About Heidi

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I am the Founder of Dyslexia Victoria Support, Australia’s largest parent-led dyslexia support group, and Vice President of SPELD Victoria. I also serve as Chief Advisor to Dystinct Magazine, bringing an Australian parent advocate perspective to an international audience.

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I am the parent of two young adults with Specific Learning Difficulties, including dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia and ADHD. Over more than a decade, I have supported hundreds of families navigating schools, assessments and systems that too often create unnecessary barriers.

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I am not a clinician. I am a parent advocate who learned to interpret cognitive reports, strengthen Individual Learning Plans and push for structured, evidence-based teaching. That work has expanded into formal professional learning and sector engagement, bridging lived experience with policy literacy and research.

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In 2022, Dyslexia Victoria Support led the successful campaign to introduce a Year 1 Phonics Screening Check in Victoria, now adopted as statewide policy. In 2024, I gave evidence to the Legislative Council Inquiry into the State Education System in Victoria. I am also a co-author of a 2025 peer-reviewed paper in the Educational and Developmental Psychologist examining parental experience following dyslexia assessment in Australia.

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I was invited to write the foreword to Evidence-based Support for Children and Young People with Additional Needs: The Roadmap by Caroline Bowen, Pamela Snow and Philippa Brandon, published in 2026, reflecting the importance of aligning lived parent experience with evidence-based practice.

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Alongside advocacy, I work across publishing and film to improve public understanding of dyslexia and learning differences. Through Sensitivity Review and script development consulting with Australian publishers and production companies, I advise on accurate, stigma-free representation aligned with contemporary literacy science. Representation shapes culture, and culture shapes policy.

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I continue to lead a community of more than 12,000+ members while working directly with families to prepare for school meetings, strengthen ILPs, apply for Special Examination Arrangements and secure lawful, reasonable adjustments.

My background in libraries, research and information management underpins everything I do. I analyse systems, legislation and evidence so parents do not have to do it alone.

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At the heart of my work is a simple goal: no parent should have to fight alone for their child’s right to learn to read.