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Total Sessions Found: 2 | Reset Sorter
| Title | Date / Time | Presenters | |
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OCALI CENTRAL: Assistive Technology and Accessible Educational Materials Center
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Thursday
10:00 - 10:30 am | ||
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OPENING SESSION THURSDAY!
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Thursday
10:00 - 10:30 am | Presenters: Shawn Henry , Jo Hannah Ward |
Presenter Detail
Chris Abildgaard
Chris Abildgaard, LPC, NCC, NCSP is the owner and director of the Social Learning Center, LLC. located in Cheshire, CT. Chris has been in private practice for over 13 years. Chris is a Nationally Certified School Psychologist, a Board Certified national Counselor, & a Licensed Professional Counselor with a specialization in Autism Spectrum Disorders. In addition to a Masters and 6th Year degree in School Psychology, he has earned a Graduate Certificate from the University of Massachusetts Lowell in Behavioral Interventions in Autism. Chris is currently pursuing his Doctorate of Education (Ed.D) in School Psychology from Loyola University Chicago.
Presenter Detail
Tiffany Adkins
She graduated with a BA in 2002. She worked in different environments where she worked with numerous children and young adults using applied behavior analysis procedures. She sharpened her knowledge of de-escalation, crisis support, behavior plans that focused on a variety of behaviors, and different techniques to increase needed skills. In 2009, she earned an AS in Interactive Media. In 2016, she started working at Dublin City Schools as a paraprofessional. She became an RBT. She co-presented at OHABA 2019 on using functional analysis and the RBT's role. Also, she co-presented at work on two presentations. She started graduate school in July 2019 to study Applied Behavior Analysis.
Presenter Detail
Sarah Anderson
Dr. Sarah Anderson is an occupational therapist and a PhD student at The Ohio State University School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences. Dr. Anderson's research examines the use of innovative technologies, such as games for health and virtual reality, for improving safety and function in home and community settings for individuals with cognitive disabilities. Dr. Anderson currently has 3 publications in peer-reviewed journals and multiple presentations, including the 2020 IEEE VR Annual International Conference and the 2019 Ohio Occupational Therapy Association Annual Conference.
Presenter Detail
Stephanie Andrian
Stephanie Andrian is the Assistant Deputy Director for the Division of Employer and Innovation Services with Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities. She is responsible for leading the statewide business relations initiatives to raise awareness of the agency's mission with employer partners to promote and support the hiring of people with disabilities. Andrian previously served as the Chief Operating Officer for a substance abuse prevention and treatment agency, as well as Vice President for a social service agency. She holds a bachelors degree in psychology from Otterbein University and a masters degree in community counseling from the University of Dayton.
Presenter Detail
Natalie Andzik
Dr. Natalie Andzik is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Special and Early Education at Northern Illinois University. Her research interest grew from being a special educator in California. Natalie's research focuses on supporting communication independence among individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She believes that teachers, paraeducators, and other school-based practitioners benefit from support when implementing evidence-based practices and once trained, school-baed practitioners can make a profound change.
Presenter Detail
Michelle Antle
Michelle Antle works as a Field Training Coordinator for the Kentucky Autism Training Center. She works with schools, families, and community partners to educate others on the use of evidence-based practices. Michelle is a school psychologist and has worked in public schools for the last 18 years. Michelle also has expertise in crisis response, school safety, and improving the behavioral and mental health of students. In 2011, Michelle was recognized for her hard work and was named Kentucky Association of Psychologists in Schools' (KAPS) School Psychologist of the Year.
Presenter Detail
Ruth Aspy
Ruth Aspy, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist specializing in transdisciplinary assessment and intervention for individuals with ASD. She is co-author of The Ziggurat Model, which earned the Autism Society Literary Achievement Award. Aspy speaks nationally and internationally. Her focus is on understanding underlying strengths and characteristics of those with ASD and designing supports and strategies with these differences in mind. She believes that kindness is at the heart of all good intervention strategies. She has an emphasis on working with females with ASD and on catatonia.
Presenter Detail
Melissa Bacon
Melissa Bacon, program director of the Office of Policy, Strategic Initiative, and Stakeholder Engagement at OCALI, oversees the Interagency Workgroup on Autism, collaborating with state agencies to promote issues impacting and involving persons with ASD. Prior, she served as policy director for the Ohio Department of Health, coordinated policy for Health and Human Services, and was director of government affairs for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
Presenter Detail
Deborah Bailey
Deborah Bailey serves State Support Team Region 9 as an educational consultant with a primary focus on early learning. She supports districts in the areas of early childhood PBIS at the state and regional level. Prior to joining the State Support Team, she supported teachers and families with a variety of behavioral and social emotional challenges. With her master's degree in educational leadership, Bailey's goal is to partner with districts to focus on building strong social emotional foundations for students.
Presenter Detail
Kristine Balestra
Kristine Balestra is a consultant with the State Support Team Region 3. Prior to working at SST3, Balestra worked as a special education supervisor for the Parma City School District, an intervention specialist and co-teacher in the South Euclid-Lyndhurst School District, and as adjunct faculty at CSU and Ashland University. Her primary responsibilities with the SST include facilitation of the Ohio Improvement Process and providing technical assistance and professional development in such areas as special education, family engagement, PBIS, and integrated comprehensive service delivery to improve access and outcomes for all students.
Presenter Detail
Michele Bambauer
Michele Bambauer has a B.S. in Education, a master's degree, and a supervision and principal license from the University of Dayton. In 2016, she graduated from the University of Toledo with an education specialist degree. She has co-taught in a general education setting, resource room, and segregated classroom for students with behavior challenges. A majority of her 15 years within the classroom was as a preschool specialist. During this time, she was recognized as a National Board-Certified Teacher: Exceptional Needs Specialist. Bambauer joined the staff of State Support Team 6 in 2012.
Presenter Detail
Keith Banner
Keith Banner is Employment First and Community Life Engagement project manager with Employment First/DODD. He has worked in the DD field in Ohio for over 26 years, including positions as a work incentives practitioner, employment services coordinator for Butler County Board of DD, and project lead for the Employment Navigation Technical Liaison Project. Banner sometimes teaches disabilities studies and other courses at Miami University. He helped co-found Visionaries + Voices and Thunder-Sky, Inc., two community-based arts organizations in Cincinnati.
Presenter Detail
Mary Barczak
Mary Barczak is a board-certified behavior analyst and assistant professor of special education at the University of Oklahoma. She previously worked as a special education teacher for students with autism and intellectual disabilities and as a behavior specialist at a transition program for young adults with significant disabilities. Her interests include transition services, preparing students with intellectual and developmental disabilities for future employment, and training pre- and inservice teachers to use evidence-based instructional practices.
Presenter Detail
Kelly Barger
Kelly Barger, M.A., is an education program specialist in the Office for Exceptional Children at the Ohio Department of Education. A special educator for 6 years, Barger served as an intervention specialist, teaching middle school students in the District of Columbia. She currently fosters inclusive leadership and evidence-based practices in urban school districts throughout Ohio. Barger also participated in the Department’s stakeholder-driven process to develop a statewide plan to improve the educational experiences and outcomes for students with disabilities.
Presenter Detail
Jennifer Barnes
Jennifer Barnes is an Education Program Specialist at the Ohio Department of Education in the Office of Early Learning and School Readiness. Jennifer coordinates, trains, supports, and monitors compliance with IDEA, Federal, and State law for early childhood preschool special education throughout the state of Ohio.
Presenter Detail
Christina Barr
Christina L. Barr is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) and a Teacher of the Deaf. She received her B.S. from Ohio State University and her M.A. in Special Education from Illinois State University. She continued her education with Applied Behavior Analysis coursework through Florida Institute of Technology and sat for her exam in 2014. She has taught in the education system for 5 years and worked in the private sector as a clinician for 6 years. She has previously presented at the Illinois Teachers of Hard of Hearing/Deaf Individuals (2006, 2009, 2010), OCALICON (2019). Presently, she teaches in a preschool program for Deaf/Hard of Hearing students for Montgomery Country ESC.
Presenter Detail
Charles Barrett
Charles A. Barrett, PhD, NCSP, is a lead school psychologist with Loudoun County Public Schools and adjunct lecturer at Northern Virginia Community College, the Graduate School of Education at Howard University, and the College of Education and Human Development at George Mason University. An award-winning educator for his commitment to students, families, schools, and communities, Barrett holds various leadership positions with the National Association of School Psychologists and frequently speaks to professional and lay audiences about promoting positive outcomes for children. Barrett has published books on a variety of topics relevant to educators and communicate hope and wholeness.
Presenter Detail
Megan Barrett
Megan Barrett, M.Ed., is an intervention specialist at Ankeney Middle School within the Beavercreek City School district in Beavercreek, OH. With 8 years of teaching experience in both general and special education settings, Barrett is a tenacious educator who enjoys working with students with high-functioning autism and other social communication needs. This past school year, she worked alongside Jennifer Schmidt to create and implement a middle school curriculum based on the PEERSpective social communication class.
Presenter Detail
Jen Bavry
Jen Bavry serves as OCALI's Family and Community Outreach Center Program Director. She has been instrumental in supporting OCALI initiatives to equip families with resources, including the launch of ASD Strategies in Action and a tools to promote self-care. Additionally, Jen has led efforts to enhance community awareness and access, such as building the knowledge and understanding of future hospitality industry leaders and increasing accessibility at state and county fairs across Ohio. As a parent of an autistic son, Jen is a strong advocate for individuals and families having access to supports in their homes, schools and communities leading to greater opportunities and outcomes.
Presenter Detail
Jody Beall
Jody Vice Beall is the 619 Coordinator for the Ohio Department of Education, Office of Early Learning and School Readiness. Jody leads the Preschool Special Education team, which coordinates, trains, supports, and monitors compliance with the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and state laws pertaining to preschool special education. Jody and her team work with stakeholders across Ohio to increase knowledge on the importance of children with disabilities having access to inclusive high-quality early childhood programs. Jody has a Bachelor's Degree from the University of Rio Grande, and a Master's in Social Work from The Ohio State University.
Presenter Detail
Suzanne Beck
Sue Beck has coordinated statewide/regional initiatives providing training, technical assistance, resource & product development on a wide range of transition & related curriculum topics. Sue now works with Ohio's Employment First initiative as Project Coordinator on a grant funded to OCALI from the Ohio Dept of DD. Current work is focused on transition training with professionals from across agencies, Multi Agency Planning (MAP) to Employment. Sue has a Bachelor's degree in elementary/special education & a Master's degree in curriculum, supervision and educational leadership.
Presenter Detail
Shawna Benson
Shawna Benson has worked at OCALI since 2008 where she is the Program Director for the Teaching Diverse Learners Center. In addition to working at OCALI, she has also worked within Ohio school districts, ESC, SST, DODD, private preschool and higher education as an educator, Assistive Technology Specialist, Autism/Low Incidence Specialist, Literacy Specialist, Associate Professor and Director of Disability Services. She has experience co-teaching in inclusive settings and providing academic instruction/intervention to students with a wide range of exceptionalities, ages, strengths and needs which has provided her with a wealth of information that she now applies to her current work.
Presenter Detail
Rachel Bigham
Rachel Bigham, M.Ed, TVI, COMS, serves Zanesville City Schools in southeastern Ohio. Rachel has taught as an adjunct faculty member and consultant for The Ohio State University Program in Orientation and Mobility. Rachel received her bachelor's degree in Psychology from Ohio University and her Master's in Visual Impairments Education from The Ohio State University with a focus on CVI. Rachel has served across age settings and seeks to provide valuable information and ideas into all areas of visual impairment services. Rachel has given many presentations, including the 2018 and 2019 OCALIcon conferences, and has published several articles and book reviews.
Presenter Detail
Amy Bixler Coffin
Amy Bixler Coffin, M.S., is program director of the Autism Center at OCALI. A special educator for 24 years, Coffin has served as an intervention specialist, low-incidence supervisor, director of special education, and autism program director. She currently coordinates and provides regional and statewide professional development for districts, families, and organizations. Coffin has presented at state, national, and international conferences, contributed to several articles and book chapters, and has authored a book on supporting individuals with ASD in the community.
Presenter Detail
Hannah Bloom
Hannah Bloom is an occupational therapist with a wide range of clinical practices based in belief that regulation and positive experiences allow for growth. Currently she works as a school-based OT in Vermont. She runs an annual service learning program in Nicaragua. In the past she has worked for Theraplay as an aquatic therapist with children with ASD, with incarcerated youth in New Mexico, and as a neuro based OT in the acute hospital setting. She has a specialty in Sensory Integration from USC. Hannah was a fellow with Leadership and Education in Neurological Development, she continues to be involved with Maternal Children's Health and the UNM Occupational Therapy Masters Program.
Presenter Detail
Adrea Bogle
Adrea Bogle is the Executive Director and Special Education Director for an education service agency in Southwest Colorado. She is a speech-language pathologist and certified professional coach who is passionate about communication, rural education and shared leadership. Adrea has presented in national and state conferences on resources in a rual regions and the impact of newtowrking to leverage supports for children and youth. She is the co-founder of the Southwest Ability Summit, an event that highlights the voices of people with disabilities and which creates a platform for advocacy in the four corners region to build steps towards meaningful inclusion.
Presenter Detail
Jessica Bowman
Jessica Bowman, Ph.D. is a Researcher with the National Center on Educational Outcomes and the TIES Center at the University of Minnesota. In this position, she works to improve inclusion of students with significant cognitive disabilities in general education classrooms through technical assistance and resource development. Her research has focused on inclusion and access to the general education curriculum in mathematics for students with significant cognitive disabilities.
Presenter Detail
Ann Brennan
Ann Brennan has worked as a legislative/education association policy services professional for most of her career. She has worked for an Ohio Congressman, later for the Ohio Schools Boards Association and for the past 25 years for the Ohio School Psychologists Association. Ann graduated from Miami University with a degree in elementary education.
Presenter Detail
Elizabeth Bridges
Elizabeth Bridges is a language arts content specialist in assessment development at the Ohio Department of Education. She has an extensive background with children's literature with a specific focus on literature that represents those persons/groups that are seldom seen or are misrepresented in children's books. She currently serves as a foster parent for the Buckeye Ranch, providing advocacy and support to children with a variety of special needs
Presenter Detail
Heather Bridgman
Heather Bridgman, a rehabilitation engineer, has been working in both the medical and educational environments for over 20 years on computer access, augmentative communication, universal design for learning, and online learning. She has a master's degree in systems engineering, a teaching license in high school mathematics, is certified as a RESNA assistive technology professional, and also teaches AT courses at Ashland University. Bridgman has presented at numerous conferences on a wide variety of assistive technology topics and market trends. Recent projects include development of SIFTS which is an AT feature-matching tool and the online modules known as ATIM.
Presenter Detail
Matthew Brock
Matt Brock, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the Department of Education Studies at The Ohio State University and a faculty associate at the Crane Center for Early Childhood Research and Policy. His research interests include instructional and support strategies for students with severe disabilities and effective dissemination of these strategies to educators. Brock has been a special education teacher, general education teacher, and a U.S. Peace Corps special education volunteer.
Presenter Detail
Mary Anne Brown
Mary Anne Brown is currently working as an Early Intervention Specialist and Board Certified Behavior Analyst in Dublin City Schools in Ohio. She graduated with her Master's in Applied Behavior Analysis from the University of Cincinnati in 2017. Mary Anne has taught in the classroom for over twelve years and has worked with individuals with a wide range of abilities from preschool age - adult. Mary Anne has had the pleasure of co-presenting at local and state conferences on positive behavior strategies and functional analysis in schools.
Presenter Detail
Samantha Brown
Samantha Brown, MA, MLIS, is the Clearinghouse Librarian. She is responsible for maintaining and developing resources for the lending library, which serves the state of Ohio, providing digital, print, and technological resources specializing in autism and low incidence disabilities and assistive technology. Her life as a librarian began in a public library setting, where she helped individuals find the books they needed, taught classes about current and upcoming technologies, and answered reference questions. Samantha continues to use those skills as Clearinghouse Librarian.
Presenter Detail
Teresa Brown
Teresa Brown, Ph.D., is an early childhood and special education consultant with the State Support Team Region 4. She earned her doctorate from Kent State University focused on authentic assessment practices, development of quality and legally defensible IFSPs and IEPs, inclusive practices, and promoting early literacy in preschool special education programs. Dr. Brown has training and experience in working with individuals with disabilities from birth through age 21, and has consulted with programs to create high-quality inclusive environments.
Presenter Detail
Ginny Bryan
Ginny Bryan is the Resource Specialist for the Autism Society Central Ohio and the Information and Referral Coordinator for the Autism Society of Ohio. She has worked in the field helping families affected by autism for over 10 years. Bryan helps advocate and educate families, promotes autism awareness, plans monthly family activities, organizes workshops, coordinates the Coffee Tea and Autism support groups and provides information and referral to families, educators and providers. She sits on the executive board of the Ohio Coalition for the Education of Children with Disabilities. Bryan is also a parent of an individual with autism.
Presenter Detail
Myra Beth Bundy
Myra Bundy, Ph.D., BCBA is a professor of psychology at Eastern Kentucky University, a Board Certified Behavior Analyst, and a licensed psychologist with specialization in autism and developmental disabilities. She interned at the University of North Carolina's TEACCH program. In the EKU psychology clinic, she works alongside graduate students with individuals with ASD across the lifespan. She researches autism topics, and coordinates the EKU ASD certificate program. She is a clinician with the Kentucky OCSHCN autism clinics. Bundy enjoys spending time with individuals with autism and their families.
