CALS 2025 Speakers

I began my communications career in Toronto at a mid-size PR firm. Returning to Nova Scotia, I went on to cultivate a specialty in government and stakeholder relations while employed as a senior policy advisor for the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Heritage and the Minister of Community Services. That experience translated well for my clients during my time as an account supervisor at an internationally recognized marketing communications agency based in Halifax and Toronto.

As owner of Allison Garber Communications, I am a communications generalist offering a wide variety of communications services including media, government and stakeholder relations, issues and crisis management, event planning, and social media strategy development.

In recent years, much of my work has focused on supporting various mental health initiatives and strategies  – both in my personal and professional capacities.

I’ve served as a vocal advocate on issues pertaining to mental health and addiction, appearing on CTV’s primetime special for Bell Let’s Talk day and sharing my story with CBC’s Now or Never radio program and Silken Laumann’s Unsinkable project.

I am a graduate of the University of King’s College, and received NSCC’s Advanced Diploma in Public Relations.

In my off-hours, I’m the communications representative on the Board of Directors for Autism Nova Scotia.

Tom is an advocate for acceptance of people on the autism spectrum. He has been invited to speak and do presentations at many national conferences, including the Geneva Centre for Autism conference in Toronto, the pre-eminent international conference on autism. Tom is featured in the film Autism Grows Up, a Kelly Brothers/Ability Hub production, which takes a look at the employment challenges of young adults living on the spectrum. He is also featured in the book “Autism: The Gift That Needs to Be Opened”; a resource aimed at improving the lives of parents, educators, and of those on the autism spectrum.

In 2013, Tom received a Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal to recognize his volunteer work with the Autism Society of Newfoundland and Labrador.  In 2023, Tom received the second annual Jim and Ginette Munson Autism Leadership Award from the Autism Alliance of Canada, in recognition of his demonstrated leadership and commitment to autism awareness and acceptance.

Tom was recently a part of a team of Autistic adults and family members that assembled a Mental Health Literacy Guide for adults on the spectrum.  The Autism Mental Literacy Project (AM-Help) is available online, and is a project of York University, the Public Health Agency of Canada, and the Center for Addiction and Mental Health.

Tom is currently a Board Member at Autism Canada, and has previously served on the board of the Autism Society of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Tom lives in St. John’s Newfoundland and Labrador.

If you want to connect with Tom Jackman, you can contact him via email: tagjackman@gmail.com 

For the last 17 years, McCarry has been navigating health systems, involved in research, policy consultations, inclusive education, employment and housing projects for the Autism and the disability community provincially and nationally. For the last 4 years, she was a member of and recent Co-Chair of the Disability Advisory Committee appointed by the Minister of Revenue and the CRA, and has contributed to 4 reports. She has been an invited panelist at many national conferences and has consulted on various topics from economic inclusion to accessibility of benefits, administrative justice and much more.   She is left her part-time role as Director of Engagement at the Child-Bright Research Network, but has remained associated with the Network as an Advisor on a research project. She is also an advisor, a McBain mentor and co-applicant on research projects studying neurodevelopmental disorders for Canadians 0-25.  She is the Founder and the Executive Director of La Fondation Place Coco and the Little Red Playhouse since its inception in 2008.

Before the creation of her charitable foundation serving Autistic children and young adults, McCarry was an accomplished business professional working with numerous Fortune 500 companies. She has worked with major brand-name companies such as Reebok, BMW Canada, Rollerblade Inc., Benetton, L’Oreal, Seagram’s and Mega Bloks doing marketing strategy and brand management. 

McCarry holds a BA from McGill University and lives in Montreal, Quebec, with her two proudly neuro-diverse young adults and two dogs, Bear and Teddy.

Sean Wiltshire is an international award-winning diversity advocate. Many folks know Sean by his large laugh, his deep voice, and his unbridled passion and commitment for helping bring change to organizations businesses and communities around the world. 

If you have heard Sean speak you know that woven into all of Sean’s presentations is his ability to tell a story to share and educate. 

Be it of finding jobs in the garment factories of Bangladesh or working with crown corporations to build a diversity plan that really works. He is known to tell it like it is, but always with a belief that we can, and should do better. 

From St. John’s to Bombay, from Vancouver to Kathmandu Sean has been helping audiences see diversity as part of a business solution. 

