families in a fun, creative, and welcoming environment.
Madeline has experience working with children who have speech sound disorders, language delays, fluency and literacy difficulties.
Allied Health Assistants
Kelly
Kelly joined our administration team in February 2023.
Kelly has a background in hospital & allied health administration. She loves being the first point of contact on reception greeting children & their families with a welcoming smile & friendly chat.
Kelly is happy to answer any questions that you might have & has a passion for supporting families.
Kelly is family orientated, loves cooking & is a Mum to two beautiful children.