Michelle Santarelli has been working as a speech and language Pathologist since graduating from Newcastle University in 2004. Michelle has a passion for helping children with speech, language and literacy difficulties. Michelle has worked in an extensive variety of services over the years including community health settings, early intervention centres, preschools, school settings, hospitals and finally in private practice. Throughout this time, Michelle has undertaken extensive post graduate training in the areas of Autism Spectrum Disorder, early language stimulation, literacy intervention and learning disorders.

About Stepping Stones Is your child having difficulties with participating fully in their life? Are they less independent than you would like? Stepping Stones can help. We offer a wide range of occupational therapy services to assist you in helping your child to develop the skills and confidence they need to flourish. We see children from birth to 18 years and can offer a comprehensive assessment and individualised interventions to meet the needs of your child. We are available to see children in our clinics, their own homes, at school or in the community. Occupational Therapists (OT’s) are registered health professionals who help people overcome challenges in their everyday occupations. You might wonder what occupations your child has, and the answer to that is many! The primary occupation of childhood is play. Your child will spend many hours of the day engaged in different types of play activities, and during this time they are busy developing essential physical, sensory, social, emotional and cognitive (i.e., thinking) skills that lay the foundations for success in later life. Other childhood occupations include self-care tasks (e.g., feeding yourself, having a bath, washing your hair, getting dressed, doing up buttons and shoelaces etc.) and activities of productivity (e.g. kindy/school activities, handwriting, using scissors, doing chores etc.). Stepping Stones OT’s are trained to assess your child’s performance in these areas in order to determine the specific barriers to their success. Using this information we can then design a treatment program to meet your child’s individual needs. We then work with you in order to help your understanding and to give you practical tools and advice that you can use at home.

Wise Mind Psychology is a Newcastle-based mental health collective that was built on the values of professional excellence, empathy, and respect. We believe everyone has the strength to live the life they value, and we are here to provide quality mental health care to help people achieve improved well-being. Our supportive team of accredited psychologists is dedicated to delivering the highest value evidence-based therapy in a non-judgmental, collaborative, and accepting way. We help our clients connect with one of our clinicians who best matches their personal needs and requirements.

breakthru is a national not-for-profit organisation committed to empowering people to create their own futures. Through the provision of high-quality person-centric programs, we enable thousands of people every year to address mental health, employment, disability, homelessness and training needs. breakthru operates on the premise that everyone’s needs, preferences and aspirations are different. Our commitment to client choice and family inclusion is well demonstrated through our individualised services and person-centred principles. We have a specific focus on assisting those most in need and offer specialist programs for those facing the challenge of an intensive mental health illness, a disability or physical health issue, long-term unemployment, unmet education goals or homelessness.

Beyond Boundaries Rehab is a unique family ran business located in Newcastle and the Hunter. Born in 2016, we have worked hard to provide responsive services reflective of our values, purpose and the needs of our community. We are at our best, when working with people of all ages, living with complex movement disorders, brain injury, neurological disorders and spinal injury/disease. We have a strong passion for early intervention, education and capacity building and love working in a flexible way to suit your lifestyle and needs.

Shine On Support Services recognises that all people with disability have the right to feel valued and have the opportunity to participate fully in life in society as they choose. Shine on Support Services is committed to promoting person centred practice and a positive image of people with a disability, recognising that this can positively influence self-esteem and provide opportunities for enhanced citizenship through their inclusion in the community.

WE ARE A DISABILITY SUPPORT SERVICE PROVIDER IN LAKE MACQUARIE, NSW. We believe that our school aged children and young adults with disabilities need constant interaction and communication with their peers, those of similar age and interests to build and form friendships and life skills. Our goal is to commence social programs for school aged children and continue supporting their development and independence when they leave school. Our team at The Happy Human Hub have found that participants who choose to include educational games and programs integrated into their daily program, are continuing to show improvement in all areas including development in speech and communication, physical, tactile, gross and fine motor skills. We have chosen ‘fun, interactive' ways to support continuous learning in all aspects of the participant's plan, including physical activities, improve independence, educational learning, community access and social activities.

Hunter Care Group was the brainchild of our CEO Jarrod Burns. Having worked in the disability support industry for years, he was frustrated by seeing both clients and staff treated poorly – and he set out to change things for the better for everyone. Today, we’re a young, energetic, fresh-thinking team of mental health and disability support specialists on a mission to shake up the industry. We want participants to live life as comfortably and proactively as possible and staff to be happy in their work. We’re currently one of the largest NDIS providers in the Hunter region – with the potential to grow nationwide. However, expansion will only happen when we’re 100% confident we can still deliver the same high level of reliable, consistent and individualised support.

Nextcares. The future of Living with Disability in Newcastle. To combat a national problem, we are creating a community hub promoting inclusion & independence. Nextcares is dedicated to providing our participants and their families with highly personalised services that are tailored to each and every individual need that you or your loved one may have. This is our service promise – we are the ones who will adapt to you so that you get what you need out of your care.

Castle Newcastle provides employment services to job seekers and employers throughout the Newcastle area. Our Disability Employment Services team supports people with injury, illness or disability find and keep a job in Newcastle, and helps local businesses recruit skilled, loyal and diverse teams. We're proud to have helped more people with disabilities find a job and live meaningful lives, than any other organisation operating in Newcastle, the Hunter and Central Coast region. We understand intimately what it takes to transform the lives of the people we support, because we've been doing it successfully for many years. If you're looking for work, want to build an inclusive workforce, or need unique, tailored NDIS programs, talk to Castle Newcastle.