Professionally, for the last 32 years Sean has been the Chief Executive Officer of Avalon Employment Inc (AEI)-an employment agency for individuals with disabilities and autism that also has built a large social enterprise that has done over $154 Million Dollars in payroll for other not for profits and local businesses. 

Sean is a past President of the Provincial Regional Economic Development Association and was a member of the Ministerial Committee on Regional Renewal for the Government of Newfoundland & Labrador has also been a member of two Federal Ministerial Advisory Committees; is an Alumnus of The Governor General’s Canadian Leadership Conference (2000), and currently is a member of the National Executive Board. 

In 2017 Sean was at the United Nations in Vienna; Austria to accept the “Zero Project Award” as part of the team From York University working on employment and diversity issues in South East Asia. 

Once again, in February 2021 Sean and his organization won the prestigious Zero Project Award for their Autism Employment Inclusion Pilot, as one of the top 75 Diversity and Inclusionary Practices in the World. This award was presented virtually at the United Nations in February 2021.

Since 2021 Sean has been leading an Autism Employment Program Across the province of Newfoundland and Labrador that saw over 207 individuals find employment. 

Dr. Amanda Evans is a community pediatrician in Calgary. She trained in London, England and then completed a year of residency in Calgary prior to starting work in a busy community practice. She is engaged in teaching students at all levels of their training and enjoys sharing her love of the job with anyone who is interested. In her spare time she enjoys building Lego and completing jigsaw puzzles with the help of her cats (Zoe and Winston Wiggles).

Siyu (Suzanna) Chen is an autistic self-advocate who is passionate about disability equality and youth leadership. Her activism involves everything from performing in a fundraising concert for a local autism non-profit in Greater Vancouver, exhibiting photographs at a neurodivergent creativity conference, contributing to a book about self-advocacy for autistic young people, and representing disability-inclusive Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) campaigns by international charities during United Nations events. She was recognized for her advocacy with the Jim & Ginette Munson Autism Leadership Award at the 10th Annual Canadian Autism Leadership Summit in 2024.

Aryeh Gitterman is currently an Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Community Services at Toronto Metropolitan University. 

He joined the Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth Services (MCYS) in March 2007 as Assistant Deputy Minister (ADM) of the Policy Development and Program Design Division.  While at MCYS Aryeh was responsible for policies and programs for:

• Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Community-based mental health for children and youth
• Child protection 
• Special needs (including multiple/complex needs)
• Residential services
• Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder
• Poverty reduction strategy 

Prior to joining MCYS, Aryeh was ADM of the Instruction and Leadership Development Division, and the Business and Finance Division, Ministry of Education.  While at Education he was responsible for policies and programs for:

• Secondary school 
• Teacher quality 
• Leadership development 
• Safe schools
• Turnaround schools

Aryeh has presented at numerous meetings and conferences regarding education and children’s policies.  Selected sponsored events: the OECD, IMFAR (International Meeting for Autism Research), Asian Development Bank, American Educational Research Association, SickKids, World Bank, CAMH.

Prior to joining the public service, he worked at the Halton Board of Education, as the Head of Guidance and Special Education in a Grade 7-13 school, and as a Curriculum Coordinator for the school board.  Aryeh began his career at the Scarborough Board of Education teaching Mathematics and English in Grades 9 to 12.

Aryeh Gitterman received his B.Sc. at the University of Manitoba.  He also completed his B.Ed., M.Ed. and his Doctor of Education in Counselling Psychology at the University of Toronto.

Dr. Caroline Roncadin is a licensed Clinical Neuropsychologist in Ontario. She serves as Clinical Director of the Autism Program at McMaster Children’s Hospital and Co-Director of the McMaster Autism Research Team (MacART). Her work currently focuses on diagnosis and post-diagnostic support for Autistic children and youth, including developing and evaluating new interventions, care pathways, and service models. She has co-authored numerous peer-reviewed publications and served on various local and international committees. She was a member of the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services’ Ontario Autism Program Implementation Working Group. Dr. Roncadin has dedicated her career to understanding and improving the lived experiences of neurodiverse individuals and their families.

La Dre Fakhri Shafai est cheffe des sciences chez AIDE Canada et directrice de la formation professionnelle pour le Pacific Autism Family Network. Elle travaille auprès des personnes autistes et des personnes ayant une déficience intellectuelle depuis plus de 21 ans.

