Chithra Kathiresan, SLT, Clinical Director Connect and Communicate LLP, Singapore

B.App.Sc (Speech Pathology), Australia
Hanen Certified (ITTT, MTW, Talkability), Canada
Social Thinking Training and Speaking Collaborative, USA

Chithra has been practicing as a Speech Language therapist in Singapore for more than 26 years. She has worked in adult rehab, the children’s hospital and private practice. Her experience includes adult & geriatric neurology, neonatal care, congenital and developmental disorders. She is passionate about social pragmatic approaches and a developmental model to engaging and shaping the individual from within. This passion lead her to find ‘Connect and Communicate’ in 2013, a center dedicated to social communication.

She is Hanen™ certified in It Takes Two to Talk™ (1997), More Than Words™ (2003) and Talkability™ (2010) programs. She presented the inaugural More Than Words™ program in Singapore in 2003 and has conducted regular Hanen® parent training programs since. Chithra was introduced to Social Thinking® in 2005 and attended mentorship and training with the founder Michelle Garcia Winner in 2006 and 2008. She was invited to be a member of the Social Thinking® Training and Speakers Collaborative in 2012, and is their trainer for the region. She has presented on Social Thinking in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong and China.

In 2003, Chithra was introduced to DIR® Floortime™ and has pursued it since. She sought intensive mentoring in the model from senior faculty. She has presented to senior faculty at DIR® Institutes in the US. In 2012, she qualified as a DIR® Floortime™ Expert with ICDL. In 2013, she was in the inaugural DIR® Trainer program with Dr. Serena Wieder. Chithra is associate Profectum Faculty and has taught on their online professional certification program, as well as tutored professionals world-wide. She co-presented a DIR® workshop in Australia with Senior DIR® Faculty.  She has also presented several DIR-Floortime® trainings in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong and India.

In her practice, Chithra works with kids as young as infants all the way to young adults and older. She works with a broad spectrum of functioning, from significantly challenged non-verbal to twice exceptional gifted individuals. Her diverse caseload has helped her appreciate development in all its colours and explore the application of DIR across the lifespan. Chithra firmly believes our intervention will only be as effective as our understanding of the individual and his or her family support system. DIR® has helped inform, define and integrate all other approaches within her practice.