Registered Psychologist 

Sarah Melville

Hello! I'm Sarah, and I am happy you are here.

I am a Registered Psychologist with a variety of experience all pertaining to supporting children and their families. I hold a Masters of Education degree in School and Applied Child Psychology from the University of Calgary. Since the completion of my graduate studies, my expertise and interest lie in assessing and addressing the unique needs of children, youth, and adults within educational and clinical settings. I have training, and supervision in conducting psychological assessments in the areas of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Intellectual Disabilities, Specific Learning Disorders, Anxiety, Depression, Autism, and other neurodevelopmental disorders. My goal while working with every client, is to provide useful information, tailored recommendations, and create a space in which you feel comfortable asking questions, learning about the assessment and outcome, and feel confident applying the shared information in your everyday life. It is my belief that in order to make a true impact, there needs to be collaboration with multiple people who impact an individual's life. Working with, and collaborating with parents, families, teachers, and involved healthcare professionals is a key step towards making positive change. The relationship that is created during an assessment needs to have a foundation of trust, respect, and compassion.

When I'm not at work, I am spending time with my fiancé and our guilt free spoiled dog. We enjoy a quality cup of coffee, and exploring new trails within our beautiful river valley.

Behaviour Consultant

Simba Nyazika

Hi I'm Simba,

I am a behaviour consultant with over 7 years of experience supporting children and teenagers at home, school and in the community to learn the skills they need to succeed. I have a broad range of expertise working with individuals who have autism, OCD, developmental delays, down syndrome, intellectual disabilities and ADHD. My education includes a bachelor of science in psychology and a bachelor of science in neuroscience from the University of Alberta.

My family-centered approach involves identifying evidence-based interventions that align with your specific goals. I am proficient in utilizing a variety of frameworks including SCERTS, NRF, ABA and CBT to provide support for emotional regulation, unsafe or harmful behaviours, safety, sexuality, anxiety, flexibility and independence.

A little bit about myself, I hail from Zimbabwe and migrated to Canada with my family in 2005. I am passionate about coffee, travelling and Latin dancing. It would be my pleasure to meet you and your family.

Speech-Language Pathologist

Sara Peters

Hi, I’m Sara!
I believe that everyone deserves a voice and I’d love to help your child find
theirs.
I am passionate about supporting children and their families with their
speech and language goals. To best meet your child’s and family’s needs, I
offer assessment and treatment, as well as a variety of learning workshops.
My experience includes working in home, school, clinic, and hospital
settings, throughout central, western, and northern Canada and
internationally in Saudi Arabia and Ecuador. I have spent much of my
career working with people with autism and other developmental
disabilities. I have a passion for alternative and augmentative
communication (AAC) to both replace and support children to develop
spoken language. I graduated from McGill University in 2007 and have over
17 years of clinical experience.
I am committed to staying current with best practices and have additional
training in many different treatment approaches, which helps me identify
what tools and systems may best help your child and family. Some of the
treatment approaches I am trained in are: Pivotal Response Treatment,
Hanen, PROMPT, Pragmatic Organization Dynamic Display (PODD),
LAMP Words for Life, Proloquo2Go, TouchChat HD with WordPower,
Gestalt Language Processing, and others.
In my free time I volunteer with the Global Autism Project that works to
support people with autism to be included and thrive within their
community. I love spending time outdoors and camping with my husband
and three dogs. I enjoy traveling, scuba diving and training my dogs in
search and rescue, barn hunt and agility.

Speech-Language Pathologist 

Kristin Baker 

Hello I’m Kristin!
I have been working as a Speech Language Pathologist both clinically and in a consultant role
for over 15 years since graduating from the University of Alberta.

My area of work has focused on assessment, and treatment of preschool and school aged
children with: phonological and articulation disorders, language delays as well as developmental

language disorders. I strongly believe that every person has a right to access and participate
fully in communication interactions and I will work hard to ensure that your child can experience
meaningful and effective communication.

I very much look forward to meeting your family

Occupational Therapist 

Stephanie Pearson

Hello I’m Stephanie!

I graduated from the University of Alberta over 12 years ago and have been working as a pediatric
occupational therapist for the past 11 years. I have a Diploma in Counselling Psychology and use the
Neurorelational Framework to guide my practice. I have a broad range of experience working with
children 0-18 in home, school, community, and clinical settings in the areas of feeding, parent-child
interactions, sleep, sensory processing, functional activities such as toileting, dressing, self-care, fine
motor, and executive functioning skills. I specialize in feeding infants to older children, helping children
with anxiety, and aiding new moms in better understanding their infant’s development and challenges
in order to help reduce parental stress and anxiety.