Presenter Detail
Sarah Buoni
Sarah Buoni M.Ed. is an education program specialist with the Ohio Department of Education, Office for Exceptional Children. She has worked in the area of low incidence disabilities for thirteen years as both an administrator and an itinerant teacher. Sarah provides technical assistance to families and districts and informs policy and procedures for the education of children who are deaf/hard of hearing, blind/visually impaired, have traumatic brain injuries or have autism spectrum disorder. Sarah participates on statewide meetings including the Interagency Workgroup on Autism, the Ohio Brain Injury Advisory Committee, and the Communicative Competency Taskforce.
Presenter Detail
Sloane Burgess
Sloane Burgess, Ph.D., is an associate professor at Kent State University in special education and speech pathology and audiology, and the program coordinator for the graduate ASD certificate program. Burgess is currently conducting research to evaluate the characteristics of the language environments of young children with ASD and employment outcomes for adults with ASD. She is interested in identifying and implementing interventions that support positive perceptions of quality of life for individuals with ASD and their families across the lifespan.
Presenter Detail
Jonathan Burras
Jonathan currently serves as Director of Student services in the Mansfield City Schools, where he has been for 5 years. He is passionate about equity and access. He has led the district through the IDEA Monitoring Review and has pride in the district's investment in behavior and socio-emotional supports.
Presenter Detail
Mo Buti
Mo Buti is a practiced professional in special education with over 30 years of experience. She has served as director of Neumann Family Services and director of autism and intellectual disabilities at Chicago Public Schools. She possesses an M.Ed.-BD, M.Ed.-ADMIN, QIDP certification, director of special education degree/certificate from Illinois, and Type 75 administrator certification. Buti is a dynamic speaker and well-respected authority on autism, intellectual disabilities, adult services, behavioral strategies, educational supports, and more.
Presenter Detail
Cheryl Byrne
Cheryl Byrne is a regional literacy specialist at State Support Team 6. She is passionate about language and literacy learning with the goal that instructional leaders and educators attain the knowledge they need to support all children to be readers and life-long learners. Cheryl has led numerous professional development trainings in literacy and loves sharing ideas and practices with educators.
Presenter Detail
Marbella Caceres
Marbella is the Assistant Director of OCECD. Marbella is involved in the daily operations of the Coalition, working closely with all the staff to ensure the best services for families of children with disabilities. She serves all families across the state by providing opportunities for professional development to the staff, as well as current special education information. Marbella is involved in the development of trainings that address the cultural needs in the state of Ohio. Marbella is the mother of a child with special needs, as well as a gifted child. Most recently she has served as a volunteer for the National Alliance on Mental Illness in Franklin County.
Presenter Detail
Erika Campolito
Erika Campolito is a Transition Classroom supervisor at the Rich Center for Autism and The TOPS supervisor for Youngstown State University. Erika started teaching in 2008 and joined the Rich Center team in 2013. She graduated from Youngstown State University with her undergraduate degree in integrated Social Studies certified grades 7-12. Erika also obtained her Master's degree from Youngstown State in Special Education with the Autism certificate. Erika's journey at The Rich Center began with the eagerness to help her students succeed academically, socially and vocational while helping to spread awareness through the community
Presenter Detail
Teresa Cardon
Teresa Cardon, Ph.D., has worked with diverse individuals on the autism spectrum for over two decades. Cardon completed her doctoral training in speech and hearing science and is also a board-certified behavior analyst-D. She has published her research on autism in peer-reviewed journals and presents at conferences both nationally and internationally. Cardon has designed curriculum for numerous courses in applied behavior analysis, autism, and speech language pathology. She enjoys collaborating with colleagues and sits on numerous boards both locally and nationally.
Presenter Detail
Brooke Carson
Brooke D.Carson,Ph.D.,is the state autism specialist for the Colorado Department of Education (CDE). She is responsible for the development and oversight of the Colorado Autism Education Network. In this role, Dr. Carson oversees this statewide initiative for supporting school districts in building capacity which includes ASD professionals across the state employed to carry out initiatives, as well as professional development in the area of ASD. Carson has held positions as a district ASD specialist, district coordinator, author, university instructor and project director for national ASD grants.
Presenter Detail
Elizabeth Carter
Elizabeth Carter has been the Parent Mentor for the Parma City School District for the last 4 years. Previous to that, Elizabeth participated in a parent advocacy group based out of her son's non-public charter school, developing and hosting presentations based on her family's experiences having a child on the autism spectrum. Elizabeth is a wife to Troy and proud mother of two young men, Drew and Gabe, both of whom have disabilities.
Presenter Detail
Erik Carter
Erik Carter is Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Special Education at Vanderbilt University. His research and teaching focuses on evidence-based strategies for supporting inclusion and valued roles in work, community, school, and congregational settings for individuals with autism and other developmental disabilities. He has published more than 200 articles and chapters, along with 6 books.
Presenter Detail
Angie Chapple
Angie Chapple is a consultant at the State Support Team Region 3 in Cuyahoga County in Ohio. Her main areas of focus are special education, PBIS, transition services, and school improvement. Chapple has been with the State Support Teams since 2005. Prior to this she was an intervention specialist for 11 years and a Special Education Program Manager for 4 years with the Cleveland Metropolitan School District.
Presenter Detail
Kelly Churchwright
Kelly Churchwright is in the Office for Exceptional Children at the Ohio Department of Education, serving on the Urban Team as the liaison to Cincinnati Public Schools. She was previously attached to the Monitoring Team, visiting schools across the state to determine enforcement of IDEA in Ohio and to promote best practicees in special education. Kelly has been in education for more than twenty years. She taught primarily middle school social studies in a project-based setting that concentrated on individualized learning. She holds both a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and a J.D. Her scholarly interests center around education policy implementation.
Presenter Detail
Kim Clairy
Kim Clairy, occupational therapist, international and key-note speaker, private consultant, and self-advocate has unique expertise in understanding the intersection of Autism, mental illness, and trauma. Diagnosed with ASD with catatonia, ADHD, SPD, Kim broke through barriers as she struggled with an eating disorder under a system uneducated on neurodivergent populations. She went from being told "your ASD is severe, you need to live in a nursing home," to educating the community at large through didactic and experiential workshops. Kim gives voice to those unable to articulate their inner worlds by sharing her personal journey and professional expertise as an occupational therapist.
Presenter Detail
Lynn Clayton
Lynn received her BA from The College of Wooster and a MA in SLP from The University of Cincinnati. She served on the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities team through the Cincinnati Children's Hospital gaining experience with an interdisciplinary evaluation team assessing children with hearing loss. Professional affiliations include ASHA and the Ohio Speech Language Hearing Association. Lynn holds her Certification of Clinical Competency and Ohio Board of Education Teaching Certificate. Poster presentation completed at the 2009 OHSLA conference entitled: "Do Intervention Settings Affect Language Outcomes for Children with Cochlear Implants?"
Presenter Detail
Heather Clingerman
Heather Clingerman, JD, joined the Office for Exceptional Children in 2014. She serves as a complaint investigator, mediation/facilitation co-coordinator and is a member of various interagency committees. Ms. Clingerman received a B.A. and a B.S. from Ohio University. She attended Capital University Law school and received a JD with a concentration in children and family law. Prior to joining the OEC, she was an attorney in private practice focusing on family law.
Presenter Detail
Stacy Collins
Stacy Collins, MSW, joined the Employment First Team in May 2014 as project manager within the Division of Policy and Strategic Direction at Ohio DODD. She coordinates the implementation of Ohio's Employment First Initiative, including activities and projects for DODD and the Ohio Employment First Taskforce and Advisory Committee. She works to identify training and resource needs to help improve employment outcomes in all areas of the state, and coordinates efforts to raise awareness of community employment as a preferred outcome. Collins has a master of social work degree in social administration from The Ohio State University.
Presenter Detail
Barbara Conrad
Barbara Conrad, M.A., CCC-SLP has been the Supervisor of Speech-Language Services in Lorain County for thirty years. She is the immediate past-president of the State Education Agencies Communication Disabilities Council (SEACDC) and is active at the state (OSSPEAC and OSLHA) and national (ASHA) levels presenting on workload, recruitment, retention and several other practice issues. Barb recently served on ODE's Shortages Workgrop and on ASHA's Ad-Hoc Committee Graduate Education.
Presenter Detail
Mark Coppin
Mark Coppin is the Director of Disability Services at North Dakota State University. In the field of assistive technology (AT) for over 34 years, he is a certified as an assistive technology professional through RESNA. For over 30 years he was the director of AT for a non-profit school in North Dakota and served as a special education teacher, interim Director of Education, and Director of Information Technology. As Director of AT, he conducted trainings, evaluations, and consultations in the area of AT in special education. In 2009, he was awarded the designation of Apple Distinguished Educator, and in 2013, was also designated as a "Champion of Change" by President Obama at the White House
Presenter Detail
Alex Corwin
Alex Corwin, M.A., is the Secondary Transition and Workforce Manager at OCALI's Lifespan Transition Center. Alex has been a professional in the developmental disability field as a job coach, adult day services manager, service and support administrator (SSA), SSA supervisor, and previously oversaw the Ohio Transition Support Partnership for Ohio's Department of Education. The partnership, Ohio Transition Support Partnership, is between the Ohio Department of Education and Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities which promotes competitive, integrated employment outcomes for students with disabilities and supports transition planning for students as early as 14 years old.
Presenter Detail
Stephanie Craig
Stephanie L. Craig, M.Ed. taught children and adults for 13 years in a district nationally recognized for its advanced implementation of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). Ms. Craig's experience includes teaching grades 3-6 for nine years. She then held the role of UDL Facilitator where she facilitated professional development of instructional design with teachers and provided background information and resources for UDL to develop the qualities of an expert learner in students. Ms. Craig has presented UDL at various local, state, regional and national conferences. She currently sits on the Public Broadcast System (PBS) Educational Advisory Board as a UDL consultant.
Presenter Detail
Cynthia Crooks
Cynthia Crooks has been an Intervention Specialist at Hudson High School for 9 years where she has taught MH/CD/AU students. She graduated from Muskingum University in 1987 with a B.A. in Elementary Education and received the Miriam Slonaker Allison Award for the Outstanding Elementary Education Major. Cynthia also graduated from The Ohio State University with a M.A. in Educational Admin. and Supervision. While teaching in Columbus, she received the Outstanding Commitment to Special Education award from the COSERRC. A teaching highlight was nominating a student in 2018 who was the recipient of the R.A. Horn Outstanding Achievement Award from the State Support Team 8 in Northeastern Ohio.
Presenter Detail
Katelynn Crow
Katelynn Crow is an Education Program Specialist in the Ohio Department of Education's Office for Exceptional Children. She is currently working on the Supports and Monitoring team, which focuses on compliance with special education law. She is certified as a K-12 Mild to Moderate Intervention Specialist and has years of experience working with students with autism in various settings. Katelynn has also conducted research in the area of autism at Nationwide Children's Hospital and has contributed to projects focused on autism and genetics, autism and prenatal opioid exposure, and intervention modalities for young children with autism.
Presenter Detail
Christine Croyle
Christine Croyle, CCC-SLP, Ed.D.,CCC-SLP, Currently serves as the Program Director of the Outreach Center for Deafness and Blindness. She provides leadership to that team as they work to build capacity at the local level for learners who are D/HH or B/VI. Christine has served as a school administrator for Pickaway County Board of Developmental Disabilities and as a speech language pathologist at The Ohio State School for the Blind (OSSB). She has presented at state, national, and international conferences on topics including leading inclusive models of education, instructional strategies, and designing spaces with accessibility in mind.
Presenter Detail
Kaetlyn Culter
Kaetlyn Culter graduated from Ohio State University in May 2020, with a B.S. in Health Sciences and a minor in speech and hearing. Her undergraduate thesis examined accessible community navigation for individuals with disabilities, focusing on caregivers through adult learning theory, and she received a scholarship through Ohio State's School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences. Kaetlyn is currently a pursing a doctorate in occupational therapy at Ohio State University. She has previously presented her research at the 2019 Ohio Occupational Therapy Association conference, and was accepted to present at the 2020 American Occupational Therapy Association Conference and Expo.
Presenter Detail
Robin Cunconan Lahr
Robin Cunconan Lahr is attorney and founder of Innovating for Justice, LLC. providing legal advocacy for special education and disability rights on behalf of children and adults with disabilities. Robin is also a special education faculty member in higher education, working with future teachers, current practitioners, and other faculty and administrators preparing the next generation of teachers to successfully educate all students. Robin emphasizes collaboration as she focuses on UDL, family perspectives, the IEP process, and disability rights.
Presenter Detail
Jennifer Dameron
Jennifer Dameron, a transition coordinator for the WCESC, was previously the director of Adult Connections, a service provider under DODD that provided employment training and innovative services to adults with disabilities. Dameron started in the field as a behavioral therapist for children with autism while completing her degree at Ohio University. Throughout her 15-year tenure as a service and support administrator at the Clinton County Board of DD, She coordinated and administered services for individuals with developmental disabilities and held additional responsibilities as a Good Life instructor, crisis prevention instructor, and human rights chairperson.
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Senay Daniel
Senay Daniel is a professional, entrepreneur, and advocate for those on the autism spectrum. Born and raised in Columbus, Senay graduated with honors from Ohio State University's Fisher College of Business in 2018 with a concentration in Management Information Systems. Senay then started working for EY as a consultant in their Technology Advisory Program. During college, Senay was inspired to create a support association for people of color with autism. Senay will go on to serve a 2 year fellowship with Venture for America, a nonprofit that is dedicated to sending recent graduates with an interest in entrepreneurship to startup companies in smaller market cities across America.
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Catherine Dart
Catherine Dart is currently a School-based Transition Coordinator for Warren County Educational Service Center. She graduated with her Bachelosr in Education from Univeristy of Cincinnati in 2014. Catherine continued her Master's in special education while working with Advancement and Transition Services at the University of Cincinnati in 2019. While completing her Masters in Special Education Catherine also completed her Transition to Work Endorcement with the Univeristy of Cincinnati.
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Alfred Daviso
Alfred Daviso, Ph.D., is an associate professor at the University of Akron. Since 2010, he has published 12 articles in special education focusing on transition services. Daviso previously worked as an intervention specialist and a transition coordinator in Akron Public School. In addition, he has presented at over 40 national conferences. He is currently on the board of the Division of Career Development and Transition and serves as their app and web coordinator.
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Jessica Dawso
Jessica Dawso, JD, is an attorney at Scott Scriven LLP, where her practice focuses on school law, dealing primarily with issues involving special education, civil rights claims, student discipline, and employment law matters. She previously worked at the Ohio Department of Education as in-house legal counsel and associate director in the Office for Exceptional Children. Dawso received her bachelor's degree from John Carroll University and her juris doctorate from the Duquesne University School of Law.
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Meledy Dawson
Meledy Dawson is an OCALI Early Childhood Consultant and Training Facilitator, with the Center for the Young Child. She develops evidence-based materials, provides technical assistance and professional development projects in the areas of social-emotional functioning, adaptive behavior, communication, sensory/motor, behavior, hearing and vision development. Dawson collaborates with State agencies, regional partners, and Early Care and Education Professionals in the creation and presentation of professional development for early childhood professionals and families. Dawson held positions as an intervention specialist, early intervention service coordinator and AmeriCorps coordinator.
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Jayda Day
Jayda M. Day is a school psychology doctoral student studying at Ball State University. Ms. Day has presented previous research for the American Academy of Pediatric Neuropsychology. Ms. Day's areas of interest include social justice, familial empowerment, attachment, and autism.
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Nathan DeDino
Nathan DeDino joined state service at the Ohio Department of Health in 2011. He worked in various roles at ODH supporting the Early Intervention program before becoming the Part C Coordinator in 2015, a role he continues in at the Department of Developmental Disabilities. Nathan serves on several boards including as a Director at Large of the Infant and Toddler Coordinators Association (ITCA), a not-for-profit corporation promoting cooperation and the exchange of information and ideas in the administration of Part C. Nathan obtained his bachelor of arts from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He also holds a law degree from the Moritz College of Law at the Ohio State University.
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Lynn DeMange
Lynn DeMange, OTR/L, CAS, graduated from Shawnee State University and worked for 4 years as an OT in clinical care at The Ohio State University Harding Hospital. In 2006, she transitioned to school-based therapy and worked for 10 years through the Miami Valley Regional Center. DeMange currently works for the Montgomery County Educational Service Center as a consultant on the Autism/Low-Incidence Coaching Team.
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Michael Demczyk
Michael Demczyk is a Program Specialist for Gifted Services in the Office for Exceptional Children at the Ohio Department of Education, where he provides extensive support to educators and parents and presents frequently on gifted education topics. Prior to joining the Department, he was a Project Coordinator for the University of Dayton - School Study Council of Ohio, where he collaborated on a published journal article related to testing accommodations and students with disabilities. Demczyk earned his Ph.D. in Political Science from Miami University and he taught several courses at Columbus State Community College.
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Ron DeMuesy
Ron DeMuesy has worked in the field of special education for over 19 years. As a certified MH teacher, BCBA and COBA, he has worked directly with special needs populations of all ages. He has presented at multiple state and nationwide conferences on the topics of functional behavior assessments, functional analysis, ethics, writing behavior plans, positive behavior support planning, and peer collaboration. Ron also holds certification as a PAX Partner, a PEAK Level 1 trainer, a CPI non-violent physical crisis intervention instructor, and a PEERs ® Social Skills Provider. Ron has served as an adjunct instructor for the University of Dayton, Capital University and Arizona State University.
