Christina Whalen, Ph.D., BCBA, President and Chief Science Officer, Jigsaw Learning, 2815 Eastlake Avenue East, Suite 300, Seattle, Washington 98102
Dr. Whalen is a licensed psychologist and Board Certified Behavior Analyst specializing in autism and related disorders. She is one of the founders of TeachTown, Inc. (http://www.drchris.teachtown.com), and is now Co-founder and President and Chief Science Officer of Jigsaw Learning (http://www.jigsawlearning. com; a merged company of TeachTown, Inc., and Animated Speech Co.). She received her Ph.D. at the University of California, San Diego, and did her postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, Los Angeles. She also worked at Autism Spectrum Therapies in Los Angeles and at the University of Washington Autism Center as the Early STAART Treatment and Training Director.
Dr. Whalen has more than 15 years of experience in research and clinical practice with children with autism and their families. She has developed and supervised home programs, educated and trained parents and teachers, consulted with school districts, taught college and graduate courses in psychology and education, presented at numerous professional conferences, participated in fund-raising activities for various autism organizations, and published in professional scientific journals. She is also a chapter author in Universal Usability: Designing Computer Interfaces for Diverse Users (edited by Jonathan Lazar; Wiley, 2007), a book about how technology can help people with special needs. Dr. Whalen served on a task force for the California Blue Ribbon Commission for Autism, acted as the ABA Liaison for the California Association for Behavior Analysis (Cal-ABA), and is now the Chair of the Technology Special Interest Group for the Association for Behavior Analysis (ABA).
Dr. Whalen resides in Millbrae, California, near San Francisco. She is married and has a 6-year-old boy.
Lee Grossman is President and CEO of the Autism Society of America.
Anne Bernard, Research and Clinical Coordinator,Autism and Neurodevelopment Clinic, University of California, San Francisco, California 94143. In addition to her research on diagnosis and intervention strategies for autism spectrum disorders, Ms. Bernard is currently coordinating a magnetic source imaging study on sensory processing disorders.
Andy Bondy, Ph.D., Dr. Bondy has almost 50 years of experience working with children and adults with autism and related developmental disabilities. For more than a dozen years, he served as the director of a statewide public school program for students with autism. He codeveloped the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) and designed the Pyramid Approach to Education as a comprehensive combination of broad-spectrum behavior. Dr. Bondy cofounded Pyramid Educational Consultants, Inc., an internationally based team of specialists from many fields promoting the principles of applied behavior analysis within functional activities and an empha-sis on developing functional communication skills. He was the recipient of the 2012 Society of the Advancement of Behavior Analysis (SABA) Award for International Dissemination of Behavior Analysis.
Shannon Cernich, Ph.D., BCBA, Director of Implementation and Training, Jigsaw Learning, 2815 Eastlake Avenue East, Suite 300, Seattle, Washington 98102. Dr. Cernich has more than 10 years of experience working with children and adults with autism spectrum disorders and special needs as well as with their educators and caregivers. She is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and has a Ph.D. in psychology. Her goal is to work with her team to utilize technology to help 100,000 children with special needs in the next 5 years, and she has met her 1-year benchmark.
Sabrina D. Daneshvar, Ph.D., BCBA, Program Coordinator, Autism Spectrum Therapies, 1526 Brookhollow Drive, Suite 70, Santa Ana, California 92705. Dr. Daneshvar received her Ph.D. in applied developmental psychology from Claremont Graduate University with a concentration in behavioral treatment of developmental disabilities. She is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and a program coordinator with Autism Spectrum Therapies. Her expertise includes early intervention, parent education, behavior support, consultation, and staff development.
Carol Davis, Ed.D., Associate Professor of Special Education, University of Washington, Box 353600, Seattle, Washington 98195. Dr. Davis’s research interests include examining effective instructional practices that facilitate skill acquisition and promote positive behavior of students with moderate to profound disabilities in inclusive settings, identifying variables that contribute to the use of effective strategies by teachers in these settings, and developing systems to support students with severe disabilities to have access to the general education curriculum within the public school setting.
Anna Dvortcsak, M.S., CCC-SLP, Private Practice, 4110 South East Hawthorne Boulevard #420, Portland, Oregon 97214. Ms. Dvortcsak, a licensed speech and language pathologist, specializes in parent-mediated intervention for children with autism spectrum disorders. In 2004, Ms. Dvortcsak founded Dvortcsak Speech and Language Services (DSLSI), which provides individual and group training to families with children with autism and related disorders, individualized speech and language services, and training to professionals working with children with autism and related disorders. She also consults with school districts, private practices, and hospitals to train staff to use naturalistic treatment strategies to enhance children’s engagement, imitation, language, and play skills and to use parent-mediated interventions.