I live in Edmonton with my husband, two children, and our dog. When I’m not working, I love being in
the outdoors, curling up with a good book, baking, and spending time with my family.

Registered Nurse 

Melissa Mak

Hello I’m Melissa, 

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I am a bilingual Registered Nurse with over 18yrs experience in paediatric care within the Stollery Children’s Hospital and paediatric community clinic.  At the Stollery Children’s hospital, I had the privilege of working with children from birth to 18 yrs undergoing Organ surgery and transplant.  In my role, I supported in-patient complex medical care and treatment to children with life altering diagnosis.

Within the community clinic setting I provide a wide variety of nursing services to patients and their families to help promote, prevent, and  maintain health and wellbeing. My experience includes newborn and infant care, parent health advice, healthy habits, health promotion and education, disease prevention, safe health practices, childhood Immunizations, medication management, monitoring treatment plans and coordinating healthcare professionals. I also have my Functional Medicine Health Coach certification. 

I am passionate about educating and empowering families to live their healthiest lives. 

Occupational Therapist 

Kelly Marcotte 

Hi I'm Kelly,

I graduated from the University of Alberta over 18 years ago and I have been working as a paediatric (children’s) occupational therapist since then. I have had a broad range of experience working with both young children, school-aged children and youth. I specialize in assessment and treatment in the areas of feeding, sleep, sensory processing, toileting, play, and other functional challenges such as dressing and fine motor skills. Over my career I have had the opportunity to present at conferences & trainings to professionals and parents. Now I work alongside some of the best clinicians and child psychiatrists in Canada at Progressive Paediatrics and Elmtree Clinic.

I live in Edmonton with my husband and two daughters. My passion for developmental paedatrics comes with my lived experience raising a child with ADHD and being a sibling to my brother who has Down Syndrome and Autism Spectrum Disorder. My personal experiences have led me to a career in helping individuals and families reach their goals by providing exceptional research based assessment and intervention.

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I look forward to meeting your family.

Occupational Therapist

Val Guiltner

Hi, I’m Val.

I graduated from the University of Alberta in 1990 with my Occupational therapy degree and then again in 2000 following a Masters of Education degree. Over 32 years I have honed my skills as a therapist, a researcher and an administrator. In addition to working within the school system, I spent over 21 of those years at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital. While at the Glenrose I worked extensively with young children and youth with a variety of conditions: mental health challenges, acquired brain injury, cerebral palsy, spinal cord injury & spina bifida, neuromuscular disease, learning disabilities, ADD/ADHD, sensory processing issues, dyspraxia/Developmental Coordination Disorder, etc. In addition, I spent years in a variety of diagnostic clinics working with a multidisciplinary team and physicians to assess for and diagnose FASD, ADD/ADHD, Autism, Learning Disabilities, Developmental Coordination Disorder and many other developmental challenges.

My goal is to try to help as many families as I can,I know life can be complex and complicated, never mind the added stress of worrying about your child. I will listen without judgement and will partner with you in the care of your child. After 32 years in the Edmonton community, I am well connected and will help you find the services and supports you want for your child in the future while we engage in therapy together.  

I look forward to meeting your family!

Educational Behaviour Consultant

Michelle Ashworth 

Hello, I’m Michelle! 

Over the past decade, I have had the opportunity to support many children and their families in home, in school, and in the community.  I began my career in the field as a front-line staff, working in respite, educational assistant roles and summer camps.  I have had the opportunity to work with individuals aged 3-15 years old, and collaborate on transdisciplinary teams (with SLPs, OTs, PTs, teachers, dieticians, etc) to support a variety of diagnoses including; autism, ADHD, global development delays, OCD, mental health challenges, down syndrome, learning disabilities, and more. While attending the University of Alberta for Elementary Education, I mentored educational assistants working in preschool, daycare, and kindergarten settings, where I found my passion of supporting children with behavioural needs. Over the past 4 years, I have worked as a behaviour consultant, specifically supporting emotional regulation, sensory differences, unsafe or harmful behaviours, safety, flexibility in thinking, sexuality, community outings, and managing expectations based on the individual's skills and challenges.