Son doctorat en neurosciences portait sur les différences de traitement sensoriel chez les personnes autistes. Elle a également enseigné au secondaire pendant plusieurs années et détient une maîtrise en éducation, dans laquelle elle a exploré les meilleures pratiques pour l’enseignement des sciences aux enfants et aux adolescents neurodivergents.

Polly Francis is the Early Years Manager at Nishnawbe Aski Nation. She is a registered band member of Wikwemikong First Nation located on Manitoulin Island and resides in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

Her work experience includes child welfare, addictions, training and community crisis response.

The Early Years Department supports community led initiatives that enhance capacity, skill building and mentorship at the community level to meet the needs of families and children within communities and establishes collaborative relationships with children service providers across the region, province and nationally to build better pathways of service, reduce duplication and enhance better practices. The department advocates at the federal and provincial level to develop and implement long term sustainable community solutions to close gaps in services for children, including early learning and childcare initiatives. The department has successfully engaged diverse people across Nishnawbe Aski Nation, including parents. caregivers, Elders and Knowledge Keepers, in working together on implementation of identified priorities and actions.

Ghita is a Developmental Pediatrician at the Alvin Buckwold Child Development Program (ABCDP) in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and is the physician lead for the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) Provincial Autism Strategy. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Saskatchewan. She completed her MD and General Pediatrics training in Saskatoon and Developmental Pediatrics subspecialty training at the University of Manitoba. She currently serves as the medical lead for the preschool Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) clinic and is the provincial division head for child development in SK. She is passionate about empowering individuals with all ranges of abilities, and seeks to amplify the voices of equity deserving communities and individuals. As a mom to children with diverse ranges of abilities, she supports exploring approaches that foster a holistic and life-course perspective. 

Dr. Evdokia Anagnostou is a Child Neurologist and Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Toronto and  Vice President of Holland Bloorview’s Research Institute. As a Senior Clinician Scientist, she co-leads the  Autism Research Centre (ARC) at Holland Bloorview and University of Toronto. She holds the Canada  Research Chair in Translational therapeutics in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and the Dr. Stuart D. Sims  Chair in Autism at Holland Bloorview. Most recently she has been elected as a fellow of the Canadian  Academy of Health Sciences. 

Dr. Anagnostou has received extensive international funding to understand the underlying biological  differences associated with ASD and other neurodevelopmental differences, translate such understandings  into potential novel interventions. She is also funding health system innovation, stakeholder engagement,  and in understanding the meaning and impact of ASD in marginalized populations. She serves on multiple  government committees on improving diagnostic and intervention pathways, and several editorial boards  and grant review panels. She has also been recognized for her contributions to training young clinicians and  scientists and for her commitment to women in STEM. She currently represents the region of America- North  on the INSAR Global Senior Leaders committee.

Mary Barrow is presently the Intensive Support Development Coordinator with Regina Public Schools in the urban community of Regina, Saskatchewan where she supports work with the division’s Autism/Neurodiversity Affirming Strategy.  Prior to joining Regina Public Schools, Mary worked as a classroom teacher, learning center teacher and vice principal in Halifax Regional Centre for Education (HRCE) where she also spent 11 years working with the HRCE autism team.  During her career in education, Mary has worked in 5 school divisions in 4 Canadian provinces.

Mary holds a Master’s Degree in Inclusive Education (Special Education) from Acadia University, a Master’s Degree in Educational Psychology – Human Relations from Mount Saint Vincent University, and a Bachelor of Education from University of Regina.

Mary is passionate about the benefits of inclusive education, and has a desire to ease the workload of professionals supporting youth in schools – something that her recent research project Supporting Neurodiverse Students by Using Visual Supports as a Tier 1 Intervention is helping to do.

Myriam Beauchamp is an Assistant Professor in the Speech and Language Pathology Programme (School of Rehabilitation Sciences) at the University of Ottawa. She is also a licensed speech-language pathologist (SLP) with over a decade of clinical experience specializing in neurodevelopmental conditions, with expertise in assessing and supporting minority-language speakers. She holds an honours BA in linguistics from Concordia University (2008), an MS in speech, language and hearing sciences from Purdue University (2011) and a PhD in biomedical sciences (speech-language pathology) from the Université de Montréal. She also completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery at McGill University and was a member of the RI-MUHC equity, diversity and inclusion committee.

