Meet your Developmental Educator
Penny Sawyer
I am an experienced Developmental Educator with qualifications including a Master’s Degree in Disability Policy and Practice and Graduate Certificate in Disability, from Flinders University, and a Bachelor of Teaching from UniSA.
I’m committed to supporting people with lived experience of disability, and the families, carers, and professionals who support them, across all ages—so they can build independence, strengthen everyday skills, and participate meaningfully in their communities.
Your Path. Your Pace. Real Outcomes.
Penny brings over a decade of disability-specific experience, complemented by a background across R–12 education, quality systems, and information technology, as well as lived experience of disability and caring responsibilities within her family.
Spectrum SA works with:
NDIS participants (children, adolescents and adults)
Families and carers (including capacity building, coaching and carer support)
Educators and schools (student- and staff-focused collaboration and practical adjustments)
Businesses and community organisations (accessibility, inclusion and staff capability)
Allied health practitioners (collaboration, shared planning and coordinated supports)
Services are available across the Gawler, Barossa and Northern Adelaide regions, and via outreach/telehealth as suitable.
Supports are practical, individualised and focused on everyday functioning and participation, including:
Disability identity, understanding and self-advocacy (strengths-based, neurodiversity-affirming)
Daily living skills and routines (planning, habit-building, sequencing, task initiation)
Executive functioning support (organisation, time management, working memory strategies)
Emotional regulation and interoceptive skills (capacity building approaches, counselling-informed)
Supported transitions (school, post-school, vocational, adulthood and independence)
Communication and relationships (boundaries, social understanding, conflict navigation)
Community access and participation (confidence, safety, step-by-step exposure, skill generalisation)
Navigating services and systems (NDIS capacity building, coordination-ready documentation, practical planning)
Increasing independence (community access and meaningful participation)
Supports are delivered in a way that aligns with NDIS capacity-building principles and functional goals.
The Spectrum SA Journey
July 2015 – Jan 2020 | Established and operated Spectrum SA as a sole trader, providing Disability Counselling and Advocacy services to individuals and families in the Gawler and surrounding regions, whilst studying her Master of Disability Policy & Practice at Flinders University.
Jan 2020 – Dec 2025 | Invited to join Action Psychology SA, a well-regarded psychology practice in Gawler. Over six years Penny worked as part of their multidisciplinary team, refining her skills in disability therapy, counselling, case management, report writing, and collaborative practice.
Dec 2025 – Present | Relaunched Spectrum SA building on experience, and continuing to providing quality, person-centred therapeutic supports. Ongoing collaboration with other allied health practices ensures clients benefit from strong partnerships and shared expertise.
Alongside her professional training and qualifications, Penny also brings lived experience as a neurodivergent person (formally diagnosed as Autistic and ADHD).
Over the past 25 years, she has raised two neurodivergent children with her neurodivergent husband, Phil, also working as a teacher and Cub Scout Leader with neurodivergent students and children.
This personal perspective, combined with over a decade of professional experience as a therapist, counsellor, and Developmental Educator, allows Penny to provide supports that are not only evidence-based but also practical, affirming, and deeply attuned to the real-world experiences of individuals and families.
She provides client-centred, neurodivergent-affirming, and trauma-informed services, drawing on approaches such as Collaborative & Proactive Solutions, family systems approaches, Functional Behaviour and Capacity Assessments, Executive Functioning coaching, neurodiversity-affirming capacity building, interoception and body-awareness frameworks, counselling-informed strategies, and the principles of Positive Behaviour Support.