Principal Staff of the Institute

Diana Boswell, MA, PhD, MAPS, Director of TWI

Following clinical postgraduate training in Canada in the areas of child and adolescent and educational psychology, Diana has worked with children and young people with challenging behaviours in education, mental health, disability and child welfare settings. With wide experience as a practitioner, program manager, and agency director, she has both a 'hands-on' and program management perspective.

Diana has a particular interest in working with children and young people with complex needs, including young people with autism spectrum disorders. She has been a lecturer at postgraduate level in behaviour management and in teaching children with autism spectrum disorders. She is co-author of a crisis management course for disability service practitioners and of a course for foster carers providing a home for children who have experienced trauma. She has presented at numerous workshops. She is an accredited Instructor with the Cornell University Therapeutic Crisis Intervention project; an accredited trainer with the Life Space Crisis Institute; and an accredited trainer with Reclaiming Youth International . She maintains some direct clinical work with children and families. She is particularly involved in the assessment of children with autism spectrum disorders and is accredited to use the widely respected ADOS and ADI/R tools.

David Zilber, BSc, MA, M Cin Psych, Associate of TWI

David Zilber manages professional development at LEAD, a major disability service in Canberra, and is an Associate of the Thomas Wright Institute. David is trained as a clinical psychologist and has established a range of services for children and adults with high support needs. He has been involved in research and training for much of his 33 year career and has a number of journal publications to his credit.

David's current interests are staff training and working with challenging and complex clients. He is a member of the 2008/09 ACT Disability Advisory Council on a government appointment.

Other current associates are Dr. Jenny Howell, Tim Moore and Bev Orr.