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Tina DeVito
Tina DeVito, M.S., is a consultant for State Support Team Region 5 specializing in early learning inclusive instructional practices, curriculum and assessments, and Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports. As an early learning professional of 27 years, DeVito has served as a general education teacher, an intervention specialist, teacher mentor, director of education, early learning literacy specialist and consultant. She currently coordinates and provides regional professional development and technical assistance to support the learning of all children.
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Krista Dickens
Krista Dickens is a consultant for the State Support Team for Region 4 - Lake and Geauga County, providing professional development and technical assistance to early childhood and elementary administrators and staff. Dickens' membership on the Ohio Early Childhood Positive Behavior Intervention and Support Workgroup provides her experience with PBIS and behavior at the state, regional, district and classroom level. She has held positions as a special education supervisor, preschool coordinator, intervention specialist, and adjunct instructor.
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Andrew Ditlevson
Andrew Ditlevson is a native of central Ohio. As a teacher and school administrator, Andrew has worked in a wide range of schools including rural and urban settings. He is currently the principal at Crestview High School in Richland county, Ohio. He is known for his passion for school climate and culture reform. Andrew has a big heart for at-risk students and is invested in growing teacher leaders through mentoring and collaborative opportunities.
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Starr Dobush
Starr Dobush is an OCALI secondary transition consultant. She has filmed the "Take 5" webcast on OCALI Lifespan Transitions Center's webpage covering Google apps and how they can be used when planning for post-school goals in independent living and competitive employment. Dobush has received a master's in special education with an emphasis in transition to work (TTW) and is licensed as an intervention specialist mild/moderate K-12. Dobush is also certified through Association of People Supporting Employment First Initiative (APSE) as a certified employment support professional.
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Peter Doehring
Peter Doehring, trained as a clinical psychologist, has worked with people with ASD for 25 years. He has led the development and expansion of school-, hospital-, and university-based programs, integrating services, research, training, and policy. He has presented internationally and published books evaluating evidence-based treatments for ASD and the development of innovative ASD programs at the state and national level. Doehring is the father of a young adult with multiple and complex developmental disabilities.
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Gretchen Douglas
Gretchen Douglas is a Teacher or the Deaf/hard of hearing at the Ohio School for the Deaf. She has a Bachelor of Science in Deaf Education from Kent State University and a Master of Arts in Read Education from The Ohio State University. She has been the lead teacher and coordinator at the preschool at the Ohio School for the Deaf for the past two years as well as the Early Childhood Specialist for the Statewide Services Department. Gretchen has worked in Early Childhood Education with deaf and hard of hearing children for the last 17 years including preschool through third grade in both mainstream and self-contained classrooms.
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Michelle Duda
Michelle A. Duda, Ph.D., BCBA-D, founding president of Implementation Scientists, LLC, is an internationally known leader in implementation science and a highly sought-after systems coach. For almost two decades, she contributed to the evolution of the field of implementation science and gained expertise in her previous roles as a scientist (UNC-Chapel Hill). Duda serves a variety of populations and has published articles, assessments, and chapters across the human services fields (early childhood, autism, education, health, mental health).
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Marged Dudek
Marged develops professional development content and products and conducts program research and evaluation. She received an M.Ed. from Ohio University. From 2014 to 2018, she taught grades 7-12 ELA/Writing and Speech/Comm in rural Texas, and simultaneously served as the 504 K-12 Coordinator and the district Instructional Design Specialist. Selected publications include: Children, Youth, and Environments; Educational Assessment; Journal for the Education of the Gifted; Journal of Advanced Academics; Journal of Environmental Education; Journal of Research in Rural Education; and Theory and Research in Social Education. Previous conference presentations include NREA, AERA, and MWERA.
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Scott Dueker
Scott Dueker is an assistant professor at Ball State University teaching Applied Behavior Analysis. He is also a board-certified behavior analyst with 10 years' experience working with individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities. His focus is primarily on adolescents with profound disabilities; he has worked in homes, schools, residential placement settings, and the community. He earned his PhD in Special Education and Applied Behavior Analysis at The Ohio State University. Dr. Dueker's research interests include using video technology to teach prenumeracy mathematics skills to moderate to severely impacted students.
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Kari Dunn Buron
Kari Dunn Buron, Ms.Ed., taught students on the autism spectrum for 30+ years in Minnesota's K-12 system. She received her master's degree in learning and behavior disorders from Illinois State University, where she was recently inducted into the Education Hall of Fame. In 2000, Buron developed an autism spectrum disorders certificate program at Hamline University in St. Paul, MN, and was awarded a fellowship to study the behavioral impact of social cognition on students with autism. Buron has written several books related to autism, self-management, and emotion regulation.
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Lisa Ebersole
Lisa Ebersole is the mother of 2 children. Jacob, 24 and Jaime, 15. Jacob was diagnosed with autism at 2 years of age. Since Jacob's diagnosis Lisa has worked tirelessly to bring support, education and services to her community. This passion led her to be honored at OCALICON in 2015 with a Family Impact Award. Lisa is the Parent Mentor for Ashtabula County where she serves 7 school districts helping families and schools collaborate and effectively provide services to students with a variety of disabilities.
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Michelle Elia
Michelle Elia works on behalf of the Ohio Department of Education as one of two Ohio Literacy Leads, a role that allows her to work with district administrators, teachers, and regional consultants across the state. Elia serves as a board member of the Northern Ohio branch of the International Dyslexia Association, is a member of Ohio’s What Matters Now Network, a LETRS (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling) trainer, and literacy advisor at both Youngstown State and Walsh Universities. Elia is passionate about literacy, the science of reading, and evidence-based instructional practices that are inclusive of all students.
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Marc Ellison
Marc Ellison, Ed.D., is the executive director of the West Virginia Autism Training Center at Marshall University. He is a licensed professional counselor who has worked for 35 years to provide person-centered support, services, and advocacy to individuals who live with ASD, their families, and those who support them. Ellison is a member of ASA's Panel of Professional Advisors and a board member of the Autism Society of West Virginia. He was the lead author of the Benchmarks of Effective Supports for College Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder and has written several publications ASD.
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Jena Fahlbush
Since 2015 Jena Fahlbush has served as a Specialist for the PATINS Project, a state education agency supporting Indiana public schools in creating and sustaining an equitable learning environment for every student. She has presented at the local, state, and national levels. Holding a Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education from Indiana University, Jena has over 9 years of experience in the classroom setting. Spending much of that time in general education fostered her passion for Universal Design for Learning, Accessible Educational Materials, and Assistive Technology. She is excited about sharing how the right tool paired with universal design can change the game for a student.
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Danene Fast
Danene Fast, Ph.D., is a clinical assistant professor and faculty lead for the Programs in Visual Impairments at The Ohio State University. A dually certified teacher of students with visual impairments and orientation and mobility specialist, she has received both local and national awards for her teaching, including a fellowship with the National Leadership Consortium for Sensory Disabilities (NLCSD). Fast has published and presented at local, national, and international venues, with a research agenda that focuses on accessibility and inclusion.
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Jacquelyn Fede
Jacquelyn Fede, PhD is a super fun, Autistic Self-Advocate and developmental psychologist. She works as a community engagement research associate on an Institutional Development Award (IDeA) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Rhode Island. Her research interests include immigration policy, autism, and program evaluation. She uses her experience to help educate others about autism through lecturing, blogging and consulting on evaluation projects in school districts and communities. A full scholarship Division I athlete in college, Dr. Fede continues to meet her sensory needs by seeking extreme physical activity.
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Chris Filler
Chris Filler is the program director of the Lifespan Transitions Center at OCALI. She has worked with individuals/families with ASD and developmental disabilities for over 30 years as an early intervention service coordinator, family resource specialist, autism/behavior consultant, and private consultant. Currently, her focus is transition to adulthood and creating supports that promote a meaningful adult life. To this end, Filler is working extensively with the Ohio Employment First Initiative targeting community employment and community membership.
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Mallory Finn
Mallory Finn is a staff attorney at Project HEAL (Health, Education, Advocacy, and Law). Mallory earned a bachelor's degree in sociology from the University of Delaware and a Juris Doctor at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law. She interned at Project HEAL during her second and third years of law school, and started as a staff attorney in August 2014. Mallory received The Daily Record's Leading Women Award in December 2017, the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD) Young Professional Award in November 2017, the Maryland Legal Services Corporation's Rising Star Award in 2018, and the Daily Record's VIP List Award in 2019.
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Jody Fisher
Jody Fisher, M.Ed, a consultant with OCALI, has enjoyed a 40-year career in the field of developmental disabilities including direct service, project management, policy development, and affiliation and involvement with many professional associations and agencies serving and advocating for Ohioans with developmental disabilities. With her past work at the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities coordinating Ohio’s Interagency Work Group on Autism, she continues to partner with individuals and families, service providers, and state and national leaders to promote responsive and meaningful services and supports for people with developmental disabilities and their families.
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Kelley Flodder
Kelley Flodder, a special education teacher for Sycamore Community School District, teaches students in transition ages. Flodder received a Master Teacher Designation 2014, the same year she was awarded the Franklin B. Walter Outstanding Educator Award. She was an adjunct professor for the University of Cincinnati from 2015-2018. She presented at OCALICON 2018 and The Charting the LifeCourse Showcase in 2019.
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Megan Flowers
Megan Flowers is an Education Program Specialist in the Office for Exceptional Children at the Ohio Department of Education. Megan is certified as a K-12 Moderate to Intensive Special Education Intervention Specialist (Reading Endorsement) and a PreK-6 Principal. She holds a Master's Degree in Educational Leadership from The University of Cincinnati. She has experience working with students that have orthopedic impairments, multiple disabilities, are medically fragile and have complex communication needs. She is currently serving on the Supports and Monitoring team focused on special education compliance.
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Cate Fopma
Cate Fopma has been working for 30 years in social service administration, coalition building and advocacy since receiving her B.S. in Urban Administration from University of Cincinnati. During that time, she spoke and trained including a pilot program at the Cincinnati Police and a plenary speech at a national conference given by the Office of the President. After her sons were grown, she adopted two children from the foster care system. Zach was only 4 months when he was adopted, when he was 7 he was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Since that time, Cate's advocacy efforts have been focused on developmental disabilities. She currently works for Autism Society of Ohio.
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Diane Fox
Diane J. Fox joined state service at the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities in 2009 supporting Ohio’s statewide early intervention program. She holds advance certification as a fidelity coach and is committed to the implementation of inclusion and evidence-based early intervention practices. Currently, she leads a multidisciplinary team that provides statewide technical assistance and training to local early intervention programs. Diane obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in social welfare from The Ohio State University and her Masters of Arts-special education with a specialization in early intervention from West Virginia University.
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Julie Frankl
Julie Frankl currently serves as a coach for State Support Team 7, supporting and training in the areas of Secondary/Postsecondary Transition, Career and College Readiness, OLI-4, OIP, Closing the Gap, and OLACs coaching module. Her 22 years in the classroom included facilitating district ELA teams, building improvement teams, and delivering regional/state level conference sessions in literacy, classroom instruction, and results of action research. In her 8 years as a building administrator, she implemented OIP and co-facilitated PreK-12 district RtI and Standards-Based Grading teams.
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Katie Frederick
Katie Frederick currently serves as a Program Administrator at Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities (OOD), where she assists with outreach efforts, community engagement, advises on accessibility best practices, and various other projects. Previously, Katie worked at the Ohio State University as a Digital Accessibility Specialist, evaluating websites and mobile applications for digital accessibility compliance. Katie is active on several nonprofit boards, representing people who are blind or experiencing vision loss.
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Bethany Frick
Bethany Frick received B.S. degrees in communication sciences and disorders and Spanish from Missouri State University in 2017. She received her M.A. in speech-language pathology in 2020 and is pursuing a Ph.D. in speech and hearing science at Ohio State University. She was a trainee in the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) program at the Ohio State University Medical Center from 2019-2020. Her research interests include augmentative and alternative communication, assistive technology, autism spectrum disorders, and language development.
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Amy Gaffney
Amy Gaffney, M.A., CCC-SLP, is an Educational Consultant, a TEACCH Certified Advanced Consultant, and an Speech-Language Pathologist. She works for the Indiana Resource Center for Autism, Indiana Institute on Disability and Community at Indiana University. She has experience working with young children, school-age children, and young adults, and has worked in a variety of settings, including in-home, public and private schools, and a private clinic. She has presented to local parent support groups, professional organizations, the Autism Society National Conference, and OCALICON.
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Katy Ganz
Katy Ganz, M.A., CCC-SLP, is an SLP for the Tuscarawas County Board of DD at Starlight School. She has experience providing communication, feeding, and behavioral supports to PK-12 grade students, and outreach to local school districts. She earned a master's degree in speech-language pathology from the University of Akron. She collaborates with GI doctors, dieticians, and parents to provide in home feeding therapy to infants in EI. Ms. Ganz is currently pursuing her board certified specialization in swallowing from ASHA and works with school age students with disorders ranging from pulmonary difficulties to sensory aversions to food.
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M. Sara (Sally) Ganz
M. Sara (Sally) Ganz, MOTR/L, BS. Ed. received her undergraduate degree in education from the University of Cincinnati. Her basic master's in occupational therapy from the University of Puget Sound and her educational administration certification from Xavier University. Before her current role as an Assistant Principal at Montgomery Elementary School in Sycamore Community School District, She specialized in working with children with developmental disabilities and autism for the past 37 years. She has presented at national and regional conferences on feeding, motor development of individuals with Down syndrome, and Myleomenigecele and school-based motor programs.
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Lisa Gardner
Lisa Gardner's [BSc(Hons) PGCE] passion for autism education spans 20 years. As a new graduate she taught in an ASD specific school later studying a Post Graduate Diploma in ASD, where her research focused on student transitions from school. She also worked with youth organisations to develop a sexual health education program, subsequently speaking on this at events around Scotland. After moving to Canada, she developed links with Autism Ontario where she delivers training. She continues to teach with her local school board, assist with PD days, awareness initiatives and work in an advisory capacity. Lisa recently spoke at the Brain and Mind Institute's Spectrum Series in Ontario.
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Kim Garner
Kim Garner, an SLP, has received both her bachelor's and master's degrees from Kent State University. Over the past 20 years, she has practiced as a pediatric therapist at St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Youngstown, OH, at the Family Child Learning Center in Tallmadge, OH, and at the Summit County Board of DD. Garner has also been an instructor at Kent State University in the School of Speech Pathology and Audiology. Currently, she is serving as the SLP at Family Child Learning Center for the integrated preschool program serving children on the autism spectrum.
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Kristin Garrett
Kristin Garrett is a Program Administrator for the Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation with Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities (OOD). Ms. Garrett leads the agency’s Higher Education initiatives including the College 2 Careers Program. She started her career with OOD in 2010 where she was hired as a Disability Claims Adjudicator to process Social Security Disability claims for OOD’s Division of Disability Determination. From there she promoted to a Supervisor role and then to a manager role over OOD’s Monitoring and Compliance Unit. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Ohio State University.
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Jim Gay
Jim Gay, Ph.D., is the project director for the Ohio Leadership Advisory Council. He previously was the superintendent of Tecumseh Local Schools and held positions at Trotwood-Madison City Schools, Miami Valley Special Education Regional Resource Center, and Miami East Local Schools. Gay has a B.S. in elementary and special education from Bowling Green State University, a master's in educational administration from the University of Dayton, and a Ph.D. in educational leadership from the University of Dayton. He joined the Ohio Leadership Advisory Council in 2013.
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Barb Gentille Green
Barb Gentille Green is formerly a consultant with State Support Team Region 7 in Ohio and now the Special Education and Federal Programs Director with Centerburg Local Schools. Through collaboration, professional development, and coaching, Gentille Green focuses on improving outcomes for all learners, especially those who are eligible for special education services. The most common PD and coaching topics addressed are UDL, specially designed instruction, autism, and positive behavior interventions and supports. Her 37+ years of school experience include the roles of OT, intervention specialist, curriculum coordinator, preschool director, and special education director.
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Sherida Gentry
Sherida O. Gentry is a Special Education Consultant with the West Kentucky Educational Cooperative a branch of the Kentucky Department of Education which serves 24 districts in Western Kentucky. She has taught at all levels from preschool through age 21, as a general educator, special educator and consultant for 30 years. Mrs. Gentry specializes in low incidence disabilities including autism. She provides ongoing professional learning, technical support and individualized coaching to special educators, district consultants, and administrators.
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Gail Ghere
Gail Ghere, Ph.D. is a Research Associate at the TIES Center at the University of Minnesota. In this position, she focuses on improving access to and educational programs in general education settings for students with significant cognitive disabilities, particularly in the areas of MTSS and special education and general education collaborative planning and services. Previously, she was a special education related service provider and administrator.
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Kristen Gibson
Kristen Gibson is a graduate student in the clinical psychology doctoral program at Eastern Kentucky University. Gibson aims to work with children who have autism, intellectual disabilities, emotional difficulties, and parents. As a student of the doctoral program at EKU, Gibson's clinical training has included assessment and therapy with children who have developmental disabilities such as autism and ADHD. She has assisted with social skills groups for children and young adults with ASD through the EKU Psychology Clinic. Gibson has a brother on the autism spectrum.
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Jan Goings
Jan Goings, M.P.A., began her career in the disability field with a passion for advocacy, education, and diversity. She has launched innovative services in education, women's health, disability services, and diversity initiatives at the university level. Goings holds a bachelor's in special education, a master's of public administration, and has completed doctoral coursework from Syracuse University in policy and disability. She serves as the Program Director for the University of Cincinnati, Transition and Access Program (TAP), a postsecondary program for individuals with I/DD.
