The Ability Society Team

Adrian Bohach – President & CEO (Calgary & Edmonton)

Adrian Bohach has been the president & CEO of the Ability Society since 1996. He has over twenty years experience in the not-for-profit industry and works as a Board consultant for agencies across North America. His responsibilities at the Ability Society – Friends include Community Development, Partnerships and Collaborations, Strategic Marketing, Program Development, among others.Adrian is currently a member of the grants committee for Calgary South Rotary Club, the grants committee for Rotary District 5360 and sits on the Children, Youth and Families grants committee of The Calgary Foundation. Over the past thirty years he has been involved in numerous community initiatives, locally and nationally, including past Director on the Board of Rotary Challenger Park, and past Chair of the Health, Seniors & Special Needs Grant Committee of The Calgary Foundation, and many others.

Email: Adrian Bohach

Kelly Gurtin – Director of Operations (Calgary)

Kelly Gurtin is the Director of Operations for the Calgary office. Her main responsibility is dealing with the day to day operations of the agency. Her background is Crisis Counseling and she has over 17 years experience working in the nonprofit sector. Kelly sustained a spinal cord injury in the late 1990`s, and was unable to continue working in her field. In addition to her work with the Society, Kelly has volunteered for the Child Witness Court Prep Program and Victims Assistance Unit for the Calgary Police Service.

Email:Kelly Gurtin

Deidre Norris – Director of Operations (Edmonton)

Deidre began working with the Ability Society as a part-time contractor in 2002 and joined as full time in late 2005. She brings with her approximately ten years of accounting and human resource experience, most of which has been in the non-profit environment. Her primary responsibilities include the management of the day-to-day financial affairs of the Society such as paying the bills, invoicing for clinical services, maintaining personnel records and payroll. She is also responsible for happily recording grants and donations and preparing reports for funders.

Email: Deidre Norris

Jade Powers – Clinical Supervisor – Early Birds (Calgary)

Jade Powers comes the Ability Society with a Bachelor of Social Work and a Master of Arts with a focus on Creative Arts Therapies. Jade`s main area of specialization has been to work with young children with Autism. Over the last six years, Jade has worked in various roles, starting as a PA and moving up to supervisory roles with agencies who focused on working with preschool aged children with autism in Toronto, Montreal and with a young child in Bermuda. Training for Jade began with the principles of ABA, particularly the Lova approach for working with preschool aged children with autism, with a steady progression into alternative approaches and other means of developing a child`s skill level including Carbone`s Verbal Behaviour and the use of art as an approach to treatment. Currently, trained as an Art Therapist, Jade has always considered herself to be a Behaviourist, where she believes that developing communication skills, be it through verbal speech or an augmentative communication system is often the avenue for improving a child`s behaviour. For her Master`s thesis, Jade worked with a group of 12 year old boys with autism, using art as the medium for communication for non-verbal children, with exceptional results. Jade works developmentally to build on the skills that a child currently possesses, focusing or using the interests of that a child, as a way to encourage interaction and to further skill development. The mandate of the Early Birds Program to use a Play Therapy approach works well with Jade`s training and ideologies of working with children with autism. Jade enjoys and has a lot of experience in working with families over the years. The child is always at the center and the panicle of her treatment plan, but she is always aware of the needs of the family and the support that the family requires. Her counseling background and experience helps her to be a strong advocate and support for parents of children with disabilities.

Email: Jade Powers

Katie-Ann Berry – MSc(OT), OT(c) Occupational Therapist (Calgary)

Katie-Ann Berry has been with the Ability Society since July 2010. She brings to the Ability Society a holistic approach to therapy, having completed a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from McMaster University and a Master of Science in Kinesiology from the University of Saskatchewan. Katie began a research career in health and exercise psychology, focusing on understanding women`s attitude toward their bodies through their experience in sport and exercise. A summer work experience as a high ropes course instructor at a camp for children with physical disabilities sparked Katie`s interest in working with children to enable them to participate in daily living and recreation activities. This experience led her to pursue her MSc(OT) in Occupational Therapy at Dalhousie University, where she gained experience working with children in school, mental health, and outpatient treatment centre settings. Katie brings this experience to the Ability Society, along with a strong team-oriented approach to therapy and enthusiasm for working with (and learning from) the families. She enjoys working with children as every day brings new and exciting challenges!

Email: Katie-Ann Berry

Kirsten Austin – Accounting Assistant (Edmonton)

Kirsten has been with us since 2008. She brings with her years of experience in retail management and office administration. Her duties include accounts payable & receivables, entering payroll information, tracking employee hours and various administrative tasks. She uses her accounting skills outside the office while serving as Treasurer for a local non-profit community choir.