Myriam’s researcher examines language development in children from minority-language or dual-language contexts, as well as the link between bilingualism, narrative skills, and cognition in children on the autism spectrum. Her research also aims to understand the barriers and facilitators to equitable healthcare services access for autistic children from minority-language contexts and their families in order to affect positive changes where it is needed. 

Thomas Henderson is the Director of Research and Innovation at the Giant Steps Autism Centre.  He has over 35 years of experience in the field of autism and education and is a passionate advocate for neuro-inclusion.  He is an experienced educator and administrator of school- and community-based programs for autistic children, youth, teens and adults.  He is dedicated to creating meaningful opportunities for autistic and neurodivergent individuals across all sectors of society.

My name is Jessie Gartshore (she/her).
I am a part-Anishinaabe, part-settler Health Leader and have spent over 20 years supporting not-for-profit children’s health organizations. My clinical background is as a Behaviour Analyst and have spent the last 10 years in operational leadership. I am an Ojibway Kwe with ancestors from the Crane Clan (Ajijaak Dodem) of Batchewana First Nation and Clan Gartshore of Scotland.  My passion for leadership draws on my ability to work and gather with others. I joined the Six Nations Well-being Department in 2019 and am the Senior Manager for the Child & Youth Allied Health Stream.  I support close to 100 hardworking health providers caring for our most precious resources: our expectant mothers, our babies, our children and youth. I started my professional career as a Behaviour Therapist in 2004 and supported all the iterations of provincially funded autism programs for children and youth in Ontario. Since my time with Six Nations, we have advocated and brought Autism Services on-reserve for our families. We used the innovation grant funding to root our entry to school program in culture and our most recent innovation grant is supporting capacity building for our Primary Care and Allied Health professionals in the development of a diagnostic pathway on reserve.  

Dr. Mayada Elsabbagh is a Professor in Neurology and Neurosurgery at The Neuro of McGill University. She is also appointed as a Research Scientist at the McGill University Health Centre where her program is integrated with diagnosis and support services for autism and related neurodevelopmental conditions. Her research focuses on understanding the root causes of autism and tracing its developmental pathways across the lifespan. Her team uses developmental models to explain complex interactions of risk and protective factors leading to variable outcomes in autism and related neurodevelopmental conditions. Her scientific contributions include the discovery of very early brain function markers for autism before the onset of behavioural signs and the scale-up of community-based interventions. The approach combines innovative research with the mission of accelerating the pace of discovery and its translation into community impact. To achieve this, the team relies on converging methods that span techniques for the study of brain development (EEG, eye-tracking), behavioural and clinical assessment tools, and novel qualitative methods to capture first-person perspectives of children and youth. Dr. Elsabbagh has supported the successful launch of several collaborative research and translational networks in Canada and Europe, including the Transforming Autism Care Consortium (TACC), a Quebec research network supported by the Fonds de recherche du Québec and several community partners. Dr. Elsabbagh is a program director of the Canadian Neurodevelopment Research Training (CanNRT) platform.  She is also active in global efforts to improve evidence-based practice in the community and capacity building in low -and middle-income countries. These efforts include CST-Canada, a clinical trials platform for the WHO Caregiver Skills Training (CST) Program, which integrates research, training, and international exchange, expanding access to evidence-informed intervention in the community.

Dr. Mackenzie Salt is an Autistic autism researcher and a research associate with the McMaster University Autism Research Team and the National Centre for Autism Collaboration. He is also a part-time assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences at McMaster University. He is a Health System Impact Fellowship program alumnus and he has a background in qualitative research and research engagement. He is currently working on several projects, all involving gathering information from and learning from the experiences of Autistic adults and using the findings to inform policy change. Dr. Salt is also currently the Editor-in-Chief of the all-Autistic editorial board of the Canadian Journal of Autism Equity.

Maddy Dever (they/them) is a non-binary Autistic advocate, speaker, and parent of 4 Autistic youth & young adults residing in Smiths Falls, Ontario. As the founder and host of The Autistic Rambler podcast, Maddy delves into topics surrounding neurodivergence, mental health, and the intersections of autism and LGBTQ+ identities. 