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Jennifer Gonda
Jen is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst in homes, public, and private schools. Jen has over a decade of experience passionately working in various settings with individuals with moderate to intensive disabilities as an intervention specialist and behavior analyst. She is currently the public policy chairperson for the Ohio Association of Behavior Analysis. Her research interests include functional behavior assessment with children in poverty, policies on the use of restraint and seclusion, and least restrictive settings for children with emotional and behavioral disorders.
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Maggie Gons
Maggie Gons, M.A., CCC-SLP, obtained her MA in speech-language pathology from the University of Cincinnati. She works as an Early Childhood Professional Development Manager in the Center for the Young at OCALI. She continues to provide clinical services in private practice and maintain her PLAY Project and Teaching PLAY certification along with being a PLAY Project Supervisor and Master Trainer. Maggie is a graduate of the ASHA Leadership Development Program and has presented at a variety of events including OCALICON, Milestones, Zero to Three, and the Ohio EC Systems Conference.
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Sarah Good
Sarah Good is a preschool intervention specialist in southern Ohio. She holds degrees in early childhood education, early childhood intervention specialist, educational leadership, and is currently working towards her Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction. She is an adjunct professor at Ohio University, working in the teacher education department. Published an article for Young Children in 2019 regarding early childhood mathematics and differentiation; also she has presented on various topics regarding special education for four different organizations in the past six years.
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Jennifer Govender
Jennifer Govender, M.Ed., is an outreach specialist for the Outreach Center for Deafness and Blindness. Throughout her education career, she has worked as an early intervention specialist, assistive technology specialist, and a teacher for students with visual impairments. These experiences have aided her in becoming a well-rounded and compassionate individual, who takes each student's unique goals, needs, and interests into account to allow them to be successful in the school setting.
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Temple Grandin
Dr. Temple Grandin is the most accomplished and well-known adult with autism in the world. Her book, Animals in Translation, was a New York Times best seller. Other popular books authored by Grandin are Thinking in Pictures, Emergence: Labeled Autistic and Developing Talents: Careers for Individuals with Asperger Syndrome and High-Functioning Autism. She lectures to parents and teachers throughout the United States on her experiences with autism.
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Sarah Greer
Sarah Greer is an education program specialist with the Office of Early Learning and School Readiness at ODE, providing professional development and technical assistance on topics related to preschool special education. As a member of the preschool special education team, she is focused on ensuring that young children get their needs met and relationships between school districts and families are maintained and built upon. Greer has held positions as a preschool teacher, mental health worker, and childcare coordinator.
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Michelle Gregory
Michelle is an elementary school Tech Associate with 5 years of experience managing a K-5 building's technology needs. After receiving her Associates Degree in Electronic Media, she took her passion for technology and turned it into a career teaching students and teachers to become skilled digital citizens. She is experienced in solving software issues and assisting teachers in researching and implementing the best tech resources. During the LCS district's PD, Michelle is most often found giving a hands-on presentation to teachers across the district over a wide variety of tech tools including G Suite for Education, Edpuzzle, WriteReader, Kahoot, Flipgrid and more!
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Barry Grossman
Barry G. Grossman, Ph.D. is co-owner of the Ziggurat Group, which specializes in transdisciplinary assessment and comprehensive intervention for individuals with ASD. Grossman, along with his co-author, Dr. Ruth Aspy, wrote The Ziggurat Model - a book on designing interventions for individuals with autism spectrum disorder. The Ziggurat Model, which earned the Literary Achievement Award from the Autism Society of America, is being used successfully throughout the United States and internationally. Grossman serves on the Autism Society of America's Panel of Professional Advisors.
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Wendy Grove
Wendy Grove is the director of the Office for Early Learning and School Readiness at ODE, where she helps develop and implement policies for preschool special education and early childhood education. She works closely with colleagues across state government whose programs benefit early learners. Grove earned bachelor's degrees in both psychology and sociology from Gonzaga University, a master of sociology from Portland State University, and a doctorate in sociology from the University of Akron. Before coming to ODE, Grove spent eight years overseeing Ohio's Help Me Grow Home Visiting and Early Intervention programs.
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Daniel Gruber
Danny Gruber, MPA is the project coordinator for information and data management in OCALI’s Research and Impact Office. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Dayton in 2016, majoring in Political Science and Psychology with a minor in English. He then earned his Master of Public Administration graduate degree from the John Glenn College of Public Affairs at the Ohio State University in 2018. In his current role at OCALI, Gruber oversees data collection, analysis, reporting, and program evaluation efforts across the organization.
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Deborah Hammer
Deborah Hammer is an Autism Specialist & Low Incidence Specialist in Arlington (Virginia) Public Schools, where she provides training and support to school staff, parents, and students. As co-chair of the Northern Virginia Transition Coalition, she helps organize Future Quest, a regional college and career fair for students with disabilities. She also serves as Chair of the Fairfax Area Disability Services Board and is the founder of a social club for young adults with autism and related disabilities, Cool Aspies.
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Julie Hance
Julie Hance, LPC, CRC has a bachelor's in psychology from Ohio University and a master's in community counseling from The University of Akron. She has worked for Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities (OOD) for 18 years and is currently a supervisor in the Supported Employment and Transition Unit. This department provides support for OOD's Employment First Partnership with the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities (DODD), the Ohio Transition Support Partnership (OTSP) with the Ohio Department of Education (ODE), and multiple County Board of DD contracts.
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Elise Hargis
Elise Hargis, M.A., CCC-SLP, graduate of University of Cincinnati, is a speech and language pathologist at the Warren County Educational Service Center. She primarily serves students with Autism, Intellectual Disabilities, and Multiple Disabilities that present with significant behavioral, sensory, intellectual, and communication needs focusing on core language development and its close relation to social language. She services students in kindergarten through high school in the Social Communication Programs through Warren County ESC. Hargis' research interest encompasses social language development for students with complex communication needs in the school and community settings.
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Krushawna Harper
Krushawna Harper, a community coordinator in an elementary school, is passionate about helping and serving others, especially children with disabilities. As a mother of five, who has multiple children with disabilities, Harper has participated in many parent-based research projects. She served 3 years on Cincinnati Children's Hospital Division of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics Family Advisory Council, and she began Winner's Circle Ministry, a Sunday school ministry that provides a spiritual education, while addressing the developmental and physical challenges of children with disabilities. She also serves as a Support Parent for Ohio Parent to Parent and a member of Autism and WE.
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Bronwyn Harris
Bronwyn Harris is a doctoral student and instructor in the Reading Education and Special Education department. She holds a B.A. in elementary education and an M.A. in reading education and taught in inclusive elementary classrooms prior to entering graduate school. Her current research focuses on (1) teachers working in inclusive environments and (2) literacy in children with significant disabilities, including autism spectrum disorders, intellectual disabilities, complex communication needs, and multiple disabilities.
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Lyndsay Havey
Lyndsay Havey is an education program specialist at the Ohio Department of Education in the Office for Exceptional Children. Havey previously worked as a legal guardian representative for adults with developmental disabilities and then as an intervention specialist in the Cincinnati area. She currently works collaboratively with urban districts across Ohio as a member of the Urban Support Team. Additionally, Havey supports the Ohio Parent Mentor program.
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Shawn Henry
Shawn A. Henry is the executive director of OCALI. As such, a major focus of his work is on systems change, advancing statewide capacity to improve outcomes for individuals with ASD. Henry holds leadership roles on national and state advisory boards and interagency workforces involving policymakers, parents, and professionals. He was previously the program director of professional development at the Kentucky Autism Training Center. He also served as an elementary special educator for students with autism. His Comprehensive Autism Planning System (CAPS) has been utilized across the country.
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Heather Herbster
Heather Herbster, Ph.D., works with the Outreach Center for Deafness and Blindness at OCALI. Herbster is a licensed certified orientation and mobility specialist with experience in lifespan transitions, signed language modalities, and higher education instruction. She has had the opportunity to build partnerships utilizing both state and national initiatives focused on improving student outcomes; her research interests include the examination of evaluative practices for children with vision and/or hearing loss.
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Lisa Hickman
Lisa is the Executive Director for the OCECD as of August 2019. She holds a Bachelor's, Master's and Ph.D. in Sociology. For over 11 years Lisa was faculty at Grand Valley State University and additionally served as chair for her department for two years. She taught courses and conducted research in the areas of education, children and families. Lisa moved back to Ohio for family reasons and worked for the Ohio Criminal Sentencing Commission conducting research to help inform criminal justice policy in Ohio. The transition to Executive Director for the Ohio Coalition is an honor and feels like coming back to her roots, what she is trained in, and what she does well.
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Andrew Hinkle
Andrew Hinkle is a member of the Diverse Learners section in the Office for Exceptional Children at the Ohio Department of Education. Working in the Office of Assessment , Hinkle is involved with topics dealing with students with disabilities in statewide assessments, including accessibility on state tests, alternate assessments, and graduation requirements.
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Nicholas Hoffmann
Nicholas Hoffman is a graduate student in the Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program at Eastern Kentucky University. Nick's professional goal is to work with adults and adolescents with ASD. He is interested in supporting public knowledge about ASD, including working with first responders who may come in contact with people on the autism spectrum. Nick's honors thesis as an undergraduate student assessed Kentucky first responder knowledge and confidence related to the autism spectrum.
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Catherine Horton
Catherine Horton is the Clinical Director of Pyramid Educational Consultants - USA. Catherine is dually-certified as both a Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) certified by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). She has also earned the Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies in Educational Leadership. Catherine provides training and consultation to educational teams across the country, focusing on the development of functional communication systems and effective educational environments for all learners. Catherine has a wealth of expertise in working with students with developmental disabilities and is passionate about her work.
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Kelly Houston
Kelly Houston is a Project Assistant at the AT&AEM Center at OCALI. She supports the operation of the AT&AEM Center's delivery system of accessible educational materials to Ohio school districts. Houston carries out the annual Federal Quota Registration of Legally Blind Students on behalf of ODE-OEC resulting in Federal Quota Funds for AEM for Ohio students. She maintains the AT&AEM Clearinghouse of braille, digital, and large print textbooks and educational aids for loan to eligible students, and provides technical assistance related to AEM. She also assists with data collection for the AT and AEM Center. Houston has supported the Federal Quota program for 16 years.
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Jacqueline Howley
Jacqueline Howley is the mother of 2 children with disabilities and grandmother of a child with Autism. Howley has served as a Parent Mentor for Champaign County for over 20 years, helping to build bridges of communication between home, school and community. She has extensive training and experience, working to make a difference for students with special needs by collaboration within local system supports, advocating for all children to have meaningful inclusion in school and community.
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Bobby Huffman
Bobby Huffman is an intervention and behavioral specialist at Jones Middle School in the Upper Arlington School District with 14 years of teaching experience. He holds a master's degree in ABA from The Ohio State University. During his studies at Ohio State, Huffman's research interests targeted behavioral interventions, leading to the publications of one of these studies in the journal Behavior Analysis in Practice. Bobby Huffman has presented at various conferences in Ohio and the midwest, including OCALICON, the OHABA Conference, and the ABAI Conference.
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John Huffman
Born and raised in Pickaway County, John Huffman prides himself on being community-oriented. He graduated from The Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Integrated Social Studies. John's background includes working as a Registered Behavior Technician, Clinical Supervisor, and Director of the Silver Linings Group of Columbus before coming to the Pickaway County Board of Developmental Disabilities in April 2019. John collaborates with employers, OOD and employment service providers to incorporate job training, job coaching and supervision which establishes effective links between all stakeholders leading to a successful school-to-work transition for each student.
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Haley Ingram
Haley Ingram, M.S., is a graduate student in the clinical psychology doctoral program at Eastern Kentucky University. Ingram's goal is to work with children and adolescents with developmental and emotional/behavioral disorders. Her clinical work has included assessment and treatment of children and adolescents with disorders such as ADHD, ASD, and social-emotional behavioral challenges. Ingram has participated in facilitating social groups for children and teens on the autism spectrum, as well as led a therapy group for young adults experiencing disordered eating behaviors.
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Doug Jackson
Doug Jackson serves as the deputy director of STABLE Accounts for the Office of the Ohio Treasurer of State. His has been dedicated to the field of developmental disabilities for over 20 years, and works with a passion to serve people with disabilities and their families through improving the support system and support staff. Jackson's experiences include managing the services of a direct support agency, serving in the executive administration of Ohio's County Board of DD system, teaching human services classes at Wright State University, and being a superintendent of a state-operated developmental center.
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Sarah James
Sarah James came to the Ohio Department of Education in 2018 to support Title programming in the Office of Federal Programs. She has recently joined the Resource Management section in the Office for Exceptional Children. Before ODE, James worked with IDEA Part C Early Intervention services in West Virginia. Her background also includes Special Education advocacy for students receiving IEP and 504 services and supports. She has a Bachelor's degree in History and a Master's in Public Administration with a Certificate in Disability Studies from West Virginia University.
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Kathy Jillson
Kathy Jillson, M.A., CCC-SLP, has been an education and early childhood consultant at State Support Team Region 3 (Cuyahoga County) for 17 years, focusing on special education issues and training, particularly in the areas of AAC/AT, autism, communication, and early learning and school readiness. Prior to that, she was an SLP, a primary service provider, and an AAC consultant in Colorado.
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Terri Jones
Terri Jones, Ph.D. received her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Arizona State University in 1990. She has since engaged in clinical priviate practice, inpatient and outpatient work with adults and adolescents. She obtained licensure as a School Psychologist in 2007 and has served as Executive Director and Director of Special Education for Mt Evans BOCES since 2013.
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Susan Kabot
Susan Kabot, Ed.D., CCC-SLP, has extensive experience developing and administering programs for individuals with ASD. She provides consultation to school districts around the country, supporting their programs for students with ASD. Kabot also serves as Chair of the Florida Developmental Disabilities Council and is on the Panel of Professional Advisors for the Autism Society. She is the co-author of three books published by AAPC: Setting up Classroom Spaces, Building Independence, and Taming the Data Monster.
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Ed Kapel
Ed Kapel, an employee for 25 years for the Office for Exceptional Children, continued his life time work of improving the delivery of services for children with disabilities, which included classroom experience, supervision and organizational leadership. His time at the Ohio Department of Education culminated with serving as the interim director of the office. Currently serving as an assistant director for Region 7 State Support Team, Kapel provides professional development regarding instructional leadership, integration of students with disabilities, and parent support.
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Pamela Kassos
Pamela Kassos, M.S. is a Lead Instruction Specialist at the Rich Center for Autism at YSU. Kassos has been working as an instruction specialist for 10 years and as a Lead for 7 years. She currently is working in the Transition High School classroom at the Rich Center; where she focuses on Transition and Vocational skills as well as academics.
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Tracy Kempton
Dr. Tracy Kempton is a Child Clinical Psychologist and Certified PLAY Project Consultant who works at the Wright Patterson AFB Medical Center in Dayton, OH. Prior to this position, Dr. Kempton was the Associate Director of the Child Inpatient Unit at the University of Toledo Medical Center, followed by almost two decades of private practice. Throughout her career, she has published and presented on a variety of topics; currently, she is focused on research related to the treatment of autism. Specifically, Dr. Kempton is working with a team whose passion is to create a model for the provision of parent mediated treatment in areas where services were previously difficult to obtain.
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Pamela Kennedy
As a regional early literacy specialist for SST 4, Kennedy provides job-embedded coaching, professional development and technical assistance to district, building and teacher teams. Highlighting evidence-based instructional strategies, family/community engagement, and educational equity, Kennedy models and monitors improvement efforts to close student literacy achievement gaps, She coaches educational teams building multi-tiered systems of support and works with districts according to processes outlined by the Ohio Department of Education. Kennedy supports future leaders in education as she sits on the educational advisory boards of Ursuline College and Hiram College in northeast Ohio.
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Paul Kidd
Paul Kidd has been a pupil services administrator in Northeast Ohio for the past 15 years. Prior to that, he served as a special education regional consultant and school psychologist for over a decade. Paul is serving his fourth year on the OAPSA executive board in 2019-20.
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Molly King
Molly King is a clinical psychology graduate student at Eastern Kentucky University. Molly is interested in autism spectrum disorders and has assisted with some of the autism social skills groups at Eastern Kentucky University. She is currently conducting a teen friendship group for individuals on the autism spectrum.
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Alexis Kirk
Alexis Kirk is a consultant for Region 14 State Support Team where she is an advocate for focusing on the whole child through the lens of multi-tiered systems of support. Her professional interests include Early Childhood Education, Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports, Social-Emotional Learning, PreK-3 Literacy and Universal Design for Learning. She previously worked for 13 years with a variety of learners and earned her Master Teacher Designation in 2013. She has provided professional development and technical assistance to the districts she serves. Alexis believes that each child can achieve their fullest potential when the right supports are put in place.
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Heidi Kleinman
Heidi Kleinman is the coordinator of Formal Complaints in the Dispute Resolution Section at the OEC. She has been with the OEC for over 6 years, conducting training for new complaint investigators and collecting trend data for all areas of the Dispute Resolution Section.
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Sue Klingshirn
Susan Klingshirn, M.Ed is an Intervention Specialist in Medina City Schools. Working in special education for 20 years with students with Moderate to Intensive Needs and served as the District's Autism Consultant for 4 years (2004-08) before returning to the classroom. While in the consulting role, Klingshirn presented at the National Association of Elementary School Principals conference with a district's elementary principal in San Antonio Texas. Their presentation focused on building wide supports for students on the autism spectrum. Klingshirn has been working at the high school level with students who have moderate to intensive needs.
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Teresa Kobelt
Teresa Kobelt is a part of the Office of Policy, Strategic Initiative, and Stakeholder Engagement at OCALI. Prior to joining OCALI, she was deputy director of policy and strategic direction at the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities, overseeing key initiatives such as Early Intervention, Family Engagement & Support, Trauma-Informed Care, and Employment First. Kobelt has a master's degree in social work from The Ohio State University, and got her start in the field as a LEND trainee at OSU's Nisonger Center. More than any classroom, however, her greatest learning experiences have come from her kids.
