Teresa Cheung
MEG Laboratory Manager

Teresa is a PhD candidate in the Department of Physics at Simon Fraser University. Her MEG experience comes from being part of the research and development team who built the first whole-head MEG system (CTF Systems Inc). During the decade that she worked for CTF, Teresa was involved in source modeling research, software development and helped install MEG systems worldwide. She joined DSRF in 2003 to assist in the installation of the DSRF MEG. She is currently the MEG laboratory manager, helping researchers learn how to set up and collect MEG data. Teresa's PhD thesis involves the development of hardware models called phantoms that simulate complex brain activity. Teresa's research is supported by Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research.
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Les Cole
Instructor

Christopher Ian Dickson
Office Assistant

Christopher has worked as an office assistant with the foundation for approximately six years. He is a hard working young man with Down syndrome. His duties in the office include reception and the maintenance of office recycling. In his spare time Christopher is involved in Special Olympics where he participates in swimming, floor hockey and softball. He is also an active member in the “Developmentally Challenged Youth Basketball Association”. Christopher is currently enrolled in the DSRF Transitions program as well as the Next Chapter Book Club. His experience, knowledge, and friendly personality have become an asset to the DSRF office over the years.

Susan Fawcett, M.Sc. RSLP
Registered Speech Language Pathologist

Susan acquired her M.Sc. degree in Speech-Language Pathology from UBC. She obtained research scholarships relating to her thesis on language assessment in young children with autism. Previously, Susan had worked for 10 years with people with developmental disabilities before starting her work with the Down Syndrome Research Foundation in 2003. Susan provides individual assessment and therapy sessions, consultative services and facilitating conversation and social skills in small group programs. She also enjoys giving presentations to parents and professionals, and teaches an education course at Simon Fraser University. Susan’s research interests include the efficacy of speech-language treatment specific to people with intellectual disabilities, and along with colleagues from UBC, she has conducted a pilot research program on the use of ultrasound to help improve speech in young adults with Down syndrome.

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Marla Folden
Teaching Assistant

Marla is a brand new addition to the DSRF team. She is currently working with students in the RAC Plus program in Burnaby & Surrey. She is finishing up her degree in Linguistics at SFU with a plan to study Speech and Language Pathology in the future. Marla spent the summer at the DSRF working in programs like Language Express, Summer School, and Music in Motion. She is excited to continue at DSRF and to get a chance to meet and work with all of our students. Email Marla

Catherine Kubat
Teacher

Catherine graduated from the University of Victoria in 1983 with her teaching degree in Early Childhood/Special Education. She came to the DSRF in 2007 with extensive experience in teaching individuals with varied learning disabilities in the regular classroom, special education resource room and early intervention environments. Catherine is the Teacher for the adult literacy program in South Surrey which focuses on strengthening literacy, math and computer skills following an individualized ability approach. Catherine finds that teaching in this setting has been the most rewarding of her career to date and looks forward to future years of teaching with the DSRF organization. Email Catherine

Hina Mahmood
Administrative Assistant, Volunteer Coordinator

Hina has been with the DSRF since August 2008 and is working as the office administrative assistant and volunteer coordinator. She is also the design and production coordinator for the DSRF newsletter, 'Hand In Hand' and manages the DSRF/CSL wesbites and facebook page. She graduated from Simon Fraser University with a BA in Psychology and hopes to attain a Masters in Occupational Therapy. Hina comes to the foundation with 4 years of experience as an admin assistant and manages basic office tasks including program registrations. Hina is also the contact person for prospective volunteers wanting to work at DSRF. Although Hina has only been with the foundation for a short time she is excited about the opportunity to work with individuals who have developmental disabilities and to also help in making DSRF a great success. Email Hina

Danielle McKinney
Teacher, One-to-One Reading Program

Alexander Moiseev
Signal Processing Scientist

Alexander's background is in physics and signal processing. He received his Ph.D. from Moscow Physical Technical Institute (Russian Federation). Alexander got hands on experience with MEG (Magnetoencephalography) working for three years as a research scientist at CTF Systems (later VSM Medtech), which until 2007 was one of the world leaders in design and manufacturing of MEG instruments. He joined DSRF in April 2007 to help scientists and doctors working in DSRF MEG lab with their projects and data analysis. Alexander's own research interests are mainly focused on development of new techniques in analyzing magnetic fields of the human brain, that may help us better understand its functioning.
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Sara Peralta
Teaching Assistant

Sara joined the DSRF team in July 2007 as a summer assistant for the Language Express and Chatter Camp programs. Since then she has returned every summer and has been part of the Summer School staff. She now works as a teacher assistant in the Reading and Communication program, as well as the one to one reading program. Sara has a diploma in Classroom and Community Support with a Behavioural Interventionist Specialty from Douglas College, and is currently working on attaining her degree in Disability and Community Rehabilitation from University of Calgary. She has also been working as a behavioural interventionist for over four years now. Sara looks forward to working with new students this year and to see the great progress that they will make. Email Sara

Jill Petersen, M.Sc. RSLP
Registered Speech Language Pathologist

Jill earned her Master’s of Science degree in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of British Columbia and her Bachelor’s of Arts degree in Linguistics from McGill University. At UBC, she was involved in research on the narrative skills of bilingual school-aged children and also did her thesis research on the vocabulary skills of bilingual children with autism spectrum disorders. Jill worked as a Supported Childcare Consultant, a Speech-Language Pathology Assistant, and a Behaviour Interventionist before coming to DSRF in January 2010. She is now providing individual, consultative and group therapy, as well as assessment services at our main location in Burnaby and in South Surrey. Jill is excited to work as a member of DSRF’s team and to continue conducting speech-language therapy research in the future. Email Jill

Deanne Sharon Russell
Office Assistant

Deanne has worked as an office assistant with DSRF for approximately 10 years. She brings with her skills she has acquired through 21 years of work experience at Mc Donald’s and Pacific West construction company. In addition Deanne also runs her own home business crocheting and knitting various items for special customer orders. Deanne is a very dedicated office assistant. She assists in answering the phones, stocking offices supplies and provides a friendly face to the reception office. Deanne is a dedicated sister and aunt who spends much of her spare time with her family. Her other passion in life is singing - she loves a good kareoke night!

Aman Sekhon
Teacher, One-to-One Reading Program

Aman Sekhon received her undergraduate degree in Educationand post bachelorette diploma in Special Education. She has taught in the areaof Special Education for over 8 years. She also has specialized training invarious intervention programs such as Orton Gillingham, Lindamood Bell and FastForword. Aman has recently joined the DSRF as the teacher for the One-to-OneIndividual Reading Program in Abbotsford. She has a keen interest inincorporating technology into her lessons whenever possible.

Eleanor Stewart
Teacher

Eleanor joined the DSRF team in August 2008 as teacher of the former Latch-On Program. Eleanor has her degree from McGill University in Kindergarten and Elementary Education. Eleanor has years of experience working with youth including experience at Marpole-Oakridge Community Centre where she was grant manager of the summer and winter day camps. She worked at Aunt Leah’s Independent Life Skills Society, a non-profit organization that assists disadvantaged youth lacking stable support systems in their lives. As a youth worker she provided support and helped adolescents learn the necessary life skills to live independently. Eleanor also worked at the Vancouver Learning Centre for 4 years where she taught adults and children with learning difficulties. Here at DSRF Elanors roles expands beyond teaching students in class, she also hosts seminars for teachers, support workers and family members to show them successful tequniques to teach people with developmental diabilities literacy skills. Email Eleanor