Maddy is a prominent voice in Canadian disability advocacy, currently serving as Interim Chair of the new National Autism Network and President of Autistic Bridge Inc., following their previous role as Co-Vice Chair of the Autism Alliance of Canada. Their advocacy spans education reform, accessible housing, and poverty alleviation for disabled individuals, grounded in a strengths-based approach informed by their lived experience. 

They have contributed to policy and systems change through positions on the Ontario Autism Program Advisory Panel & Implementation Working Group, the Children’s Mental Health Ontario Autism & Mental Health Advisory Group, and have spoken on international platforms, including before the UN Human Rights Committee on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Maddy has been a sought-after speaker at major conferences including the Canadian Autism Leadership Summit (2020–2025), Geneva Centre for Autism Symposium (2024), and OCALICONLINE (2021), among others. They also regularly guest lecture at colleges, universities, and community organizations, and served as a founding member of the Canadian Journal of Autism Ethics (CJAE) (2021)

Their research collaborations include the Autism Care Network and ECHO programs such as ECHO Autism and ECHO IDD Brain Health. As Director of Policy for the Ontario Disability Coalition and a leader in the National Disability Strategy movement, Maddy works to embed the voices of Autistics and caregivers in policy at all levels. Maddy’s insights have been featured in national media and academic publications, amplifying Autistic-led perspectives on disability rights and both inspire change and promote acceptance.

Maddy writes and shares their speaking engagements at autisticrambler.com

Dr. Rhonda N. McEwen is the 14th President and Vice-Chancellor of Victoria University in the University of Toronto; Canada Research Chair in Tactile Interfaces, Communication and Cognition; a Professor of Emerging Media & Communication; and a faculty member at the Institute of Communication, Culture, Information & Technology. With an MBA in IT, an MSc in Telecommunications, and a Ph.D. in Information, Dr. McEwen combines communication studies, and applied and behavioral sciences to examine the social and cognitive effects of technologies. Her pioneering approach to communication research employs experimental techniques, eye tracking, observations, sensor data, and interviews to investigate Human-Machine Communication. Dr. McEwen has worked with and researched digital communications media for over 20 years, both in companies providing services, and in management consulting to those companies.

Deepa Singal (PhD) is the Scientific Director of Autism Alliance of Canada where she provides strategic and scientific leadership, working at the intersection of research and policy. Dr. Singal has a Ph.D. in Community Health Sciences from the University of Manitoba and Executive Education in Public Policy at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, and a decade of experience in academia, government, and the not-for-profit landscape. Her expertise in quantitative child and maternal health research and public policy drives her leadership in pan-Canadian, multidisciplinary initiatives.

Dr. Singal’s mission focuses on generating community-driven evidence to shape national-level policy, advocating for the full inclusion of neurodivergent people in Canadian society. Her work is supported by numerous national grants, and has been widely disseminated to policymakers and the media. Dr. Singal has testified at the Canadian Senate to support legislation for the creation of Canada’s first National Autism strategy and presented at the United Nations, and various national and international conferences. Additionally, she is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Alberta and an Adjunct Research Scientist at the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy. Dr. Singal is an alumna of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Health System Impact Post-Doctoral Fellowship, a recipient of the CIHR Rising Star Award and was recently awarded Canada’s first CIHR Health System Impact Embedded Researcher Award.

Dr Jonathan Lai is the Executive Director at Autism Alliance of Canada. He also holds an Adjunct Faculty position in Health Services Research at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto.

At Autism Alliance of Canada, Jonathan’s work involves responding to emerging national policy gaps in the autism and disability sector. Through his career, he has experience working at the interface of research, community and policy to affect systems change in the health and social services sector across Canada and internationally. From designing surveys and analyzing data on service use for people with developmental disabilities to facilitating policy dialogues on autism and disability, he champions the use of data and community perspectives to inform decision making.

Jonathan has bee appointed to serve as the Vice Co-chair of the Minister of National Revenue’s Disability Advisory Committee to improve how the Disability Tax Credit and other federal disability tax measures are delivered. He is also a former Maytree Policy School fellow.

His graduate research training was in Neuroscience at the University of Guelph and McMaster University focused on gene-environment influences on the developing brain, funded by Ontario Mental Health Foundation and subsequently, as a CIHR Vanier Scholar. This was followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at York University in knowledge mobilization and a CIHR Health System Impact Fellowship at McGill University.