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Karen Koehler
Karen E. Koehler, Ph.D., is an assistant professor at Shawnee State University and the project director of the TVI Consortium - a multi-university collaborative for teacher preparation. She has presented at state and national conferences on topics related to STEM education for students with visual impairments and creating collaborative partnerships in educator preparation.
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David Koppenhaver
David Koppenhaver has spent his professional career focused assisting individuals with a variety of significant disabilities improve their ability to read and write. He co-founded the Center for Literacy and Disability Studies at UNC-Chapel Hill in 1990. His current projects include reading in students with Williams syndrome, reading comprehension in students with autism, early communication and literacy in students with significant intellectual disabilities and complex communication needs.
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Reena Kothari
Reena Kothari, Au.D., is a public health audiology consultant for the Ohio Department of Health in the Infant Hearing Program. She participated in the passage of the Universal Newborn Hearing Screening legislation and the development of legislative rules, and has assisted with the implementation of hearing screening in Ohio birthing hospitals. She has developed public awareness materials, trainings, developed state and national level presentations for the Ohio Department of Health's Infant Hearing Program. Dr. Kothari is co-author of a publication for the American Academy of Pediatrics and a co-author for the Ohio COACH protocol for the diagnostic testing after newborn hearing screening.
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Melinda Kowalski
Melinda Kowalski, Assistant Deputy Director in the Offie of Fmaily Assistance in the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. She has 15 years of state government experience and oversees the policy and licensing for SNAP/TANF and child care. She manages the data reporting unit and is the project manager for the preschool development grant: birth through five. Kowalski is responsible for the validation study, an in-depth review of Ohio’s Step Up to Quality program and has led work-force related child care initiatives such as developing the professional development certificate, updating the career pathways model, and coordinating the cross-agency child care focus group.
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Becky Krall
Becky Krall is an Education Program Specialist at the Ohio Department of Education. Prior to joining ODE, Becky was an elementary school principal. She has worked as a district curriculum coordinator and multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) coordinator. Becky has many years of experience working with special education students and their families as a school social worker providing related service specially designed instruction and supports. She received a M.S.W. and Ed.M. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Becky has presented at school districts on the topics of MTSS, differentiated instruction, special education procedures, and interventions and assessments.
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Cathy Kramer
Cathy Kramer is an Early Childhood Consultant for OCALI where she is focused on conducting the Part C to Part B Transition training. She previously worked for 11 years with the State of Ohio as an Early Intervention Consultant with the Department of Developmental Disabilities where she provided technical assistance and professional development throughout the state. Prior to that she worked for 22 years as a teacher and administrator at the Ohio State University Child Care Center. She has a Bachelor's degree in Family Relations and Human Development. Cathy believes professionals must collaborate with families to achieve optimal developmental and educational outcomes.
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Kitty Kromer
Kathryn Kromer, M.Ed., TTW, has served as an intervention specialist and transition and employment services coordinator for Columbiana County Educational Service Center. She has co-authored several grants, including Ohio Straight A and Community Connectors. The CCESC obtained CARF Accreditation in 2017 to provide employment services for OOD. Kromer manages both OOD services and school-age services and is a certified Work Incentives Planner and Employment Support Professional. She has developed innovative transition programming, including a student-run entrepreneurial gift shop and art gallery. Kromer has presented at various conferences in Ohio and the International Transition Conference.
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Patt Krug
Patt Krug is the project assistant for the Center for the Young Child, Autism Center, and the Autism Certification Center at OCALI. She previously served as a director at a city YMCA for the New York/New Jersey area.
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Jennifer Krumins
A passionate international speaker, educator, certified leadership coach, and author, Jennifer is also the founder/owner of Autism Aspirations and Autism Aspirations Academy. A retired teacher, she has had the privilege of teaching students with autism from 3 to 21 years of age in Ontario, Canada for 26 years. Jennifer holds a Master of Education in Applied Psychology and she is proud mother to three adult children (one of whom has autism). Jennifer is a firm believer that individuals with autism are best served by adults who are ready to embrace learning, deepen connections and see the possibilities.
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Laurie Langenfeld
Laurie Langenfeld is associate director for State Support Team Region 9, where she oversees the delivery of services by the SST 9 team of consultants to regional partners, including school districts, educators, school support staff, families, and community stakeholders. Previously, Langenfeld worked in the public school system as a secondary teacher, high school assistant principal, career and technical supervisor, and special education supervisor. She graduated from the University of Akron with a B.S. in education, and earned an M.Ed. in educational administration from Ashland University.
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Olivia Lauer
A Master of Occupational Therapy student at Eastern Kentucky University and a Graduate Assistant in EKU Residential Life. As a Graduate Assistant, she coordinates EKU's Colonels Mentoring Colonels Program, a mentoring program by students for students, to support EKU students with ASD or Executive Functioning Disorders.
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Bernadette Laughlin
Bernadette Laughlin is the Related Services Education Program Specialist in the Office for Exceptional Children at the Ohio Department of Education. Bernadette has been with the Department nine years, previously serving as the Speech-language/Audiology Consultant, the Due Process Coordinator and a Complaint Investigator. Before joining the Department, Bernadette was a school speech-language pathologist for many years, a special education department facilitator, and a Ohio and federal legislative liaison for several professional organizations. Bernadette holds a B.S. in Education, an M.A. in Educational Policy/Leadership, and a J.D. with an emphasis in special education law.
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Amy Laurent
Amy Laurent, PhD, OTR/L is the co-director of Autism Level UP! a neurotypical / neurodivergent partnership dedicated to the provision of education, accessible resources, and practical strategies focused on increasing active engagement for autistic individuals and the members of their communities. She is a co-author of the SCERTS Model and frequently lectures internationally. She is passionate about neurodiversity and helping others to honor and understand the implications of "different ways of being" in relation to navigating the physical and social world. Dr. Laurent strives to practice what she preaches and uses her love of play and movement to meet her own regulatory needs.
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Sheryl Lazarus
Sheryl Lazarus, Ph.D., is the Director of the National Center for Educational Outcomes and the TIES Center at the University of Minnesota. Areas of focus include inclusive education, student participation, accessibility and accommodations, alternate assessments, technology enhanced assessments, graduation policies, and diploma options. Her work covers the span of assessments in a comprehensive assessment system (e.g., large-scale assessments, interim/benchmark assessments, formative assessments). She has published numerous journal articles, book chapters, reports, and training materials.
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Maria Lohr
Maria Lohr is an Education Program Specialist for gifted services at ODE-OEC, providing technical assistance to school administrators, educators, and parents regarding state laws, rules, policies, and best practices for gifted education. She previously worked in the North Carolina public school system providing gifted services to identified students in general education settings at the elementary level. She serves on the board of the Council of State Directors of Programs for Gifted, a national organization of state education agency personnel in public school programs for the gifted and talented.
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Brie Lusheck
Brie Lusheck is the Deputy Director of Children's Initiatives for Governor Mike DeWine, where she focuses on the health, safety and well-being of Ohio's kids. Prior to working with the Governor's Office, Lusheck served as a policy associate for the Center for Community Solutions. During her time there, she focused on researching and writing about innovative approaches to addressing poverty, adverse child experiences, and adult protective services. Lusheck is a graduate of Ashland University, where she participated in Ashbrook Scholar Program. She is currently working on obtaining her Master's in Business Administration at Ohio University.
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Mark Lynskey
Providing leadership in the Office for Exceptional Children since 2008, Mark strives to provide insightful, analytical basis to support Ohio school districts' services to children and the use of IDEA Part B funds. Recently serving as interim assistant director in the Resource Management Section, Mark understands of the complexity of the state and federal special education rules and helps districts to deepen their knowledge of effective uses of the Part B funds and how to respond to changing needs within the district. Mark presented at OCALICON2019. Mark joined the Ohio Department of Education in 1991, and has also been a high school and elementary school principal and teacher.
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Shelley Mack
Shelley Mack, M.Ed., is a Teacher of the Visually Impaired and Library of Congress (NLS) certified braille transcriber (Literary). She is an instructor for the BEST Grant Summer Institute braille courses and conducts workshops for the BEST Grant as well. Shelley provides consultative support to AT&AEM and the BEST Grant in areas pertaining to braille, large print, AT and materials for students with visual impairments.
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Laura Maddox-Bechard
Laura Maddox, PhD, BCBA, COBA is the program director for the Center for the Young Child at OCALI. Her passion for young children and families are evident in her 30 years of work in early childhood health and education. She has worked as a teacher and administrator within school, university, and hospital settings and collaborated across state systems and within local communities to improve early care and education for young children. Maddox participates in several early childhood stakeholder and advisory groups in Ohio and Nebraska.
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Emily Maginn
Emily Maginn is a licensed Teacher for Students with Visual Impairments and certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist (ACVREP). For the last ten years, she has worked for South Central Ohio Education Service Center, helping students achieve new levels of independence. She is also a licensed early childhood educator in the state of Ohio.
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Kelly Mahler
Kelly Mahler, OTD, OTR/L, has been an occupational therapist for 18 years, serving autistic children and adults. She is winner of the 2020 AOTA Emerging and Innovative Practice Award. Kelly is an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Occupational Therapy at Elizabethtown College and is a co-principal investigator of multiple research projects pertaining to topics such as interoception, trauma, autism and social skill development. She is an international speaker, presenting frequently on topics related to the eight, award-winning resources she has authored including The Interoception Curriculum & My Interoception Workbook.
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Jodi Maile Kirk
Jodi Kirk, M.A., is an arts educator, director, and actor, who has worked extensively in Northeast Ohio theater for more than 25 years. She formerly served as director of theater at Laurel School, associate artistic director at Near West Theater, and director of the school residency program at Great Lakes Theater. She is a graduate of the University of Mount Union and earned her M.A. in theater from Bowling Green State University. As a theater educator, Kirk has taught and worked with Cleveland School of the Arts, Lorain County Community College, Cleveland Signstage, and BGSU.
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Elizabeth Mance
Elizabeth Mance graduated from the Ohio State University (OSU) in May of 2020 with a bachelors degree in health sciences and a minor in general psychology. She is now a Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OT) first-year graduate student at the OSU. Mance's research involvement and interests include disability research including cognition, literacy, pediatric occupational and physical therapy, and pediatric emergency medicine.
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Dee Marks
Dee Marks, mother of 2 children with significant disabilities, has advocated for her children to be fully included in their school and community. Marks has a strong background in special education law and the ability to foster positive, collaborative communication. She is an Ohio Parent Mentor for Dublin City Schools, helping families navigate the special education process. Marks provides specialized education services for adolescent students in a mental health treatment center and previously taught at Ohio Dominican University.
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Julie Martin
Julie Martin, JD, received her bachelor's degree, summa cum laude, from The Ohio State University in 1987, and her juris doctorate, cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 1991. Martin has served as a lecturer at The Ohio State University, College of Education and Human Ecology, in the area of legal aspects of school administration. Martin's practice is devoted to representing school districts across Ohio. A major area of emphasis is special education, where she has handled numerous due-process proceedings at the administrative level through court appeals.
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Mallory Martin
Mallory is a school based SLP with Hudson City Schools working with Middle and High School students with varying needs and abilities. Mallory also has experience serving as ESY administrator and student teaching supervisor for many years. She received her Bachelors and Masters degrees from Kent State University. Mallory prides herself in building rapport with students, providing therapy relative to current academic and vocational programming, using outside the box ideas and interactive lessons to help students have positive social interactions. Mallory also stays active with the school community as a member of many teams and committees as well as being an Assistant Swim Coach for Hudson.
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Carrie McClure
Carrie McClure MEd NCSP is a State Support Team 4 consultant providing professional development and technical assistance to districts in the area of PBIS and behavioral supports within a MultiTiered Systems of Support Framework. She is active on the Ohio PBIS State Network Capacity for Sustainability Workgroup working to support PBIS/behavioral supports at the State, Regional and District/Building Level. Carrie has held positions as School Psychologist, Educational Consultant, outpatient counselor and supervisor of Mental Health and Chemical Dependency Services, and case manager supporting students, families and adults.
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Tricia McCollum
Tricia McCollum, M.Ed., is a doctoral candidate in special education at Kent State University. She has worked in the field of special education for 16 years as a teacher, administrator, and consultant, and has spent the past 8 years working with preschool children with ASD. Her research interests include supporting young children with ASD and the adults who work with them, peer-mediated interventions, and creating structured early childhood settings.
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Teri McGill
Teri McGill taught Early Childhood Special Education in Nebraska for 18 years. She is currently a Regional Coordinator for the Nebraska ASD Network. As a regional Coordinator Teri presents on a variety of topics related to Autism and provides consultation and coaching for educators working with students Birth-21 with Autism or related disorders in her region. Teri holds a Master's Degree in Special Education from University of NE-Lincoln and is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA).
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Lance McLemore
Lance McLemore is an individual on the autism spectrum, and he is a fluent AAC user. He is currently 34 years old. He graduated with a BA in studio art and philosophy in 2012. He is a contract employee for the Prentke Romich Company and the Center for AAC and Autism. His previous presentations include the following: Relationships and AAC, ATIA 2020. Orlando, FL The Center for AAC and Autism, Autism Awareness Webinar Series, 2019 AAC Awareness: An Evening With Lance, PRC Webinar, 2018 AAC From a User's Perspective, Oklahoma State Autism Conference, 2018 Keynote: Relationships and AAC, Talking AAC, Michigan State University, 2018
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Samantha McMasters
Samantha McMasters has 25 years of experience in Special Education. She currently serves as the Director of Student Services in Bexley City Schools. McMasters earned a Bachelor of Science from The Ohio State University in Special Education and a Masters degree in Literacy from Ashland University. She taught as an intervention specialist at the elementary and high school level and has been an administrator since 2007.
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Heather Meeker
Heather Meeker, MFA, serves as executive director for The Musical Theater Project (TMTP), an arts education non-profit based in Cleveland, OH. She has directed programming, public relations, and fundraising efforts for arts, education, and cultural nonprofits 30 years, including the National Inventors Hall of Fame, Hiram College, and Young Audiences of Northeast Ohio. Meeker is a graduate of Hiram College, earned her MFA in theater at Virginia Tech, and served on the adjunct faculty of Hiram's Professional and Graduate Studies Program.
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Antoinette Miranda
Antoinette Miranda is professor of School Psychology in the Department of Educational Studies at The Ohio State University. She was the first recipient of the William H. and Laceryjette V. Casto Professorship in Interprofessional Education in honor of Henry and Ruth Leuchter and Van Bogard and Geraldine Dunn. Miranda has extensive experience working in urban areas and has consulted in urban elementary and high schools on ways to increase the academic achievement of students. She is a past president of the Ohio School Psychologist Association and Trainers of School Psychologists, and also was the secretary for the Council of Directors of School Psychology Programs.
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Alyssa Mitchell-Chavez
Alyssa Michell-Chavez is a doctoral student in the school ppsychology program at the University of Kentucky. She is interested in quality of life and life satisfaction in individuals with autism.
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Judith Monseur
Judith Monseur, Ph.D., serves as Assistant Director at the Systems Development and Improvement Center at the University of Cincinnati. Her career spans across higher education institutions, where she taught preservice teachers and principals; and state government, where she led statewide professional learning initiatives and managed federal and state grants. Judith's research includes the impact of effective professional development on teacher practice and student learning, the socio-political context of education, and the expansion of equitable educational opportunities.
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Tonya Moore
Tonya Moore is a doctoral candidate focusing on literacy in exceptionalities. She is a former high school teacher of exceptional children. She holds a B.A. in special education and an M.A. in reading education. She is a former iSHINE scholar focusing on students with significant disabilities. Her research focuses on literacy in children with Down syndrome, high school students with severe behavior disorders, reading in school-aged students with Williams syndrome, and inclusive online literacy instruction for students with disabilities.
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Jamie Moreira
Jamie Moreira, M.E., is an early intervention specialist. A special educator for 16 years, Moreira has served as an intervention specialist in an integrated preschool setting. She currently serves on the Positive Behavior Intervention Support team, the Elementary Leadership Team, and Health and Wellness Committee. Moreira also co-headed a project to fund a new playground surface that is accessible to children with disabilities. In 2020, she was named Teacher of the Year in her building.
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Michelle Motil
Michelle Motil obtained her bachelor of arts in adolescent to young adult education with a concentration in English writing from Heidelberg University. She is currently working with the Outreach Center as the Family Support Liaison. Motil is blind and has two cochlear implants. She knows braille and basic sign language, and she enjoys dancing, nature, people, and reading.
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Marika Nadel-LaMotta
Marika Nadel-LaMotta graduated from The Ohio State University with a BA in Public Affairs and is currently working toward obtaining her M. Ed. from Vanderbilt University. She has been working at OCALI for a year and a half assisting various centers with research and data needs.
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Maria Nader
Maria Nader is an Education Program Specialist in the Office for Exceptional Children at the Ohio Department of Education. Prior to serving as an Education Program Specialist, Maria served as an Intervention Specialist and teacher of English Language Arts within Local Education Agencies in the state of Ohio. She has also led a K-12 school in Maui, Hawai'i and has taught undergraduate courses at the University of Akron. Maria is passionate about providing an equitable educational experience for all students and supporting educators to achieve this goal.
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Amy Nhi Nguyen
Amy Nguyen, BCBA, is an autism specialist, who advocates for family, school, and community partnership as a mother and a professional. She has 24 years of experience in special education. Nguyen is a team leader for autism support in the Los Angeles Unified School District, having led the team in program development, social emotional, and communication learning curricula for K-12 students with ASD.
