Combined, the team at Monarch House Autism Centre has over 105 years of experience working with individuals who have a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), other developmental delays and special needs. Members of our treatment team are all highly trained in their area of expertise. Our combined experience and expertise allows us to provide families dealing with a diagnosis of ASD with progressive assessments and treatment that adhere to current best practices in the field. As a team, we continue to learn from each-other and attend trainings and education to best support our clients.
Our Clinical Team
Chelsea Ganam - Clinical Director
Chelsea Ganam has 15 years of experience providing services to families, children, and youth who are impacted by a diagnosis of ASD. Her broad range of experience includes one-on-one and group intervention, assessments, development of behavior plans, training of behavior interventionists and parents, consulting to school and community programs, and developing intensive intervention programs. She also has extensive counseling experience. Chelsea's previous position as the Senior Behaviour Consultant with the Province of BC's Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD) had her developing and advising program policy for BC's Provincial Autism Programs, creating expert panels within BC and across Canada, as well as participating as an advisory member to prominent ASD organizations in the field. She has a Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology and is a registered member of the BC Association of Clinical Counsellors.
Megan Symonds - Board Certified Behaviour Analyst and Speech-Language Pathologist
Megan Symonds completed her Master's degree in Speech Sciences as well as additional Master's level courses in Special Education at the University of British Columbia. Megan's broad experience includes working with children who have a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and other special needs on a multidisciplinary team in both the community and specialized autism program. Her background and training includes Hanen certification, SCERTS training, SOS approach to feeding, PECS and assistive technology.
Becca Yu - Speech-Language Pathologist
Becca is a certified Speech Language Pathologist who completed her Master's of Art in Speech-Language Pathology at Northwestern University in 2009. She is certified by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). Becca has experience working with children diagnosed with autism as a behaviour interventionist, SLP practicum student and as a certified SLP in a variety of settings including home, private practice, school, hospital and public health. Becca is very passionate about working with children with Autism and is excited to be a part of the Monarch House team.
Jennifer Marshall - Behaviour Consultant
Jennifer Marshall has been working with children with autism for 12 years and is a "Category A" Behaviour Consultant on the Registry of Autism Service Providers (RASP). Jennifer received a Master of Special Education (M.Ed.) with a focus in Autism from the University of British Columbia in 2008. Her experience includes work at Toronto Preschool Autism Centre, which provided both center-based and home based programming to children under the age of 6. While obtaining her M.Ed. she worked as a Behaviour Interventionist in family homes as well as a Behaviour Consultant providing behaviour support to families with school-aged children. All of Jennifer's practice has been based on the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis. She is well on her way to becoming a Board Certified Behaviour Analyst.
Erin Marks - Behaviour Consultant
Erin graduated from the University of Victoria with her Bachelor of Arts with a major in Psychology and has completed her Masters of Education in Special Education (with a concentration in Autism) from the University of British Columbia. She is currently pursuing her Board Certified Behaviour Analyst Certification (BCBA). Erin's experience is drawn from her work as being part of a multi-disciplinary team working in both centre and home-based programs with children who have a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Erin takes a family centered approach and uses principals of Applied Behaviour Analysis combined with Natural Environment Teaching to provide best practice in supporting children with autism and their families. When she isn't busy studying, Erin enjoys coaching rhythmic gymnastics to athletes involved with Special Olympics and spending time with her friends and family.
Tialha Nover - Board Certified Behaviour Analyst
Tialha completed both her Bachelors in Behavioral Psychology and her Masters in Behavior Analysis at Western Michigan University. Throughout her undergraduate and graduate education she gained her experience at an early intervention Autism program at Croyden Avanue School in Kalamazoo Michigan which provides behavioral services for children ages 18 months-6 years. She is currently a "Category A" Behavior Consultant on the Registry of Autism Service Providers (RASP) and is a Board Certified Behaviour Analyst (BCBA).
Laurie Cocardon - Behaviour Consultant
Laurie Cocardon has 20 years of practical knowledge and experience working with children diagnosed with ASD from the ages of 6 – 19. Her practice encompasses working in the community, individual family homes, as well as in specialized multi-disciplinary schools teams in both California and Vancouver. Laurie is currently the only certified PEERS trainer in BC. She has taught courses on Autism to families and professionals. She is accomplished in completing functional assessments, designing, monitoring and evaluating individualized and group program plans that are specific to each child and their family. When Laurie isn't busy working away she likes to spend time with her friends and family.
Charlene Bradbury - Speech Language Pathologist
Charlene completed her Master's degree in Speech-Language Pathology at the University of Alberta in 2000. She has supported school aged children with a wide range of communication impairments for 8 years in the Quesnel School District. She also has 2 years of experience providing early intervention services to children with complex needs throughout B.C. Highlights of her training include: PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System), PROMPT (Prompts for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets), and SCERTS (Social Communication, Emotional Regulation, Transactional Support). She has extensive experience working with multidisciplinary teams, including School Based Teams and a CDBC (Complex Developmental and Behavioral Conditions) diagnostic team. She is excited to embark on this new journey at Monarch House!
Narmin Hemani - Occupational Therapist
Narmin completed her Master of Science degree in Occupational Therapy at the University of Toronto. Prior to moving from Ontario to join the Monarch House team, she provided community services to children aged 0 to 18 years with a variety of diagnoses, working closely with families and school teams. Her interest in Autism began with an undergraduate thesis and work as a behaviour interventionist. She is excited to continue to focus her clinical practice on pediatric health and, in particular, the ASD population. Narmin is committed to ongoing professional development and her training includes The S.O.S. Approach to Feeding, Handwriting without Tears, Pediatric Neurodevelopmental Treatment, Food Chaining, and courses exploring the sensory systems. She is looking forward to this unique opportunity to work on an interdisciplinary team, integrating a variety of perspectives to achieve individualized goals, while exploring the west coast!
Nidhi Nagpal - Occupational Therapist
Nidhi received her Masters of Occupational Therapy from the University of Alberta and also completed a Bachelors of Science in Psychology from the University of Victoria. Nidhi previously worked in Victoria, providing services to children with a diagnosis of ASD and various other developmental disabilities. Prior to completing her Masters she worked as a behavioural interventionist where she discovered her passion for working with children. In addition, Nidhi is certified in Therapeutic Listening therapies. Nidhi's therapy is based on a client-centred model of practice with a special interest in sensory integration, life skills and development of fine and gross motor skills.