Therapists

Nilu Perera: Founder and Director of ‘at my pace’ Nilu Perera is the Founder and Director of ‘at my pace’. She is a graduate from Coventry University with a Masters degree in Applied Psychology in Education. She is an expert in working with children with special needs as she has a background in Child Psychology and Special Needs Education. Nilu has a Diploma in Special Needs Education, a Diploma in Child Psychology and Essential Psychology in Dealing with Children

She has professional qualifications including a Professional Credential of knowledge and skills to educate and support children with Autism, Certificate in the ‘Positive behaviour support for people with learning difficulties and challenging behaviors’ and a certificate for attending a workshop on the ‘Art of working with children with Autism and Aspergers’ Syndrome’. She has participated in the Son-rise programme and in the Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) programme.

Nilu has over two decades of experience in the field. She started her career at Chithra Lane School for the Special Child as a volunteer and continued to learn and grow in the field. She has worked as the Head at the Special Needs Unit at Alethea International School and currently works in close relation to psychologists, pediatricians, speech therapists and mainstream schools in Colombo. Nilu also worked at the ‘child development centre’ at the Lady Ridgeway hospital for children and worked at the Multidisciplinary Clinic at Kalubowila Teaching Hospital.

Her research interest is in children with special needs. Nilu has conducted research on Children with Autism and their sleep patterns in the thesis project ‘Sleep patterns in young boys with Autism’.

Pavani Boralessa: Psychologist Pavani works at ‘at my pace’ as a special education needs specialist. She is a graduate from Coventry University with a MSc in Applied Psychology in Clinical Psychology.  She has a BA (Honours) in Psychology from Christ University and a certificate course in Human Resource Management.

She has attended a professional workshop on the Mental Health Gap (mhGAP) and Neuropsychological profiles, Neuroimaging, and Assertive Software Technology for persons with Autism (Workshop held by Axxonet Brain Research Laboratory) and she participated in the National Academy of Psychology India Conference (2012).

Pavani is also the Director of the Psychology Department at the International College of Business and Technology. She is in charge of the Psychology programmes at ICBT. She lectures on the Higher National Diploma and the Bachelors programme.

Pavani had volunteered at the Chithra Lane School for the Special Child and at Ward 59 at the General Hospital.

She has conducted research on Parental Stress among ‘Working and Non Working Mothers of Children with Autism’ and ‘Intimate partner violence and mental health wellbeing among married women in Sri Lanka.’

Sadhani Perera: Psychologist Sadhani worked at ‘at my pace’ as a special education needs specialist. She is a graduate from Coventry University with a MSc in Applied Psychology in Education Psychology. She has a B.Sc. in Psychology and Counseling from the Aquinas University College and a Diploma in Special Needs Education.

She has attended a professional workshop and completed part 1 on Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR).

She has volunteered as a child facilitator for a boy with Autism following the Son-Rise Program for 15 months. She was also a Special Needs Teacher at ‘Alethea International School’ and was involved in the Special Needs Unit in teaching children with learning difficulties and structuring Individualized Education Plans (IEP).

She has conducted research on ‘Translate and validate the Parental Stress Scale’ to support and make awareness in parents who seek therapy and to be a resource for therapists to observe parenting factors and child internal factors.

Fathima Asma Rahman : Special Needs Educator Asma works as a special needs educator at ‘at my pace’.  She has a Diploma in Special Needs Education from the Ladies College Department of Vocational Studies, she has completed the Certificate in Child and Adolescence Psychology at Colombo Institute of Research and Psychology, and also completed the Higher National Diploma in Psychology at Colombo Institute of Research and Psychology

Currently she is doing a degree in Immunology and Integrative Molecular Biology at the University of Colombo

Asma has experience in teaching children with special needs. She has worked at Methodist College, Colombo as a teacher in the Special Needs Unit from October 2013 to December 2014. Asma has volunteered at the ABC Holiday Camp for children with special needs held in August 2014 and she has interned at Avakasha Kendraya for 3 months in 2014 under Dr. Shalini Wickramasooriya.

She has participated in the ‘Interventions for struggling Readers’ workshop organized by Puzzles Lanka in November 2013 and participated in a workshop on ‘Early intervention for children with Special Needs’ conducted by Ms Margaret R. Nathen organised by Enable the Disabled in December 2013.

Raakhee Dhansingani: Psychology Graduate Raakhee works at “at my pace” as a special needs educator. She has completed her higher education with a Higher National Diploma in Psychology from the Colombo Institute of Research and Psychology (CIRP) and a BSc (Hons) in Psychology from Coventry University, UK. She also holds a Diploma in Law granted by the University of London International Programmes.

Raakhee also has experience in working with children with specific learning difficulties and preparing private candidates for London O’Level and A’Level examinations. She conducts dancing session for children with special needs with the Imzys dance troupe.

Raakhee also participated in the International Conference for Applied Psychology (ICAP) organized by the Colombo Institute of Research and Psychology and had the opportunity to converse with renowned individuals in the field of psychology.

She has conducted research on ‘The Impact of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) on the Mental Health and Appearance Self Esteem in Women.’

Nayantara Atapattu: Assistant Special Needs Educator Nayantara Atapattu is an assistant special needs educator at ‘at my pace’. She has successfully completed her Diploma of Higher Education in Psychology awarded by Coventry University, U.K. She is currently enrolled on the BSc in Psychology Programme offered by Coventry University, U.K.

She believes in promoting better mental health and her involvement and participation at the International Conference on Applied Psychology 2015 held in Colombo, Sri Lanka is a testament to her desire to improve mental health care. Nayantara also works with children with specific learning difficulties and preparing private candidates for London O’Level and A’Level examinations.

Aside from her interests in psychology, she also loves to get involved with community service projects for the betterment of the community.

Nuwanthika Dharmaratne: Assistant Special Needs Educator Nuwanthika has been working at ‘at my pace’ as a special needs educator. She has a Diploma in Child and Adolescent Psychology awarded by Colombo International College of Business and Technology. She was awarded the Best Academic Performance for the same.

She has volunteering experience at Camilla Home for Special Needs. Nuwanthika has experience with working with children with specific learning difficulties.

Currently Nuwanthika is doing her BSc in Biological Science (Spc. Environmental Sciences) at the University of Colombo.

Sarah Nimaladasa: Assistant Special Needs Educator Sarah works as a special needs educator. She has completed her higher education with a Higher National Diploma in Psychology from the Colombo Institute of Research and Psychology (CIRP) and a BSc (Hons) in Psychology from Coventry University, UK. Sarah was awarded the William James Award for ‘Exceptional Achievement in Psychology’ for the BSc (Hons) Psychology Programme. She was awarded a gold medal for best performance for the BSc (Hons) Psychology from Colombo Institute of Research and Psychology.

She was also given an award for Most Outstanding Student of the Year (2016) from the Colombo Institute of Research and Psychology.

She has participated in the International Conference on Applied Psychology in the years 2017, 2016, 2015, and 2014 that was organized by Colombo Institute of Research and Psychology. She has worked as a Trainee Psychologist and as Assistant Clinical Coordinator at CIRP Life Centre. Sarah teaches at the ‘Future Grads International Academy’ as a grade 1 teacher.