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Joy Nichols
Joy D. Nichols (Garand), M.Ed., is a special education teacher who has supported children with autism and multiple challenges for 30 years. An adjunct professor at Xavier University, she has presented at conferences nationally on such topics as autism, Social Stories (TM), circle of friends, lunch buddies, inclusion, IEPS, transdisciplinary models and adapting curriculum. She has also served on the local and state board of directors for the Autism Society. She has been published in FOCUS and Journal of Occupational Therapy, Schools, & Early Intervention.
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Amber Nickels
Amber Nickels has been a mental health specialist in the school setting for over two decades. She is the District Mental Health Specialist in the Grandview Heights School District where she provides counseling and support services for students in kindergarten through grade 12 and their families. Her areas of specialty include mental health concerns and supports in the school setting, the social emotional development of the gifted and 2e student, crisis prevention and response and trauma informed care in the school setting.
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Allison Officer
Allison Officer is a certified autism specialist, licensed intervention specialist (K-12), and member of the MCESC Autism & Low-Incidence Coaching Team. The ACT Team provides ongoing coaching and professional development to educational teams throughout the Miami Valley in using evidence-based practices. Prior to joining the ACT Team, Officer taught in Mad River Local Schools in Riverside, OH, as a K-4 intervention specialist in a cross-categorical resource room. Officer recieved a B.S. in education from the University of Dayton and an M.S. in education from Walden University.
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Lisa Orem
Lisa Orem has been teaching for 27 years in special education. In 2015, she participated in the filming of the ASD Strategies in Action training series for OCALI. Orem has presented for the past 3 years at OCALICON on classroom strategies, building capacity within teams, and data collection strategies via technology resources. She has also presented in Dublin City Schools to her colleagues about data collection and organizational skills within the classroom setting. She is the lead intervention specialist in her current school, Thomas Elementary.
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Heidi Orvosh-Kamenski
Heidi Orvosh-Kamenski, Ph.D., is a consultant with State Support Team Region 7. She works with districts around the region to build the capacity of local educational agencies to engage in systemic and sustainable improvements for students. Her work experience includes teaching at both the secondary and postsecondary level as well as administration. Orvosh-Kamenski has a doctorate in curriculum and instruction from New Mexico State University. She has published several journal articles and book chapters in the area of culturally relevant pedagogy.
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Karel Oxley
Karel Oxley serves as the Co-Director of OLAC (Ohio's Leadership Advisory Council) a collaborative effort between ODE and BASA. Previously, she served as a Title One School Improvement Regional Facilitator, leading professional development trainings regionally and throughout the state with her colleagues. This work was followed by a decade of service as the Superintendent of Lima City Schools. During this time, Oxley also served as the president of BASA. She has presented at many state and national conferences on teaming, school improvement, and leadership development.
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Angela Pace
Angela Pace has been an Occupational Therapist since 1991. She graduated with her B.S. at Cleveland State University and began her career as a Pediatric Clinical Specialist at Rainbow in Cleveland, Ohio for 13+ years. She received The Family Centered Care Award in 1996 and the Outstanding Clinician Award from the Cleveland District OT Association in 1999. Angela is NDT trained, an Infant Massage Instructor, and participated in NICU Research. For the past 15+ years she has worked in the Hudson City School District where she works with middle and high school students. She received The Distinguished Teacher's Award in 2011. Angela participates in many after school extra curricular programs.
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Diane Page
Diane Page, BBA, has been a job coach for 8 years with the Dublin City Schools, PATHS Program. Diane Page, has 3 children, her son Chris Page, was wrongfully arrested March 2016 for OVI, even though he was not under the influence. Chris has ASD and did not pass the sobriety test. Chris's traumatic arrest, ignited Diane Page to lead the charge for the Communications Disabilities law that took effect in August 2018. Dianes' statements and Chris police cam are used in OOD training videos! Now, Diane Page hopes to spread the word about the law's registration process, so we can go after a law to mandate all Ohio Law Enforcement, be trained on communication disabilities!
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Natalie Page
Natalie Page, M.A., CCC-SLP, has been a speech-language pathologist working with individuals on the autism spectrum for over 6 years. Following the wrongful arrest of her brother with ASD, she teamed up with her family, local law enforcement, and related professionals to seek change in our state. She previously presented at a local conference with the Assistant Chief of Westerville Police on the communicative challenges between autism and law enforcement and methods for successful interactions. Natalie aspires to show the benefits of enrollment in the communication disabilities database for both drivers and passengers of all ages.
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Sady Paulson
Sady Paulson is a film director, video editor, and storyteller who is passionate about technology. Her passion extends beyond digital storytelling - technology gives her access to the world by enabling her to communicate while also empowering her to pursue her dream career as a video editor. She has a Bachelor's degree in digital cinematography and uses her digital media skills to create videos that empower individuals of all abilities to use their own unique voice in their own creative ways. In 2017, she was named an Apple Distinguished Educator. Although Cerebral Palsy creates a lot of obstacles and challenges in her life, she does not let that impact her ability to create and communicate.
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Marla Peachock
Marla Peachock, Ed.D, is a consultant with State Support Team Region 5, specializing in the areas of school improvement, special education, PBIS, and family and community engagement. She has taught both special education and general education at the elementary and intermediate levels. In addition, she has held been a building administrator, special education supervisor and a director of pupil personnel for a large urban district in Ohio. Most recently, Peachock earned a doctorate degree in educational leadership.
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Christina Peer
Christina Henagen Peer is the chair of the education practice group at Walter Haverfield, where her practice focuses on issues related to serving students with disabilities. As such, Peer counsels school districts on state and federal disability laws and represents school districts before the Ohio Department of Education and the Office for Civil Rights. She also counsels boards on student discipline, social media issues, employee issues, First Amendment matters, public records requests, and residency and custody disputes.
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Shirley Peganoff O'Brien
Shirley Peganoff O'Brien, Ph.D., OTR/L, FAOTA, is a professor of Occupational Therapy at Eastern Kentucky University. She has clinical, research, and teaching expertise in sensory modulation, leadership, and student development theory and practice. She is published and presented on ASD, sensory issues, leadership, and implications for school performance.
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Hannah Peterson
Hannah Peterson, B.A., is an intern who works with both the lending library and Impact Office. She is a graduate of Ohio University, and has 2 years of experience with working with OCALI, assisting with center projects for both the lending library and the Impact Office.
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Logan Philipps
Logan Philipps assists individuals and families in planning for their lives and legacies through various estate planning strategies, including revocable living trusts, wills, and custom powers of attorney. An area of concentration is work concerning children with special needs including guardianship, alternatives to guardianship, and special needs trusts that allow continued eligibility for government benefits while providing funds for quality-of-life enhancements. Philipps frequently speaks to parents, educators, lawyers, and financial advisors about planning for children with special needs.
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Melinda Pierson
Melinda R. Pierson, Ph.D. is Chair of the Dept of Special Education and the Director of the Center for International Partnerships in Education at California State University, Fullerton. She earned her Ph.D. from UC Riverside and has been a professor for the past 20 years. Dr. Pierson is an active researcher whose interests include effective interventions for students with mild/moderate disabilities, teacher training nationally and internationally, and issues relating to affective characteristics (self-concept, loneliness and social skills) of children and adolescents with disabilities.
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Anthony Pizzuti
Anthony Pizzuti, Ph.D., PC, NCC, is a School Climate Regional Field Coordinator serving Northeast Ohio in SST Regions 2, 3, 4, and 5. He is a licensed professional counselor and a national board-certified counselor, receiving his B.S. in psychology and M.A. degree in community counseling from John Carroll University, and his doctorate in urban education (counselor education) from Cleveland State. Pizzuti has worked for over 10 years in the early childhood field as the mental health/disabilities coordinator at the Head Start program and most recently for over 6 years with the State Support Team Region 4 as a School Improvement/ Special Education Consultant service Lake and Geauga Counties.
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Heather Posey
Heather Posey has obtained her Master of Occupational Therapy degree and her Bachelors of Arts and Science of Psychology from Shawnee State University. Heather is currently working for the State of Ohio as a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor for Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities. Heather has spent her professional career working to better the lives of individuals within her community. Heather was a previous presenter at the Celebration of Scholarship Conference at the University of Indianapolis; Based on the Master's Thesis: The Reliability of a Behavior Checklist to Measure Engagement in Activities in Individuals with Moderate ADRD: A Pilot Study
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Greta Powell
Greta Powell has a master's degree in family and consumer studies from Kent State University. She has been an early childhood intervention specialist for over 15 years in a preschool program at Akron Children's Hospital's Family Child Learning Center. She has a special interest in peer intervention and working with families of children with ASD. Powell has taught courses at Kent State University. She completed an ASD certificate at KSU.
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Paul Preston
Paul Preston has over 40 years of experience working with special education programs, teachers and students as a teacher, Special Education Program Supervisor, Program Coordinator, Assistant Principal, Principal, State level Special Education Consultant at the ODDD and ODE. Paul has a Master in Special Education from the Ohio State University and 50 post graduate credits in education curriculum and administration.
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Kathleen Quill
Kathleen Quill, Ed.D., BCBA-D is an adjunct professor in the Graduate School ABA-Autism Program at Endicott College; provides educational consultation and training through the Autism Institute; lectures internationally, conducts applied research on social-communication development in autism; and has authored numerous publications, including three bestsellers: Teaching Children With Autism and DO-WATCH-LISTEN-SAY 2nd edition. Dr. Quill was the leading developer of AutismPro, an innovative online system of comprehensive intervention and training. She is on the editorial board of major professional journals and on the advisory board for numerous national organizations.
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Farrah Raines
Farrah Raines, B.S., COTA/L, LMT, is employed by the East Central Ohio ESC. She has 17 years of experience in OT and 20 years in Massage Therapy. Raines provides OT services for the Tuscarawas County Board of DD, using her extensive background in the treatment of children and adolescents with autism and sensory-processing disorders. Raines earned her degrees from Stark State College and Muskingum University. She is certificed in Sequential Oral Sensory Approach to Feeding Therapy where she co-treats with SLP to provide a weekly therapy group to assist students with oral and sensory feeding deficits. Focusing on adaptive equipment needs during feeding to encourage student engagement.
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Brigid Rankowski
Brigid Rankowski is artist, educator, and advocate living in Maine. She obtained a master's degree from Nova Southeastern University after her undergraduate studies at Cornell College in Iowa. Her master's degree is in developmental disabilities with an emphasis on leadership and advocacy. Rankowski participates on state and national disability boards. She is the founder of The Way We Move, a social circus promoting the circus arts for marganalized communities. When not doing advocacy work, Rankowski is an experienced circus performer.
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Laura Reed
Laura O. Reed, M.S.Ed. is an adjunct professor of education at Franciscan University of Steubenville and a doctoral candidate in educational leadership. As a former early childhood educator, Reed created and implemented a sensory-based multicultural curriculum that she has presented nationally to educators. Reed continues to provide structured literacy support to struggling readers and their families as a K-12 reading specialist. Her primary research interests include the preparation of preservice teachers in language arts and literacy education, the use of effective intervention strategies for students with language-based disabilities, and the impact of inclusion on student achievement.
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Christine Reeve
Christine Reeve, Ph.D., BCBA-D, has more than 20 years of professional experience in working with children, families, and schools. She is the owner and director of Reeve Autism Consulting, providing consultation to school systems to support students with ASD and behavioral concerns. Reeve is the author of several research-based articles, Setting up Classroom Spaces and Taming the Data Monster. She also creates educational resources for TeachersPayTeachers, writes AutismClassroomResources.com, and developed the Special Educator Academy for online training and support for educators.
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Alexis Reid
Alexis is the Director of Learning-Based Therapies at the Boston Child Study Center (BCSC) as well as an Educational Therapist and Consultant and focuses on helping to improve executive function skills at the intersection of learning and mental health. She coordinates educational programming for learners, their parents, and educators and as a CAST UDL National Faculty, Alexis has supported schools in different capacities near and far. She is particularly passionate about nurturing expert learning through the integration of evidence-informed practices related to learner variability, mindfulness, mindset, executive function, and positive youth development.
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Megan Reister
Megan Reister, Ph.D., a former hearing itinerant and special education teacher in Delaware and Pennsylvania, was responsible for deaf education, transition services, and early intervention services. She then became a college professor in North Carolina before relocating to Ohio. Dr. Reister enjoys conducting research, writing, and teaching at Franciscan University of Steubenville. Her primary areas of research include self-advocacy and identity in students with hearing loss; itinerant teaching; and fostering collaboration among parents, general education, and special education teachers.
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Elizabeth Reyes
Elizabeth Reyes, Ph.D., is a research associate at UNC Charlotte for the TIES Center: Increasing Time, Instructional Effectiveness, Engagement, and State Support for Inclusive Practices for Students with Significant Cognitive Disabilities. As an educator, Dr. Reyes taught students with various high-incidence and low-incidence disabilities in Title I schools in both rural and urban areas in North Carolina in self-contained, resource, and inclusive school settings. Her current research interests include interventionist training for use of evidence-based practice interventions in inclusive settings for students with extensive support needs.
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Dahni Reynolds
My name is Dahni Reynolds. I am a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and I work as a BCBA for the Mansfield City School district (grades K-12). Prior to obtaining my BCBA credential, I was an intervention specialist for 8 years working in both inclusion and resource room settings. I obtained my undergraduate degree from the College of Wooster, my Master's (Curriculum and Instruction) from Ashland University, and my doctorate (Organizational Leadership Behavioral Health) from Grand Canyon University.
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Kelly Reynolds
Kelly Reynolds, M.A., CCC-SLP, is a graduate of the Univeristy of Cincinnati and works as an SLP at Warren County ESC at Mason Heights, serving students with autism with significant behavioral, sensory, intellectual, and communication needs with a focus on core language development and its close relation to social language. She services Project Warren County transitional program and high school-aged classrooms, ages 12-22. Reynolds' research interest encompasses the intersection of behavioral and communication needs in adults with ASD and its impact in a natural community setting.
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Mary Helen Richer
Mary Helen Richer is an entrepreneurial business leader with a record of success in growing small and start-up organizations. With a MA in Communications and over 25 years expereince in nonprofits, she understands the ins and outs of growing revenue, developing infratructures and creating sustainable organizations that are responsive to their community needs and built to last. She is currently based in Cincinnati, OH where she leads the Autism Society Greater Cincinnati as they work to improve the lives of all impacted by autism.
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Valerie Riedthaler
Valerie Riedthaler is the independent hearing officer at Akron Public Schools. She has been an administrator for 16 years and has served on the OAPSA executive board for 12 of those years.
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Katie Robinson
Katie Robinson works at the AT&AEM Center at OCALI in accessible materials production. She has worked in the field for ten years, producing educational materials in braille, large print, and digital text. She is a certified in both EBAE and UEB literary braille production. Robinson received her degree in computer networking administration from DeVry University. She enjoys reading, baking, knitting and gaming.
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Jan Rogers
Jan Rogers, MS, OTR/L, ATP, is the program director of the AT&AEM Center at OCALI. Her work includes oversight of activities and resources designed to improve outcomes for people with disabilities through statewide capacity building in the area of AT and AEM. She has worked in a variety of programs serving the needs of people with disabilities as well as teaching at OSU, BGSU, and Ashland University. Rogers is a frequent presenter at local, state, and national conferences and has authored numerous articles on the topic of AT.
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Luke Rogers
Luke Rogers attended Ashland University and graduated with a bachelor's degree in Education in 2011. Luke taught middle school social studies in Beaufort County (S.C.) from 2012-2013 and has taught high school world history, psychology, sociology, and American history at Crestview High School (Ashland) since 2013-14.
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Ron Rogers
Ron B. Rogers, Ed.D., is the UDL program director for OCALI, working directly with Ohio's 16 state support teams on universal design for learning, and collaboratively leads the Ohio UDL Collaborative, which braids UDL into the overall system of support. In the past, Rogers worked with district leadership teams through the Ohio Improvement Process. Rogers received a master's of education from The Ohio State University and a doctorate from the University of Findlay. He has over 30 years of professional expertise in the areas of education and criminal justice, and has served as a curriculum specialist, director, principal, and consultant.
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Janette Rondy
Jan Rondy is a mother to 2 girls with autism spectrum disorder. Her youngest daughter was diagnosed in 2012 at the age of 3, and in 2015 her oldest daughter received an autism diagnosis on the heels of also qualifying for gifted academic services during her 1st grade year. She has experience navigating IEP services in both the private school setting and in public districts, and has attended several parent trainings in using AAC and participated in academic studies with The Ohio state University on the effects of using AAC in the home.
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Jessica Roth
Jessica is a University of Toledo graduate. She is an elementary school Intervention Specialist with 10 years of experience with self-contained behavior and low incidence multi-handicap classrooms. She is currently teaching a self-contained, multiple handicap class room with students grades K-4. She has helped with developing curriculum and IEP goal banks for 5 subject areas to help students of all abilities reach their full potential! Jessica currently resides in Canal Winchester, Ohio with her husband, one year old daughter, and 2 cats.
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Chloe Rothschild
Chloe Rothschild is a young adult who has autism. She enjoys using her talent and love for writing to raise awareness about autism. Chloe is a teacher's aide at a school for children with autism. Rothschild serves on OCALI's (Ohio Center for Autism and Low Incidence) advisory board, and on the ARC of the United States national board. In addition, she writes blogs and operates a public Facebook page, where she shares her story. Chloe is the co-author of the My Interoception Workbook: A Guide for Teens, Adolescents and Adults. Finally, she has spoken to various groups of people and at conferences about autism from her perspective.