Email: Kirsten Austin

Sarah McMillen – Behaviour Specialist & Program Assistant Trainer (Calgary)

Sarah McMillen comes to the Ability Society with a background in Special Education and 12 years of experience with children with Autism. Sarah originally started her career in Nova Scotia with preschool age children in an integrated setting, later working in school and home settings in both Nova Scotia and the Ottawa Valley. Sarah has been a program assistant in homes throughout Canada and has helped families to work towards the goals for the child and the family as a whole. Sarah has had experience with Autism (ASD), OCD, ODD, Down Syndrome, Rhett Syndrome, Wolf Hershorn Syndrome, Tourettea`s Syndrome, Prader-Willi Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Muscular Dystrophy, Sever medical including feeding tubes; NG and G-tube, Tracheostomy, and many other special needs and diagnoses. Sarah has continued her career in Calgary for the past 4 years, focusing on sever behaviours in children ages 2 ½ to 17 years including violent and self-harm behaviours. Sarah has come to believe her passion lays in family centred behaviour intervention and helping children and families to achieve the best quality of life possible. Sarah has also recently taken the position of Program Assistant Co-ordinator part-time and is using her lengthy experience in the field and with various agencies throughout the country to help build a strong team of program assistants for the Ability Society

Email: Sarah McMillen

Morgan Hansen – (Calgary)

Morgan started with the Ability Society as a volunteer in 2000. He has taken part in many programs and has held various paid positions over the years. Currently he is working on marketing the agency and various tasks as needed.

Email: Morgan Hansen

Nick Komissarenko – Technical support (Calgary)

Nick works as Technical Support for Ability Society.

Email: Nick Komissarenko

Praise Lam - Occupational Therapist (Edmonton)

Praise has been with the Early Birds program for the past 4 ½ years and has worked with a variety of children and families. She highly enjoys her work as an occupational therapist supporting special needs children and their families in the home setting. One of her greatest joys is to be a part of these children’s lives as they strive to learn new skills and increase independence. She later on completed her Masters in Business Administration with hopes of understanding the business world as a healthcare practitioner. During her free time, Praise enjoys playing floor hockey, soccer and badminton and remaining active.

Email: praise_lam@abilitysociety.org

Carin Boome – Speech Language Pathologist (Edmonton)

Carin Broome began with the Ability Society in September 2011. She has a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences from the University of Alberta. Carin became interested in working with children when her niece was diagnosed with Autism. Participating in her programming led Carin to pursue her Masters of Science in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of Alberta. Carin is a Hanen certified Speech Language Pathologist in the It Takes Two to Talk program.

Email: carin_boome@abilitysociety.org

Rae Cowie – Futureways Coordinator (Calgary)

(Under Construction)

Email: Raecowie@abilitysociety.org

Amy Gunderson -Speech Language Pathologist (Calgary)

Amy Gunderson has been with the Ability Society since March 2011. Amy completed her Bachelor of Arts degree at theUniversityofAlbertawith a major in Psychology and a minor in English. During this degree, Amy’s interest in speech pathology was sparked by volunteering at The Prep Program, an organization focused on assisting children and young adults with Down syndrome. She then went on to graduate with her Masters degree in Speech and Language Pathology from theUniversityofQueenslandinBrisbane,Australia. One of the highlights of her masters included a semester project examining and reporting on the current research and benefits of parental training as a type of intervention. Upon completing her degree, Amy remained inAustraliato work at a successful pediatric private practice. During her time working inAustralia, she developed her clinical skills particularly in articulation, early language development, and social language development. Amy believes in a team-oriented approach to treatment, and is very enthusiastic and dedicated to assisting children to achieve their full communicative potential. Amy is trained in Hanen’s “It Takes Two to Talk”, and recently attended the Alberta Rehabilitation Conference in Edmonton where she attended conferences focusing on Childhood Apraxia of Speech and topics in audiology.

Email: amy_gunderson@abilitysociety.org

Monica Das - Psychologist (Edmonton)

Monica has been facilitating interdisciplinary children’s programs for the past 12 years. From the University of Alberta, she received a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Family Studies (First Class Honours) and a Masters degree in Psychological Studies in Education. Through her dynamic experience as both therapist and administrator, Monica has specialized in an integrated approach to working with children of all ages and needs. Her holistic style encourages a safe and supportive therapeutic environment, in which children can flourish and grow.

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