The Team

Dedication, Expertise, Passion

Elise Cassidy

Director

Elise Cassidy

Elise is a Paediatric Speech Pathologist with almost 30 years experience working with children of all ages. She is the Director of Little Voices Speech Pathology and specialises in working with families and schools in the area of school-aged language and literacy development. She is passionate about the teaching of literacy and supporting schools and families in evidence based methods for teaching reading and spelling. Through numerous years of supporting students who have been let down by the current methods of literacy teaching in Australia, Elise has become a strong advocate for students with dyslexia, and is an active member of various Dyslexia support groups throughout Australia. Elise is trained in many evidence based literacy programs, such as Orton-Gillingham, Sounds Write, and Dyslexia Action Literacy Program. She has a post-graduate certificate in Structured Teaching for Dyslexia from Dyslexia Action, and is a founding member of the national dyslexia charity, Code Read Dyslexia Network. Elise has presented for SPELD Victoria, Sharing Best Practice conferences and Little Learners Love Literacy in areas relating to literacy development and dyslexia.

Speech Pathologist

Carrie Spriggs

Carrie completed her Master of Speech Pathology at Charles Sturt University and is a Certified Practicing Speech Pathologist and registered member of Speech Pathology Australia. With 28 years of experience as a primary school teacher, Carrie brings a deep understanding of education, child development, and the classroom environment to her work as a speech pathologist. After completing a master’s degree in early childhood special education, she moved to Australia from Texas in 2003, where she continued her teaching career before making a purposeful transition into speech pathology. Carrie has extensive experience supporting children of all ages and across a wide range of learning needs. She has strong knowledge of the Victorian Curriculum and Disability Inclusion frameworks, and is particularly passionate about language and literacy development. Drawing on her combined background in education and speech pathology, Carrie supports children to build the communication skills they need to feel confident, capable, and supported at school and beyond. She is committed to strengths-based, inclusive practice and helping every child experience success in learning.

Telehealth Speech Pathologist

Tina Pickford

Tina completed her degree in Speech Pathology at Curtin University in 2005 with first class honours. She is a Certified Practicing Speech Pathologist and registered member of Speech Pathology Australia with over 20 years of experience helping children with language, literacy, and auditory processing difficulties. Tina is passionate about helping kids no matter where they live, and is highly experienced providing therapy via telehealth (Zoom). She has a special interest in Dyslexia and has completed additional training in literacy including Orton-Gillingham, Sounds-Write and Read3 approaches. Tina speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese, and when she's not at her computer you'll find her out rollerblading or at Chinatown eating noodles.

Administration / Practice Manager

Adele Whitchurch

Adele joins our clinic with over 30 years of Administration experience. She is a mum of 2 boys who keep her very busy, so when she’s not in the clinic she’s likely to be running around trying to keep up with them. In her free time she’s a busy basketball mum and when she can, loves to spend time with friends and family.

Allied Health Assistant

Amber Bunnell

Amber has joined our clinic as an allied health assistant. She is currently studying a certificate IV in Dance Teaching and management and aims to then study a Bachelor of Speech Pathology course once she has completed her certificate IV. Amber is currently a dance teacher and has been working with children since she was 10. She enjoys teaching children new skills, whilst making learning fun and enjoyable. Amber has grown up with an autistic, non-verbal younger brother and has developed an increased understanding of how to adjust her communication to fit an individual's needs. She has also grown up attending many speech pathology sessions with her brother and now aspires to also work as a paediatric speech pathologist in her future.