Our Team

Our People

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Our experienced speech pathologists are both therapists and clinical educators of the highest standard. Along with our speech pathology students, they provide a broad range of evidence-based speech pathology services to children and adults and provide comprehensive assessment reports to outside agencies, including the NDIS.

Dr Olga Birchall

Clinic Director

Olga Birchall is a speech pathologist with a passion for innovation, informed decision making, and equity in healthcare service delivery. Her role as Clinic Director at MSPC is underpinned by Olga’s commitment to compassionate care, service, and life-long learning.

Olga graduated from La Trobe university with first class honours in 2000, and over the past 23 years has worked in clinical care, clinical education, and leadership across multiple healthcare settings, including acute teaching hospitals in Australia (Royal Melbourne Hospital, Western Hospital, St Vincent’s Hospital, Monash Medical Centre) and the UK (National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Charing Cross Hospital, Royal Brompton Hospital, and others). Since 2004 she has concurrently run a successful mobile Speech Pathology practice servicing adults living in the community, residential aged care homes (RACHs), and acute hospitals. Olga has had extensive experience in leading teams through service development, delivery, and evaluation across acute, rehabilitation, palliative care, community, and outreach settings.

In 2022 Olga completed PhD research, supported by the University of Melbourne (and funded by the Australian Government Research Training Scholarship) to generate evidence about onsite mobile flexible endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (mFEES). Olga was the first provider of mobile instrumental swallowing assessment in Australia. Olga is also working to raise community, government, and professional awareness of mobile FEES by lobbying government ministers, health departments, through social media and by initiating the first international mFEES special interest group and research database. Olga has published research in international peer reviewed journals, presented at numerous conferences, and media platforms – including an award-winning online Speech Pathology media campaign, and being guest speaker on 774 ABC Melbourne.

Beyond speech pathology, Olga is grateful for her husband and two vivacious children. She enjoys hiking, pottering in her garden, Latin dancing, and getting lost in books. She is mindful of her personal journey as a consumer of healthcare services, the power of hope, and the value of striving for humility in delivering person-centred and timely healthcare.

Julie Robertson

Practice Administrative Coordinator

Julie, brings 15 years of medical receptionist experience from Brisbane to the Melbourne Speech Pathology Clinic, having recently made the move south with her husband and son. Julie’s extensive knowledge, enthusiasm, and a compassionate approach to care enable her to foster positive connections with our clients and community. During her time with the Melbourne Speech Pathology Clinic, Julie has made a meaningful impact to our team, and has received exemplary feedback from our clients.

Beyond her professional life, Julie is passionate about fitness and dance, recently completing a Cert 3 in fitness and a Zumba course. She seeks to strike a balance between work and personal well-being.

Emma White

Speech Pathologist

Emma completed a B.A. in Linguistics before completing a graduate entry Masters of Speech Pathology at La Trobe University. She has over 15 years of experience working with adults with communication and/or swallowing disorders across the continuum of care.

Emma’s area of expertise is the assessment and management of communication and swallowing disorders resulting from acquired and/or progressive brain injury, particularly aphasia and cognitive communication disorders. She is also interested in adult stuttering; gender affirming voice therapy; and in the intersection between mental health and communication. Emma is a diversity-affirming practitioner.

Emma champions the idea that communication is a basic human right and that the world would be a better place if everyone was able to express their needs, wants, thoughts and ideas effectively and respectfully.

Fiona O’Donnell

Speech Pathologist

Fiona completed her Masters in Speech and Language Therapy in Ireland in 2012. She has since worked predominantly with preschool and school age children and has a wealth of experience in all areas of paediatric development including developmental delays, articulation disorders, dysfluency, and disability. Over her professional career, Fiona has worked in community health, private practice, mainstream schools and has offered her expertise for consultation purposes across different sectors.

Fiona has experience in both academic teaching and in clinical education and has lectured for the Speech and Language Masters programme at the University of Limerick in Ireland. Throughout Fiona’s clinical profession she has guided and supported Masters students on their clinical placements.

Fiona utilises best practice principles of early childhood learning to implement a family centred approach to therapy. She supports and builds the capacity of parents/caregivers to facilitate optimal functional outcomes for each individual child.

Aislinn Twomey

Speech Pathologist

Aislinn is a graduate of the esteemed University College Cork in Ireland in 2018 and holds a Bachelor of Science in Speech and Language Therapy.

Her extensive career spans diverse healthcare settings, including acute hospitals, the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) sector, and the community. These experiences have equipped Aislinn to offer adult and paediatric clients transformative care by focusing on each client’s unique needs and evidenced-based ways to improve function and quality-of-life.

Aislinn’s experience extends to clients with a variety of complex needs relating to ageing, acquired brain injuries (including stroke and traumatic brain injury), progressive neurological conditions (including Parkinson’s disease, dementia, motor neuron disease, and multiple sclerosis), head and neck cancer, and developmental disabilities such as autism, cerebral palsy, and intellectual disability. Her special interest lies in acquired brain injuries and progressive neurological conditions. Aislinn has advanced skills in the assessment and management voice and swallowing disorders, including instrumental swallowing assessment.

Aislinn also brings extensive knowledge to paediatric clients with developmental disabilities, such as autism, developmental delay, and intellectual disability. She embraces neurodiversity-affirming practices when collaborating with neurodivergent clients, creating a supportive and inclusive environment.

Aislinn has an interest in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), in low and high-tech forms. She understands the pivotal role that AAC plays in enabling clients with communication difficulties to express themselves effectively.

With a heart dedicated to healing and a spirit dedicated to empowerment, Aislinn welcomes clients to experience the transformative impact of her care.

Evengeline Ho

Speech Pathologist

Evengeline is a passionate and innovative Speech Pathologist who brings the most updated evidence-based knowledge to the field of speech pathology. Evengeline graduated from the University of Queensland with a Bachelor of Speech Pathology (with Honours) in 2021. She is committed to offering holistic, individualised, and high-quality healthcare.

From her graduate career, Evengeline has had considerable experience working with both children and adults in the context of acute hospitals and within the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) sector.

Evengeline’s paediatric experience extends from children with speech and language delays, to children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and other complex developmental disabilities. She is experienced in providing articulation, fluency, language, and early language intervention for children aged 2 to 17 years old. She also has extensive knowledge in the field of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) for children who are non-verbal and is skilled in trauma-informed intervention, as well as the Hanen More Than Words program.

Additionally, Evengeline has experience in providing swallowing and communication assessments and intervention to adults with acquired brain injuries, including stroke and traumatic brain injury (TBI).

She is passionate about neurodiversity affirming healthcare- care that empowers neurodivergent clients to engage in personalised goal setting and informed decision making.