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Amber Rowland
Amber Rowland, Ph.D. is an Assistant Research Professor at the University of Kansas. She specializes in collaborative, practical and engaging adult professional learning with an emphasis on current instructional practices and the powerful integration of technology. She is particularly interested in virtual instructional coaching of educators and also in exploring how virtual reality can be used to teach social competency skills to middle school students.
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Emily Rubin
Emily Rubin, M.S., CCC-SLP, is the director of the Educational Outreach Program at the Marcus Autism Center and Emory University. As a former adjunct faculty at Yale University, she served as a member of the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Clinic. Her publications have focused on programming guidelines for social-emotional development. She is a co-author of the SCERTS Assessment Process and Social Emotional Engagement - Knowledge and Skills. Rubin participated on ASHA's ad hoc committee, which was charged with developing guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of autism.
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Jenine Sansosti
Jenine Sansosti, Ph.D., NCSP, is the director of State Support Team Region 8. In addition, she supports regional LEAs in special education on IDEA internal monitoring and MTSS/PBIS. Previously, she was a school psychologist in the Berea City School District and in Pasco County Schools, Florida. She has a Ph.D. in school psychology from the University of South Florida, and completed a dissertation on educators' and parents' attitudes, beliefs, and decision-making strategies on inclusive education for students with ASD. She has co-authored more than 10 peer-reviewed publications on various topics in special education service delivery.
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Kimberly Sanzo
Kimberly Sanzo is an SLP who works with children who are Deaf and hard of hearing. She received her Bachelor's in Psychology and Communication Sciences from the University of Vermont and her Master's in Speech-Language Pathology from Gallaudet University. She organizes an annual conference for SLPs who know ASL. Sanzo has presented at a variety of conferences on the topics of language therapy, language deprivation, and language development. She has also written articles published in the ASHA Leader Live blog and the Therapy Travelers blog.
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Elizabeth Sautter
Elizabeth A. Sautter, MA, CCC, is a licensed speech and language pathologist, and the co-director of Communication Works. Sautter specializes in social, emotional and executive functioning intervention, and presents on her work all over North America. She is the founder of Make Social Learning Stick where she provides free resources, a book, a blog and parenting course to help parents find ways to embrace teachable moments in building their child's social-emotional skills through everyday routines and activities. She is the co-author of the Whole Body Listening Larry series and Zones of Regulation game and children's books She is also a collaborative trainer for The Zones of Regulation.
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Denise Sawan Caruso
Denise Sawan Caruso is a licensed speech-language pathologist in the state of Ohio. She currently provides consultations, inservices, and workshops to schools and families living and working with individuals with developmental disabilities. She has presented nationally on behavior, autism, and parent-professional collaboration. She has served as a member of the Autism Society of Ohio board of directors for 20 years and is serving as an ad hoc board member with the Autism Society of America. She is chair of the Chapter Affiliate Committee.
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John Schaefer
John Schaefer, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of special education at Cleveland State University. He began his career as a classroom teacher serving students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. As a researcher, Schaefer focuses on evidence-based practice for teaching students with IDD, AT, augmentative and alternative communication, and supporting inclusion through peer-mediated interventions.
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Celia Schloemer
Celia Schloemer is part of Ohio's Community of Practice Supporting Families of Individuals with Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities lead team. As an Ohio LifeCourse Ambassador for the past 4 years, she has offered LifeCourse training and support to families and professionals across Ohio and supports two regional CoP's. Schloemer is the family support coordinator at the University of Cincinnati Center of Excellence in Developmental Disabilities. She uses the framework with families individually and professionals in education, transition, and employment there.
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Jennifer Schmidt
Jennifer Schmidt is an Intervention Specialist at Beavercreek High School in Beavercreek, OH. She has 24 years of teaching experience in both general and special education settings. Schmidt piloted the PEERspective class in the fall of 2007, and the class continues in Beavercreek as well as other districts today. Schmidt is a faculty member at Wright State University and The University of Dayton and has published Why Didn't They Just Say That? through AAPC Publishing. The book won the 2018 National Parenting Product Award and was a finalist for the International Book Awards. Her second book with her co-author, Megan Barrett, is due out in Fall 2021.
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Tim Schmidt
Tim Schmidt has over 15 years of professional IT experience and has spent the last 5 years in the Access Technology Services Department at the Cincinnati Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Growing up with several legally blind family members, Schmidt is thrilled to have had the opportunity to merge his professional and personal passions.
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Grace Schoessow
Grace Schoessow, M.S., is an early childhood mental health consultant and certified trauma practitioner with a master's in clinic psychology and specialization in early intervention to address developmental differences. She has 20+ years of experience serving children and families facing emotional, developmental, mental, and behavioral health challenges. Grace is the ECMH project director for the Greene County ESC, and is actively involved in advancing Ohio's efforts to integrate early childhood systems to best met the complex needs of children and their caregivers.
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Daniel Schulteis
Dr. Daniel Schulteis is a board-certified Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrician at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. As Director of the Behavioral Health & Developmental Center, he overseas a multi-disciplinary staff dedicated to the care of military dependents with special health care needs. In 2014, he started PLAY Project as a parent-mediated intervention for children with ASD/DD. This program is a model for Department of Defense expansion to remote military bases. He also serves as the military representative to the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Panel for Autism and has assisted in allocating over $35M to novel research proposals advancing the field of ASD.
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Rachel Schultz
Rachel Schultz, M.A., is the accessible educational materials specialist at the AT&AEM Center. She holds a B.S. in special education and a master's of arts in curriculum and instruction, with state licensure in both TESOL and special education. Schultz has been working with people with disabilities for 16 years in a variety of educational and residential settings. She is the recipient of local and national grants.
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Vicki Scott
Vicki Scott has 24 years in the education field; fourteen of those years in administration. During this time, Vicki has worked directly with staff, families and students in developing a coordinated effort to meet the very diverse needs of students and families.
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Sue Seelig
Susan Seelig, M.Ed., is a consultant for State Support Team, Region 10 in Ohio where she supports district and building leaders with the development, implementation, and monitoring of systems to improve outcomes for all learners. Before joining the State Support Team, Sue served as an intervention specialist, a school improvement coach, and a curriculum, instruction and assessment specialist. Sue is a member of the Ohio UDL Collaborative and has been involved in the creation of tools and documents to support teams and individuals with the implementation of UDL in a variety of settings.
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Debra Seevers
Debbie Seevers, M.Ed., has been an Intervention Specialist for the past 38 years. She began her education journey as a teacher for the Deaf and then moved into teaching MH students at the high school level. Her interest is in assisting students plan for their future by affording them the opportunity to perform work skills through career exploration sites and practice life skills through various daily interactions. Seevers has her Transition to Work endorsement, is a Certified Employment Support Professional and is part of the ESC Work Solutions team. She co-presented at the 2019 OCALICON conference.
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Matthew Segall
Matt Segall, Ph.D. is a Licensed Psychologist and an Assistant Professor in the Emory University School of Medicine where he is the Program Director for Education and Transition Services at the Emory Autism Center (EAC). His work focuses on educational consultation for students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), particularly training educators and other professionals on evidence based practices. Dr. Segall also is the Principal Investigator for a project entitled, Individualized Transition to Adulthood Plan (ITAP). The mission of ITAP is to develop a best-practices ASD transition planning model. He received his doctoral degree in School Psychology from the University of Georgia.
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Kara Settles
Kara Settles, M. Ed., is a preschool intervention specialist at Milford Preschool, located in Milford, OH. A special educator for 11 years, Settles has been part of the Building Leadership Team and the PBIS (Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports) Team. Settles was part of a panel presentation at the Ohio PBIS Showcase in 2018.
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Sydney Shadrick
Sydney Shadrick is an undergraduate student at Appalachian State University, studying Special Education with a Master's degree in reading education. In 2017, Sydney was named a Wilson Scholar at Appalachian. Shadrick and Dr. Koppenhaver have been collaborating since her arrival at Appalachian State in examining the reading difficulties of children and adolescents with Williams syndrome.
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Arati Sharma
Arati Sharma is a Researcher at the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities (DODD). Her responsibilities include conducting researches on health and safety of individuals with developmental disabilities served by Ohio DODD. Based on her research findings, she has developed online courses eligible for Nursing and Social Work continuing education credits. Arati has been awarded the third prize for her presentation at CRWAD 2016. Before joining DODD, Arati has worked with assortment of research projects at the Ohio State University and abroad. She also serves as the executive member of OMAS. She has an MPH degree from the Ohio State University with specialization in epidemiology.
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Jeffrey Shoemaker
Jeffrey Shoemaker, M.Ed., is a program specialist for Gifted Services with ODE-OEC, providing support to districts and families across Ohio. He has earned a Bachelor's and Master's Degree in Elementary Education from The Ohio State University, and a Master's Degree in Education with an emphasis in Gifted Education from Bowling Green State University. He was a teacher and gifted intervention specialist in middle school setting. Jeffrey was involved with Ohio Association Gifted Children and has written several articles for the OAGC Review.
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Julie Short
Julie Short is a regional consultant for the Autism Center at OCALI. She coordinates and provides regional and statewide professional development, consultation services, and technical assistance to improve outcomes for individuals with ASD. Short has participated on the National Community of Practice of Autism Spectrum Disorder. She is a member of the National Autism Leadership Collaborative and Statewide Autism/Low-Incidence Collaborative. Prior to OCALI, Short taught elementary and middle school, both general and special education. She is the parent of a child with ASD.
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Leigha Shoup
Katherine Yoder, MS, CFI Executive Director Katherine Yoder saw a need for victim services for adults with disabilities and founded the Adult Advocacy Centers to serve that need in March 2019. She is a certified forensic interviewer and has been an advocate for people with disabilities for 20 years. She holds a Bachelor's degree in social psychology from Park University and a Master's degree in criminal justice from the University of Cincinnati.
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Judy Siens
Judy Siens is a Project Assistant at the AT&AEM Center at OCALI. She supports the operation of the AT&AEM Center's delivery system of accessible educational materials to Ohio school districts. Siens carries out the annual Federal Quota Registration of Legally Blind Students for the Ohio Department of Education, Office for Exceptional Children, generating Federal Quota Funds for AEM for Ohio students. She maintains the AT&AEM Clearinghouse of braille, digital, and large print textbooks and educational aids available for loan to eligible students, and provides technical assistance related to AEM to Ohio School Districts. Siens has worked with the Federal Quota program for 19 years.
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Erin Simmons
Erin Simmons is married with six children. Her two oldest girls are academically gifted, her two younger daughters have dyslexia, her fifth child has severe non-verbal autism, and her youngest also has autism - she is raising children on every end of the spectrum. She is a passionate parent advocate, who works to help others understand what it is like to be a parent to children with special needs. Simmons sits on the Ohio Governor's Early Childhood Council, Ohio Early Intervention Council, Seneca County Board of Developmental Disabilities, Family and Children First Council, and is a Peer Mentor.
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Pat Skidmore
Pat Skidmore, Au.D., LSLS Cert AVEd, is an educational audiologist and consultant for the Educational Assessment Team and Hearing Intervention Services based at the Montgomery County Educational Service Center/SST10. She works with IEP teams to develop educational plans that will maximize communication growth regardless of modality or language. Skidmore also consults with the Montgomery County ESC Hearing Impaired Preschool, developing preschool classrooms appropriate for language learning in both spoken English and ASL.
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Jessica Smallwood
Jessica Smallwood, B.A., is a preschool intervention specialist at Milford Preschool in the Milford Exempted Village School District. A special educator for 14 years. As a preschool intervention specialist she is responsible for Evaluation Team Reports (ETR) and Individualized Education Plans (IEP), for currently enrolled students and students that are entering the program. She currently serves on the PBIS team which presented at the PBIS Showcase in Columbus, Ohio in 2018 and received the Ohio PBIS Bronze Recognition Award for 2019.
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Michelle Smith
Michelle Smith is an early childhood consultant for the State Support Team Region 8. She has provided technical assistance and professional development to early childhood programs on PBIS at the state and regional level for the past 7 years. Given the positive impact that PBIS has across district early learning programs, Smith's goal is to team with districts and community programs to implement PBIS so that more young children and families benefit from the framework. Smith has held positions as consultant, preschool teacher, itinerant intervention specialist, and child life specialist.
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Sean Smith
Sean J. Smith, a professor of special education at the University of Kansas, has a background in special education and technology. He is a Project Director on several US Department of Education program initiatives and has authored and presented several articles and papers on special education technology. He has served as an associate editor for the Journal of Special Education Technology, and currently serves as an associate editor for Teaching Exceptional Children. He is the proud parent of four young children, one having an intellectual disability.
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Sheila Smith
Sheila M. Smith, Ph.D., is a Senior Director, leading OCALI's Research & Impact Team; a new office for OCALI. She continues to support the Outreach and AT&AEM Centers as they work to build capacity to serve the B/VI or D/HH communities. Previously, Dr. Smith led internal operations and development of OCALI's online learning (Autism Internet Modules - AIM) and collaborated with state agency partners to build OLAC, OASC-E, and other initiatives. Prior to OCALI she held positions as PD specialist, administrator, university instructor, and teacher across seven states. Her numerous presentations and publications reflect her wide-range of experiences within the field of special education.
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Jennifer Sommerness
Jennifer Sommerness, Ed.S., is a consultant for the TIES Center, an educational consultant, author, adjunct professor at the University of St. Thomas, speaker, and leader in professional development and technical assistance. She connects the power and compassion of inclusive education for all kids with educators who know that kids of all abilities do better when taught together. With more than 25 years of experience, she works closely with parents, teachers, administrators and community members to create schools that have the capacity to support all students, using innovative, diverse learning strategies.
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Carrie Spangler
Carrie Spangler, Au.D., CCC-A is currently the lead educational audiologist at the Summit Educational Service Center. Dr. Spangler has been in the field of educational audiology for over 20 years (previous employment at Stark County ESC and The University of Akron). Areas of interest include educational audiology for all students with hearing challenges, teens and support groups, advocacy, and humanitarian audiology. Dr. Spangler served as an active participant on the ODE Related Services Shortage Workgroup. Dr. Spangler also serves as a Governor appointed audiology board member for the Ohio Speech and Hearing Professional Board.
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Gwenn Spence
Gwenn Spence has an undergraduate degree from the University of St. Catherine and a master's in education from University of St. Thomas. Her teaching experience is from early childhood special education in Minnesota. She has over 26 years of experience as a director of student services in the public school setting in Minnesota, Rhoda Island, and Ohio. She has been the director of student services in Granville Schools since July 2014. She has been an OPASA member for 7 years and the treasurer for 5 years.
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Melissa Spence
Melissa Spence, Ed.D., is an assistant professor at Cal Lutheran University. Her research interests include promoting academic achievement and communicative instruction of nonverbal students with ASD, as well as prompting equitable instructional opportunities for all students with disabilities. Spence spent 10 years working for the Los Angeles Unified School District both as a special education teacher for students with ASD and as part of the autism support team, supporting school staff in creating classrooms that utilized evidence-based and inclusive practices to best serve students with ASD.
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Margie Spino
Margie Spino is an education program specialist with the Office of Early Learning and School Readiness at ODE, providing professional development and technical assistance on topics related to preschool special education. As a member of the Ohio Early Childhood PBIS Workgroup, she is especially interested in adult implementation and determining what is required to ensure that any child can access, participate, and make progress in meaningful learning environments with peers. Margie has held positions as a special educator, regional consultant, and adjunct instructor.
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Donna Stelzer
Donna Stelzer is a successful educational leader with more than 29 years of experience in educational administration connected to Special Education and Student Services. Donna is currently the Executive Director of Ohio Association of Pupil Services Administrators (OAPSA) and an adjunct professor at Ashland University. She serves on Ohio's Related Service Work-group and is on the National Coalition on Personnel Shortages in Special Education and Related Services. She is also a member of Ohio's State Advisory Panel for Exceptional Children and serves on the Executive Committee and Governing Board for the Ohio Coalition for the Education of Students with Disabilities.
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Sonia Stevenson
Sonia Stevenson serves as an educational consultant for the State Support Team 4. She holds master's degrees in education (school psychology) and educational administration. Stevenson provides high-quality professional development and focused technical assistance to districts in areas that include supporting federal IDEA requirements as they relates to special education, behavior, and UDL. Stevenson is also involved in developing collaborative systems across the region to support students at risk for failure and students with disabilities.
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Julie Stewart
Julie Stewart M.S., ASL Specialist at Ohio School for the Deaf comes with 10 years of classroom teaching experience and 5 years of education consultant working with professionals/parents with DHH learners. Julie works with National Deaf Education Conference planning committee as a workshop chair and National Deaf Center with their Engage for Change: Local project. One of Julie's passions is to have each deaf learner have literacy skills in ASL/English to improve their quality of life. She grew up using all of the communication modalities- ASL, Signing English, spoken English, English in print and attended mainstreaming schools and a residential deaf school.
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Ashley Stojkov
Ashley Stojkov is an undergraduate student at The Ohio State University. She expects to graduate in 2022 with a B.S. in Health Sciences and minors in Biology and Substance Misuse and Addiction. She is completing an undergraduate thesis focusing on implementing personal navigation strategies and technologies to make transportation accessible for individuals with cognitive disabilities. Ashley has presented her research at Ohio State's College of Medicine Trainee Research Day 2020 and has been accepted to present at the 2020 American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.
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Kathy Strunk
Kathy Strunk, Ph.D., is an Education Program Specialist at the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) where she conducts research and provides technical assistance related to special education assessment policies and practices. Kathy’s current emphasis is providing technical assistance to states for implementation of requirements related to the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) 1.0% state-level threshold on participation of students in Alternate Assessments based on Alternate Academic Achievement Standards (AA-AAAS). Kathy facilitates NCEO’s bi-weekly, 48-state member 1% Community of Practice.