A little bit about me! I am originally from Ontario but have lived in Alberta for almost 10 years. I have a beautiful daughter, Annabelle, who is a busy toddler and an older dog named Bean. My spouse Nic and I love the outdoors and try to get to the mountains as often as we can. I love cooking, broadway musicals, crafting, reading, and helping others. 

I cannot wait to meet you and your family!

Registered Dietitian

Jillian Garrison

Hello, I'm Jill!

I am a busy mom of 5 year old twins and a pediatric dietitian. I trained at the University of Alberta and received a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in Nutrition and Food Science with a specialization in dietetics. I am registered with the College of Dietitians of Alberta and have been practicing since 2008. 

Feeding our kids can be stressful and difficult-I get this! Maybe you’re dealing with your child refusing foods and feeding ends up in a food battle. Or you have concerns around the health & nutrition of your baby/child. Well, I am here to help! 

My work over the past 14 years has focused extensively on feeding, picky eating, and food allergies. I have additional training in the SOS Approach to Feeding and responsive feeding therapy. My philosophy and approach takes the whole family into account, and I aim to be very responsive to the information our children give us around their struggles with food and eating. I believe our kids are speaking to us “in code” with these different responses and behaviours. We can transform ourselves into detectives and use their “code” as clues to the underlying reason why they are struggling or refusing foods. I help support parents in their feeding journey by finding ways for kids to be safe, calm, capable and ready (inner motivation) to eat.

An initial assessment will include a thorough review of the child’s medical history and factors that may be causing struggles in eating or getting in the way of adequate nutrition. I will listen compassionately and with curiosity to your story and what you may have tried in the past, and then offer practical strategies for you to try. We will create a realistic plan for you to follow and I will work with you to figure out what is working or when to try a different approach.

 If this sounds like the right approach for you, let’s work together so that you can feel more at ease feeding your family. 

Educational Behaviour Consultant

April Prescott

Hi, I'm April! 

 I am an intervention specialist with over 15 years of experience in special needs preschool settings. I graduated from the University of Alberta with a Bachelor of Elementary Education and am completing my Masters in Counselling Psychology through Yorkville University.  I am also a 500-hour trained yoga teacher and mindfulness teacher through Mindful Schools. 

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My career has been focused on children ages 3 to 5 and their various needs. My work with Aboriginal Head Start has provided a foundation of knowledge and experience for working with First Nation, Metis, and Inuit children and families. I have years of experience woriking within an interdisciplinary team and am looking forward to becoming a psychologist for children and families. My work at Progressive Paediatrics includes consultation for behaviour in homes and educational settings, training for professionals, coaching, and family support for early intervention.

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In my free time, I train dogs for sheep herding and therapy. I enjoy being outdoors and am studying for my Masters. 

I look forward to meeting you! 

Operations & Therapy Assistant

Madaline Lauman

Hi, I’m Maddie!

I have been working with children and adults with special needs and their families for almost ten years now in both work-based and volunteer capacities. I have volunteered with Best Buddies programs in CLS-BLA classrooms as well as for Special Olympics. I have worked frontline as a respite worker, educational assistant, interventionist, and also as a program lead. In December 2024, I will graduate from the University of Alberta with my Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education.

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I have experience working with people with a wide variety of disabilities from ages three all the way into adulthood. It is my passion to help people and their families, making their lives better and easier in whatever way that I can. I am so excited to be a part of the Progressive Paediatrics team, and to help to coordinate whatever services may be the best fit for each client. 

In my free time I enjoy the outdoors, particularly bike riding and traveling to the mountains. I also enjoy painting, and spending time with my silly cat Obi.

Director of Operations

Melissa Malasheski

Hi, I'm Melissa!

I have over eight years' experience supporting front line, administrative and management within the disability services community. Over my career I have supported many families and collaborated with multiple disciplinary teams through different funding models to ensure families are getting the best services possible. 

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My personal experience of raising a son who has multiple diagnoses (Autism, Anxiety, DCD) drives my passion to ensure families are able to access high quality, transparent services. I know how frustrating it can be to feel like you are hitting dead ends when it comes to getting help for your child, family member, or client. I am thrilled to have to opportunity to work alongside such an amazing group of experienced professionals to bring services directly to clients. 

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I am excited for this opportunity to be able to help support you, or someone you may know! I am just a call or click away. 

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