Jess Swart
BCBA | Developmental Educator
Simon Moreau
Accountant | Financial Analyst
Our Vision
Emu Education - Parent and Behaviour Support believes in providing behavioural and educational therapy to support children to reach their full potential. By building the skills of children and their caregivers, we can enable children to be confident and independent individuals.
Our Mission
Emu Education's mission is to provide effective therapy services so that caregivers have a toolbelt of strategies to support their children to reach their full potential and live a valued life.
By developing individualized behaviour therapy, we are walking side-by-side with parents and caregivers to create stronger connections with their children.
By knowing your goals and reality, Emu Ed helps you implement strategies so your child develops skills to have autonomy and thrive.
Parenting is challenging, consistency is important, but realistically nearly impossible. Emu Ed walks alongside you when you are tired and stressed by sharing tips and tricks to manage behaviours in challenging times.
About Jess
Jess Swart is originally from Australia and calls Canada her second home. She is grateful to live on the homelands of the Îyârhe Nakoda (Stoney Nakoda) and other indigenous nations who frequented these lands. She is a Board Certified Behaviour Analyst, Early Childhood Educator and Developmental Educator. Jess has been working with families and children with autism and other disabilities since the late 90's.
After reading the autobiography "Nobody Nowhere" by Donna Williams Jess became intrigued by autism and how this impacted individuals. She began to volunteer to support children with autism and soon created a connection with the children.
Throughout her career, Jess has worked across Australia, London and Canada. The use of the science of behaviour and the principles of Positive Behaviour Support, as well as other evidence based strategies, trauma-informed care and compassion, have played a major role in Jess' success supporting hundreds of families. Jess has worked as a senior behaviour therapist and supervisor for many years and in 2021 completed a Masters in Education - specializing in Behaviour Analysis. Now, Jess runs Emu Education - Parent and Behaviour Support as well as J Swart Behavior Consulting.​
With a focus on using Positive Behaviour Support to reduce behaviours of concern and increase adaptive and functional skills, Jess has passion for sharing her knowledge. She provides supports with an open mind and from a culturally aware perspective.
Over the years, Jess has learned how to understand people's needs and capabilities to tailor behaviour therapy for them. Every child is an individual and every caregiver has their own strengths. Jess will not lie, there are times when things will get worse before they get better and in these times caregiver health and self-care is crucial.
Jess feels strongly about building children's skills so that they can be as independent as possible and ultimately have choice and control in their life.​
Personally, Jess has an adventurous and playful spirit and doesn't mind getting her hands dirty in the process! She loves to be out in the mountains, sharing experiences with friends and her partner - whether it be climbing, hiking, skiing or biking. Jess enjoys continuing to learn about the first peoples of Canada and Australia, and their incredible knowledge of and connection to the land. Exploring the world, having fun adventures and experiencing different cultures are experinences that Jess looks forward to!
Why
"Emu Education"?
Emu... what even is an Emu?
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Well, this is a hilarious Australian animal! We chose the Emu as our mascot because it represents a funny, goofy and playful creature... characteristics we like to embrace when we deliver services. When we are having fun we are more relaxed and receptive to learning. We are more likely to continue to do something when it is followed by a positive outcome. Therapy should be fun and positive!
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'Education' - helping children to live their best life is about teaching them the skills they need to be autonomous individuals. A major aspect of reducing inappropriate behaviours is increasing skills. The more skills we have, the more control we can have in our life; something that people with a disability often have a limited amount of.