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Doug Sturgeon
Dr. Sturgeon is an Associate Professor at Shawnee State University. For more than 15 years he was a teacher for students who were Deaf/Hard of Hearing in West Virginia. His research interests are WV one room schools and their teaching materials.
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Wendy Szakacs
Wendy Szakacs is an OCALI regional consultant for northeast/eastern Ohio. She develops evidence-based materials and provides technical assistance and professional development, leading projects in social competence, bullying, behavior, communication, and executive function. Szakacs collaborates with regional partners, including State Support Teams and Educational Service Centers, in the creation and presentation of professional development to local school district staff and families. Prior to OCALI, Szakacs has held positions as a consultant, adjunct instructor, and intervention specialist.
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Rebecca Szanto
Rebecca Szanto, LPCC-S, BCBA, COBA, is the Chief Execuative Officer and Owner of Branches of Behavior LLC located in Dublin, Ohio where she provides both mental health counseling and behavior analytic treatment to children and families. Rebecca specializes in working with children and adolescents with exceptionalities such as Autism and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Rebecca also has specialized training in evidence-based treatment for Trauma-Related Disorders. Rebecca has presented at multiple conferences, including the American Counseling Association national conference, All Ohio Counselors Conference, and OCALICON.
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Amy Szymanski
Amy Szymanski, M.Ed., has over 25 years of experience in education, primarily in special education and secondary transition for students with disabilities. She currently works as a statewide secondary transition and workforce development consultant at the State Support Team Region 1.
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Deborah Taub
Deborah Taub, Ph.D.is a consultant who serves as a Technical Assistance Specialist with TIES Center, the national technical assistance center on inclusive practices and policies for students with significant cognitive disabilities. Her career has focused on providing equitable opportunities to learn for students with disabilities, especially those with complex support needs. Dr. Taub has designed, implemented, and evaluated Universal Design for Learning (UDL), standards-based curriculum, instruction and assessments for students with disabilities. She has presented and supported educators internationally with a focus on building inclusive practices.
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Kathleen Mo Taylor
Kathleen Mo Taylor, OTR/L, is an OT with a 35-year history of working with children, adolescents, and adults with ASD. She is the owner and lead therapist at Theraplay LLC where she provides: sensory/social groups, school consultation, community based therapy, and family coaching. Taylor is currently an adjunct faculty at the University of New Mexico and has shared her experiences through trainings around New Mexico and internationally. Her career has been devoted to better real-life outcomes for all individuals.
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Katie Taylor
Katie Taylor is a professionalized deaf educator with experience in a variety of settings including itinerant, teacher of record services, educational consulting, preschool, e-learning and K-12 classroom. She currently works for a federal discretionary grant as an Indiana state-wide technology and instruction specialist in the areas of deaf/hard of hearing and primary transition and adjunct instructor in deaf education. She holds a bachelor's degree in speech-language pathology, a minor in psychology, a master's degree in deaf education and is currently working towards a doctorate in education in the area of special education-deaf education.
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Megan Temple
Megan Temple is an Intervention Specialist for students with moderate to intense needs working in Dublin City Schools in Central Ohio. Since a young child, Megan has wanted to be an Intervention Specialist and found ways throughout her life to fuel that passion. Megan has worked as an Independent Provider, ABA therapist, job coach, paraprofessional and now Intervention Specialist giving her a wide scope on the world of working with individuals with disabilities. Megan has a Master's in Special Education through Ashland University and is currently working towards a graduate certificate in Applied Behavior Analysis through the University of Cincinnati.
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Alyssa Thorn
Alyssa Navarrete Thorn is a staff attorney at Project HEAL (Health, Education, Advocacy, and Law), a community-based program of the Maryland Center for Developmental Disabilities at Kennedy Krieger Institute. Alyssa earned a bachelor's degree in communications and Spanish from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) in 2011, and a juris doctor at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law in 2014. Prior to joining Project HEAL in 2018, Alyssa worked as an Assistant Public Defender in the Post Conviction Defenders Division of the Office of the Public Defender and a staff attorney in the mental health unit at Disability Rights Maryland.
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Martha Thurlow
Martha Thurlow, Ph.D., is Senior Research Associate and former Director of NCEO at the University of Minnesota. During her 48-year career, her work has emphasized the need to ensure accessible curricula and assessments for students with disabilities, English learners, and English learners with disabilities, by addressing the implications of U.S. education policy, striving to improve inclusion and access to appropriate assessments for all students, and collaborating with others on standards-based educational systems and inclusion. Thurlow has contributed to professional literature through numerous peer reviewed journal articles and chapters, as well as publicly available reports.
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Joslyn Tijerina
Joslyn R Tijerina is the Analytics Supervisor at the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities. She has worked on projects involving medical conditions of note in the DD population, infection prevention initaitivess, and self-service data models for the field. She manages all of the data requests for Strategic Analytics and Innovation, ensuring the data is accessible, reliable, and comprehensive. She has presented at the Ohio Rural Health Conference, NADD State of Ohio Conference, and OACB Conference.
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Megan Trowbridge
Megan Trowbridge, Ed.D., has served for 7 years as the autism/low-incidence consultant for Region 14 State Support Team. She was previously an intervention specialist in a social communication classroom and a district-level autism/behavioral consultant. She most recently attended Northern Kentucky University where she earned her Doctor of Education in educational leadership with a focus on special education. Trowbridge presents regularly on special education topics in her region and statewide.
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Aimee Troyer
Aimee Troyer is an Education Program Specialist in the Office for Exceptional Children at the Ohio Department of Education. Aimee is certified as a K-12 Special Education Intervention Specialist with a Reading Endorsement. She holds a Master's in Education from George Fox University. She has much experience working with students who have emotional disturbance and behavioral challenges. Much of her work the past few years has focused on trauma informed care and restorative justice practices. She is now on the Supports and Monitoring team at ODE focused on supporting districts within special education.
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Amy Tseng
Amy Tseng, M.A., is a Systems of Support Advisor in the Los Angeles Unified School District. She has her teaching credentials in both special education and elementary education. Previously, she taught students with ASD on both the general education and the alternate curricula. She has coached and provided direct support and professional developments to school-site staff on implementing evidence-based practices and developing quality educational programs for students with ASD. She has also presented at conferences on evidence-based practices.
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Kyle Uhrig
Kyle Uhrig received his Bachelor of Science in Education from Ohio University in 2017, Master of Education from Ashland University in 2011, and Superintendent License from the University of Dayton in 2016. He began his career in 2007 at Southeastern Local Schools in Chillicothe, Ohio. While there he taught middle school Social Studies and served on the district leadership team. In 2013 he took an administrative position at Circleville City Schools as Assistant High School Principal. His current title is Assistant Superintendent which includes serving as the Special Services Director.
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Jill Underhill
Jill C. Underhill is an associate professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Marshall University where she teaches courses in health communication and advocacy. Dr. Underhill uses both quantitative and qualitative methodologies to investigate stigma toward students on the autism spectrum and design evidence-based interventions to decrease social distance. Her work focuses on empowering faculty and peers to build inclusive and connected college classrooms for atypical students. Dr. Underhill also co-founded Community Autism Resources & Education Systems (CARES), a non-profit organization that serves individuals on the autism spectrum in southern West Virginia.
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Maureen van Stone
Maureen is the director of the Maryland Center for Developmental Disabilities (MCDD) at Kennedy Krieger Institute and the founding director of Project HEAL (Health, Education, Advocacy, and Law), a MCDD community-based program. Maureen earned a bachelor's degree in psychology at the University of Southern California, a master's degree in developmental psychology at The Johns Hopkins University, and a Juris Doctor at Whittier Law School. Maureen is an associate faculty for the Department of Mental Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and affiliate faculty for the Wendy Klag Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities.
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Terri Vandercook
Terri Vandercook, Ph.D. is the assistant director of TIES Center. She previously was an Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Special Education at the University of St. Thomas and coordinator for the program in Developmental Disabilities. She has worked with and learned from individuals with significant developmental disabilities, their families, and team members for 40 years. Themes throughout her career have been the active belonging, participation, and learning of each child in her or his community. Her areas of focus include inclusive schooling, collaborative teaming, instruction of students with significant cognitive disabilities, and teacher training.
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Tera Viola
Tera Viola is the Founding Executive Director of Autism Life Center. She's also a wife and mother to 4 children, one with Autism. Tera has an associate degree in human services. Tera has served on the West Central Ohio Autism Community board for 9 years as President and Vice President. In 2018 she started the non-profit Autism Life Center, for which she is the executive director, support group facilitator, and program director. She is also a past presenter at OCALICON 2019.
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Kara Waldron
Kara Waldron has been with the Ohio Department of Education, Office for Exceptional Children since 2006, and currently leads the Office for Exceptional Children's data and analysis team. Her team works to meet federal and state reporting requirements while developing tools to utilize data for continuous improvement of services and outcomes for students with disabilities and gifted learners. Waldron obtained her bachelor of education degree from Muskingum University and her master's of public administration degree from Wright State University.
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Kelly Walker
Kelly Walker joined the Ohio Department of Education, Office for Exceptional Children in 2014. She serves as a complaint investigator and the due process coordinator. Kelly earned a B.A. from Capital University and a JD from Capital University Law School. She is a licensed attorney who has acted as a guardian ad litem and had a private practice focusing on juvenile delinquency and family law.
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Sara Walker
Sara Walker is the support group facilitator for Coffee, Tea & Autism Fairfield County. She is the mother of an 11 year old son who was diagnosed with autism at age 3. In 2012 she reached out to the Autism Society of Central Ohio for advice. Soon she became an active volunteer with ASCO and a parent mentor & activist in the Columbus area. In May 2016 Coffee, Tea & Autism was launched to bring support & fellowship to families facing autism in the S.E. area of Columbus. The support group provides occasional special guest speakers, yearly Easter egg hunts, Halloween "trunk or treat", parent's nights out, art therapy, Christmas parties with Santa, fundraisers & more.
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Sarah Walker
Sarah Walker is the Director of Student Services in the Amherst EV School District. She began as an Intervention Specialist, where she spent eight years working with the Avon Local Schools. Following that, Sarah became a Supervisor of Special Education. From there, she worked with the SST Region 2 as the Regional Director of Special Education and Family Services. While with the SST, Sarah was able to establish a vast professional network; however, she missed working with teachers, students, and families. She received her undergraduate degree from Ohio University and her Masters degree from Cleveland State University. She lives in northeast Ohio with her husband and three kids.
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Jo Hannah Ward
Jo Hannah Ward serves as the director of the Office for Exceptional Children, Ohio Department of Education. Her background includes direct classroom experience, building level leadership, and mental health services in schools. Ward most recently served as the executive director for the Center for Continuous Improvement, and previously served as director of the Office for Improvement and Innovation, assistant director in the Office for Exceptional Children, and as the deputy superintendent at the Ohio Department of Youth Services and the Franklin County Court Juvenile Detention Facility. Ward received a M.Ed. from the University of Dayton and has a B.S. from The Ohio State University.
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Abbey Weaver
Abbey Weaver began working with Southern Ohio Educational Service Center/Hopewell Center Region 14 in 2003 as an itinerant teacher for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. She is also the Team Leader for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing department, and supervises itinerant teachers, educational interpreters, language facilitators, and an audiologist. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Deaf Education from Kent State University, and a master’s degree in reading from Xavier University. Weaver is also currently National Board Certified in Deaf Education. She works with a variety of individuals in various schools located in Adams, Brown, Clinton, Fayette and Highland Counties.
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Meredith Wellman
Meredith Wellman, Ph.D., is the Project Lead for Ohio's Statewide Family Engagement Center at The Ohio State University. Dr. Wellman develops and provides professional development on family engagement in education. Dr. Wellman also conducts program evaluations. As a Community Psychologist, Dr. Wellman specializes in research and evaluation of services for marginalized/at-risk populations, such as survivors of human trafficking, immigrants and refugees, and indigenous groups. Meredith lives in Westerville, OH with her husband and daughter, and enjoys biking, hiking, playing frisbee, and baking pies. You can reach her at wellman.87@osu.edu and find her on Twitter @MWellmanOSU.
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Mary Jo Wendling
Mary Jo Wendling, OTR/L is an occupational therapist with over 35 years experience in various clinical and educational settings serving the needs of individuals with disabilities. She is a graduate of Western Michigan University. Since 1990, she has specialized in the area of assistive technology. Until her retirement in June 2018, Ms. Wendling was the Manager of the Toy & Technology Library and a LEND Faculty Coordinator at Nisonger Center UCEDD. She also worked for the Dublin City School District where she was a member of the AT Team. In addition, Ms. Wendling has contracted with OCALI as an AT Consultant for their AT and AEM Center since 2017.
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Christina Westerkamp
Christina Westerkamp has been a practicing school psychologist for 24 years. She graduated from The Ohio State University with her Masters in School Psychologist. She has had the priviledge to work in both urban and suburban districts with students grade preschool through high school. Most recently her presentations have been centered around PBIS in the preschool setting. Currently she serves an integrated preschool setting with 185 students. In 2019, the school was awarded the Bronze Award for PBIS implementation.
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Bethany Wheatley
Bethany Wheatley is a Master of Occupational Therapy student at Eastern Kentucky University and a Graduate Assistant in the Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy at EKU. As a Graduate Assistant she coordinates, with the help of her colleagues, EKU's Colonels Mentoring Colonels Program, a mentoring program by students for students, to support EKU students with ASD or Executive Functioning Disorders. She is a member of many professional organizations including the American Occupational Therapy Association, the Student Occupational Therapy Association at EKU, and a member of Pi Theta Epsilon, an honor society for OT students and alumni.
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Jerry Whittaker
Jerry Whittaker, M.A., is an AT Consultant for the AT&AEM Center at OCALI with over 40 years of experience specializing in technologies for individuals who are blind and visually impaired. He worked in public schools as an SLP, and was a consultant at the East Central Ohio SERRC (currently known as SST 12), ORCLISH (currently known as OCALI) and CISAM (currently known as the AT&AEM Center). He provides technical assistance and professional development for districts, as well as the Grafton Prison Braille Service Center. He has presented at local, state, and national conferences and has developed numerous supports and products to aid in the production of braille and large print.
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Tiffany Wild
Tiffany Wild, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning and the program in visual impairment at The Ohio State University. She was awarded a doctoral fellowship with the National Center for Leadership in Visual Impairments, and her dissertation received the Dissertation of the Year award by CEC's Division on Visual Impairment. Her research on science education for students with visual impairments has resulted in numerous publications and presentations.
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Cheri Williams
Cheri Williams, PhD, is Professor of Literacy and Second Language Studies at the University of Cincinnati. An educator for over 40 years, Dr. Williams taught in K-12, including students who were deaf and hard-of-hearing. She currently teaches literacy education and qualitative research methodology courses at UC. Her recent research examines writing instruction and development among a wide range of students with and without disabilities. Dr. Williams has presented at national/international conferences and has published extensively in the field of literacy education. She co-authored a book on supporting language and literacy development in students who are deaf and hard-of-hearing.
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Greg Williams
Greg Williams is a Special Education Supervisor for Ross-Pike Educational Service District. He is currently finishing his Education Specialist degree in School Psychology. He has a M.Ed in Special Education from Shawnee State University, a M.Ed in Educational Leadership from Ohio Dominican, and earned his Bachelors degree in Education from Shawnee State University. Having taught in the general education classroom, as well as being an Intervention Specialist for inclusion, he has a wide array of experience with serving students across a range of settings and experiences to ensure their success.
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Sondra Williams
Sondra Williams is an individual with ASD and PTSD. She is a national speaker on autism and trauma-related topics, and is employed at The Learning Spectrum, creating and developing the social/self-advocacy pre-transitional program. Williams was the 2013 recipient of the Courage Award from Governor Kasich in the state of Ohio. She serves on several boards and loves mentoring teens and adults with autism. The parent of 4 adults with autism, Williams is in the main character in the film The Leprechaun's Wife.
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Bobbi Williams-Plautz
After graduating from high school Bobbi worked as a floral designer while attending college for business and accounting. Then while volunteering with the military and their families, made the decision to go back to school to learn more about human services. After some years spent working in the mental health and addiction field, Bobbi now serves students with disabilities in the Ohio Transition Support Partnership thought Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities.
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Mallory Workman
Mallory Workman is the academic advisor and head of volunteer recruitment for The Ohio State University TOPS program. She graduated from OSU with dual bachelor's degrees in public affairs and international relations and diplomacy. After graduation, she worked briefly for the Association for the Developmentally Disabled as a recreation specialist before she began her role at the TOPS program in January of 2015. Workman is working towards a master of social work degree.
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Annette Wragge
Annette Wragge is the State Coordinator for the NE Autism Spectrum Disorders Network. In her role as State Coordinator, Annette works with regional coordinators and various agencies across the state to provide training and technical assistance in the area of Autism Spectrum Disorders. Annette completed her Board Certified Behavior Analyst certification in May 0f 2014. She has presented locally and nationally on topics related to Autism Spectrum Disorder, co-authored the 2011 Hidden Curriculum One a Day Calendar for Kids. In 2011 she authored the Social narratives: Online training module and in 2012 co-authored the Screening and Autism: Online training module.
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Katherine Yoder
Katherine Yoder is a certified forensic interviewer and has been an advocate for people with disabilities for 20 years. She holds a Master's degree in criminal justice from the University of Cincinnati and a Bachelor's degree in social psychology from Park University. She currently serves as the Executive Director of the Adult Advocacy Centers, which she founded in March 2019.