Awards

Named in honor of Kathe Shelby, former director of the Ohio Department of Education's Office for Exceptional Children (2008-2011), the annual Leadership Award recognizes an outstanding special education leader in Ohio who demonstrates exceptional and effective skills in improving the quality of special education programming for Ohio's school children. Kathe epitomized what it meant to display initiative, influence, and respect toward children with special needs, including their parents, special and general education teachers, related services personnel, and school administrators. Kathe passed away in 2011, but recipients of the Leadership Award carry on the spirit and work of Kathe Shelby as they seek to honor her legacy.

Amy Schlessman
School-based Physical Therapist, Hamilton County Educational Service Center

Amy Schlessman, PT, DPT, DHSc, has been a school-based physical therapist in Ohio for 22 years.  Some of her presentation topics include best practices in ETR/IEP writing, collaborative IEP writing, school emergency management planning for students with disabilities, inclusive recess strategies, and playground safety/accessibility. Amy co-authored a Joint Statement on interprofessional collaborative IEP goal writing, which was issued by the American Occupational Therapy Association, American Physical Therapy Association, and American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. For this work, Amy received a Social Responsibility Award from the APTA. Amy has chaired other national publications, including one on developing collaborative IEP goals and another on school emergency management planning for students with disabilities, which has been featured by various educational organizations in other states.