Lefty Kambanis has a special interest in the fields of dysphagia (feeding/swallowing disorders) and Autism Spectrum Disorders. She studied at UCT and graduated in 2005. She completed her community service year at Pelonomi Regional Hospital, where her passion for neurologically atypical adults and children was fuelled. She started working in private practice in 2007.

Lefty has attended a number of courses by the renowned Dysphagia Practitioners, Rina van der Walt and Prof Mershen Pillay. In 2008, she completed the eight-week Basic Paediatric Neurodevelopmental Therapy (NDT) course and in 2009 the Advanced-Level NDT course in early evaluation and treatment of infants with cerebral motor disturbances.

In 2010, Lefty started The Therapy Centre, a facility with all allied health professionals at one central location, comprising a team of physiotherapists, occupational therapists and a dietitian. She started her own practice in 2012 and now employs an Afrikaans as well as a Sesotho therapist. 

The presentation covered common myths regarding speech-language therapy, language development, multilingualism, as well as types and varieties of disorders that we as speech therapists manage. The presentation included the process of referral to a speech therapist (private & government), costs involved and information needed from the referring professional. The focus was on the paediatric population ranging from the ages 3 to 13, specifically preschool and primary school learners.