PANDDA 2025 Conference Resources
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INVITED SPEAKERS
JIM BLAIR
Consultant Nurse, Learning Disabilities, West London NHS Trust; Associate Professor, Intellectual Disabilities, Kingston University and St George’s University of London; Disability Advisor, World Health Organization
Jim will present on the work of Learning Disability Nurses in the UK and their alignment with Australian nurses supporting people with intellectual disabilities. He will also explore opportunities for international collaboration and professional connection.
PATRICK TYRELL
Father and Advocate
Patrick will share his family’s journey of care and advocacy, highlighting the challenges they have faced navigating nursing services, healthcare systems, and the NDIS in support of his daughter.
MICHELLE KING
Sociologist and Lawyer; Parent, Supporter, and Advocate; Research Fellow, Queensland Aphasia Research Centre, University of Queensland
Michelle’s presentation will explore her research on decision-making, legal capacity, and how the law functions in practice to support the rights of people with disabilities. Her insights draw from both academic work and lived experience as a parent advocate.
NATALIE GENTILE and LISA GYSELMAN
Registered Nurses, Children’s Nursing Queensland; Specialists in Paediatrics and Stomal Therapy
Natalie and Lisa will present on their holistic, family-centred approach to caring for children with complex healthcare needs. Their shared passion for social justice underpins their commitment to equitable, quality healthcare for all patients and families.
PROGRAM SPEAKERS
1. Dr Virginia Howie: Registered Nurse, PhD and Tessa Howie, Self-advocate
A novel approach to pain control for people with intellectual developmental disability
2. Amy Struthers, Bachelor in Nursing Studies (Intellectual Disability UK)
Queensland’s first Down Syndrome Outpatient Clinic
3. Wendy Bruce, Bachelor of Social Science and Executive Director, Fragile X Association of Australia
Fragile X Care – Supporting Adults Ageing with Fragile X Syndrome
4. Emma Dillon, Clinical Nurse Specialist
Never Too Early – The CICADA Centre NSW Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD)
5. Nicolette Farquhar Registered Nurse, Specialist Intellectual Disability Nurse (research) and Ruby De Greef, lived experience, Research Assistant
Bridge to Better Health: A Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial for Capacity Building in Intellectual Disability Health for General Practice
6. Elisha Deegan Registered Nurse and PhD candidate and Isla Durant Lived experience expert
Laurel House Conversation Cards a story of success
7. Esther Conway, Registered Nurse, Clinical Governance and Practice and Shivani Nath, Social Worker, Behaviour Support Practitioner and Practice Lead, Achieve Australia
Registered Nurse Development Program (RNDP), Achieve Australia
8. Sally Pender and Carly Spargo, Clinical Nurse Consultants, Metro North Behavioural Escalation Response Team (BERT)
Seeing Beyond Behaviour: Behavioural Escalation Response Team (BERT) Nurses Amplifying Inclusive Interdisciplinary Care
9. Michelle Templeton, Registered Nurse and Senior Disability Nurse Consultant and Courtney McFarlane Registered Nurse and Disability Liaison Officer
Case Presentation – Nursing with a Disability Lens: Trauma-Informed Disability Care in Practice
10. Dr Natasha Jojo, PhD in Nursing
Nothing about us without us”: Co-designing a psychosexual safety program for people with Intellectual Disability (ID)
11. Cheryll Apostol, Registered Nurse and Emma Keegan, Registered Nurse, Achieve Australia
Shaping Support – The Visibility and Influence of Registered Nurses in Disability Nursing and NDIS
12. Kelsee Shepherd: Registered Nurse and Research Officer
From Rural Outreach to State-Wide Impact: Nurses Transforming Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Diagnosis
13. Dr Laurel Mimmo PhD, Master of Public Health/Master of Health Leadership, Registered Nurse
Capturing meaningful patient experiences children and young people with intellectual disability using inclusive research
14. Shauna Reel, Bachelor of Science (Nursing), Queens University Belfast
Bringing specialties together: Enhancing attitudes through care coordination for patients with complex needs to access investigations in hospital
15. Professor Nathan Wilson
Reflecting on Disability Services in Latvia: Context and Quality
16. Macey Barratt, Registered Nurse, Lecturer, PhD candidate
Creating an accessible psychotropic medicine leaflet through a co-design approach with people with intellectual and neurodevelopmental disabilities
17. Jennifer Bur, Registered Nurse, PhD candidate
Exploring the planned perioperative care experiences for Australian adults with Intellectual Disability, and their families and carers: A qualitative study
18. Jodie Thompson, Bachelor of Nursing, Clinical Nurse Consultant
The importance of Independent Nursing Assessments in advocating for appropriate supports funded by the NDIS for people who have complex health and disability needs, including Intellectual Disability
19. Kirsty Haywood, Registered Nurse, PhD candidate
Working together to improve medication safety for adults with neurodevelopmental conditions
20. Dr Natasha Jojo, PhD in Nursing
Enhancing Disability Nursing Practice in Australia: Addressing Educational Preparedness
21. Cathy Beck, Masters Health Management, University of NSW
A Simple Fix: Optimising Care for Faster Access to Autism and intellectual disability health services
22. Elisha Deegan, Registered Nurse, PhD candidate
Obstacles and Aspirations for Improving Delivery of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) to Wheelchair Users: A Qualitative Study
23. Laurel Mimmo, PhD, Master of Public Health/Master of Health Leadership, Registered Nurse
Recognising non-measurable signs of clinical deterioration in the hospitalised child with intellectual disability: perceptions of paediatric nurses
