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Watch
Presentations from the 2024 Connecting Communities Event
Raising our Children in Love
Caregiver Panel
Indigenous Autism in Global Context
Watch
An Exploration of Indigenous Autism in Canada
Executive Functioning Essentials
Members
Grant Bruno
Dr. Bruno is nêhiyaw (Plains Cree), a registered member of Samson Cree Nation, and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Alberta. With a background rooted in nêhiyaw understandings of health, Dr. Bruno’s work focuses on creating culturally responsive healthcare models that support Indigenous children and youth, particularly in the areas of neurodiversity and child and youth health. As a proud First Nations scholar, Dr. Bruno’s research weaves nêhiyaw knowledge systems and Western frameworks to create inclusive, decolonized approaches to healthcare. Dr. Bruno is currently the Academic Lead Indigenous Child Health for the Women and Children’s Health Research Institute (WCHRI), the founder of the Ispimihk Awâsisak (Sky Children Program) and the Indigenous Caregiving Collective.
Pearl Yellow Old Woman-Healy
Dr. Pearl Yellow Old Woman-Healy is a member of the Siksika Nation and is a mother of an adult child with Autism. She is a PhD graduate of the Community Health Sciences Program specializing in Community Rehabilitation and Disability Studies from the University of Calgary. Pearl was the graduate representative for the AIM-HI Network that provides mentorship for Indigenous scholars to pursue and build capacity in health research. Her community-based research focused on Siksikaitsitapi informed health and wellness for Siksika children with disabilities. Her recent accomplishments, life experiences, advocacy work and community engagement have influenced her leadership skills and demonstrate her passion in building relationships, fostering connections, and deepening understandings that will enhance culturally competent health care for Indigenous children.
Stephanie James
Stephanie is a registered member of Sq’éwqel (Seabird Island Band), a First Nations community along the Fraser Valley in BC. While she was not raised on the nation, she has spent many summers embracing her family and culturally rich community. She and her 13 year old son are both neurodivergent and live with ADHD. Stephanie’s education is in Social Work and she has been working in the disability sector since 2017. Her current role is a Support and Resource Specialist with Autism Calgary where she supports families with information, systems navigation and more. She has always had an interest in walking alongside others offering support along their journey & believes her lived experience and open minded nature lend well to the work she is so passionate about.
Amy Quintal
Amy is settler woman living in the ancestral territories of her spouse and children, who are from the Lac Ste. Anne Métis community and Michel First Nation. Her youngest son is intellectually and developmentally disabled, and Amy and her middle son are ADHDers. Inclusion and radical acceptance are foundational philosophies in their family. Amy’s professional and lived experience includes Indigenous rights work, social justice, human rights, and Métis policy work. In 2015, Amy founded a grassroots organization supporting inclusion in the Tri-Region. Amy is a graduate of the Indigenous Master of Social Work with University nuhelot’įne thaiyots’į nistameyimâkanak Blue Quills. Her practice is guided by Indigenous ethics and healing approaches.
Emily Coombs
Emily Coombs is a Queer – Autistic PhD student in Educational Psychology at the University of Alberta. Her doctoral research explores how autistic individuals understand gender and sexuality, using a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach grounded in neurodiversity and self-determination. Emily is also affiliated with the University of Calgary and the University of Victoria, and she works to build bridges across these institutions when shared research priorities arise. In addition to her academic work, Emily is a provisional psychologist serving a remote First Nations community on Treaty 6 territory. She honours all her ancestral roots and is actively engaged in reconnecting with the cultures and communities in which she was not raised.
Iris Plain Eagle
Dr. Iris Plain Eagle is an Instructor in the Faculty of Social Work, Southern Alberta Region, with the University of Calgary. She has social work practice experience working with diverse populations and leadership in human service organizations for the areas of justice, family violence, homelessness, and Indigenous issues.
Doctorate of SW (c) (Walden University, Baltimore, USA), MSW (UCalgary), BSW (UCalgary), Registered Social Worker, Diploma Social Work (MH College).
Brandy White
Tânsi, my spirit name is Fast Charging Woman and my birth name is Brandy White. I am Cree Métis from Treaty 6 Territory and a first year MSc counselling psychology student at the University of Calgary. My journey into academia has been guided by my lived experiences of being a paramedic for 20 years in various Indigenous communities throughout Alberta. Being privy to the current medicalized approaches to mental health and how they do not embody nor acknowledge Indigenous ways of knowing and being, my research is to investigate trauma, healing, and wellness from Indigenous worldviews. My hope as an Indigenous researcher is to inform the discipline of psychology the effectiveness of culturally relevant and responsive therapies for Indigenous communities that align with their traditional worldviews. As a future mental health practitioner, my hope is to work with community and practice from a culturally safe space that honours Indigenous traditional values and beliefs to wellness.
Kristen Swampy
Kristen Swampy is a member of One Arrow First Nation; she is a registered nurse and a mother of a child on the autism spectrum. She completed a master’s degree in education, studying courses on educating children with autism and Indigenous education. Kristen founded and is the current President of Connect-Belong-Grow Autism Support Association. This non-profit society offers support to autistic people and their families in the Edmonton area. She hopes to use her professional and personal experience to advocate for access to support and resources for Indigenous autistic individuals and their families within their communities.
Vanessa Roesler
Kristen Swampy is a member of One Arrow First Nation; she is a registered nurse and a mother of a child on the autism spectrum. She completed a master’s degree in education, studying courses on educating children with autism and Indigenous education. Kristen founded and is the current President of Connect-Belong-Grow Autism Support Association. This non-profit society offers support to autistic people and their families in the Edmonton area. She hopes to use her professional and personal experience to advocate for access to support and resources for Indigenous autistic individuals and their families within their communities.
Shino Nakane
Shino Nakane is the Provincial Director for Autism Society Alberta. She has volunteered on a variety of boards and committees over the past decade and is currently co-chair for the Autism Alliance of Canada . She is a current member, and past Vice Chair, of the Premier’s Council on the Status of Persons with Disabilities, an advisory body for the Government of Alberta. Shino is the mother of a young adult who is on the autism spectrum who communicates uniquely without words to the people he loves and the world around him. Shino continually strives to spearhead efforts so that all people are able to live in accessible and inclusive communities.
Tim Konditi
Tim is the current Operations Coordinator for Autism Calgary Association, and brings over a decade of extensive experience in project management to the Indigenous Relations Circle. He is a Project Management Professional (PMP), certified by the Project Management Institute (PMI). Tim’s expertise is further fortified by his training as a Biochemist (Bsc. Biochemistry).
Over the course of his career, Tim has amassed 13 years of dedicated experience writing and developing projects in the Human Services Sector. His expertise includes several multi-million dollar local, regional and national autism projects across Canada.
Tim has a passion for Architecture and Design, which he loves to share with his family and friends.
Morine Rossi
Morine Rossi is the Programs Manager at Autism Edmonton, an educator by training and a parent of an autistic child. She has taught to all ages of students and adults and has a vision of a society of inclusion and acceptance of all people. Morine has been very involved in the disability community both personally and professionally for over 15 years, as a program creator and facilitator, educator, peer group moderator, board member and advocate. Her lived experience with disability, neurodiversity, system navigation gives her a unique lens and insight to support other families on this journey. Morine loves to travel, garden and spend time with her family in her spare time.