Lauren Franke, Psy.D, Private Practice, 1600 Pacific Coast Highway, Suite C, Seal Beach, California 90740. As a licensed clinical psychologist and language pathologist, Dr. Franke has spent the last 25 years in private and clinical practice with an emphasis on the diagnosis and treatment of language disorders, developmental disabilities, autism spectrum disorders, learning disorders, and attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder. She also consults with school districts providing training to professionals and parents regarding diagnosing developmental disorders and treatment strategies for expressive language development and improving language comprehension and social-pragmatic skills.
William D. Frea, Ph.D., BCBA, Chief Clinical Officer, Autism Spectrum Therapies, 6001 Bristol Parkway, Suite 200, Culver City, California 90230. Dr. Frea is the co-founder of Autism Spectrum Therapies (http://www.autismtherapies .com), an agency providing comprehensive applied behavior analysis services to individuals with autism. He and his agency specialize in intensive behavioral interventions, positive behavior supports, and social skills across the life span. Autism Spectrum Therapies also works closely with school districts to develop state-of-the-art autism programs.
Brrooke Ingersoll, Ph.D., BCBA-D, Michigan State University (MSU), East Lansing, MI. Dr. Ingersoll is an associate professor of clinical psychology at MSU, where she is the director of the MSU Autism Research Lab. She is also a licensed psychologist and Board Certified Behavior Analyst. Dr. Ingersoll's research focuses on the development, evaluation, and dissemination of social-communication interventions for individuals with ASD. She has published multiple peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters on ASD and is the coauthor of Teaching Social Communication to Children with Autism (with A. Dvortcsak; 2010, Guilford Press), an NDBI parent training curriculum for children with ASD.
Robert H. LaRue, Ph.D., BCBA, Assistant Professor and Assistant Director of Research and Training, Douglass Developmental Disabilities Center, Rutgers University, 151 Ryders Lane, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901. Dr. LaRue received his doctorate in biological and school psychology from Louisiana State University and completed a predoctoral internship and a postdoctoral fellowship with the Kennedy Krieger and Marcus Institutes at The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and Emory University. He is Assistant Director of Research and Training at The Douglass Developmental Disabilities Center. He has coauthored articles in peer-reviewed journals as well as book chapters and has presented at national and international conferences.
Dominic W. Massaro, Ph.D., Professor, University of California, Santa Cruz, Department of Psychology, Santa Cruz, California 95060. Dr. Massaro is Professor of Psychology and Computer Engineering, Director of the Perceptual Science Laboratory, and Founding Chair of Digital Arts and New Media M.F.A. program at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He has been a Guggenheim Fellow, a University of Wisconsin Romnes Fellow, a James McKeen Cattell Fellow, and a National Institute of Mental Health Fellow. His research uses a formal experimental and theoretical approach to the study of speech perception, reading, psycholinguistics, memory, cognition, learning, and decision making.
Annie McLaughlin, M.T., Doctoral Student, Experimental Education Unit, University of Washington, Box 353600, Seattle, Washington 98195. Ms. McLaughlin has a master’s of teaching in special education from The University of Virginia with a specialization in working with people with developmental disabilities, learning disabilities, and emotional/behavior disorders. She is currently working on her Ph.D. in severe disabilities at the University of Washington. Her classroom and research experiences focus on students with severe disabilities, autism, and challenging behavior.
Ronit M. Molko, Ph.D., BCBA, Founder, Autism Spectrum Therapies, 6001 Bristol Parkway, Suite 200, Culver City, California 90230. Dr. Molko is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and clinical psychologist, specializing in the treatment of children with autism and related disorders. She is co-founder of Autism Spectrum Therapies (http://www.autismtherapies.com), an agency that specializes in intensive behavioral interventions, positive behavior supports, and social skills for individuals with autism across the life span. Autism Spectrum Therapies also works closely with school districts to develop state-of-the-art autism programs.
Daniel Openden, Ph.D., BCBA, Dr. Openden serves as the president and chief executive officer for the Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center, an internationally recognized nonprofit organization dedicated to autism research, education, evidence-based treatment, and community outreach to support individuals with autism and their families throughout their lifetimes. As a Board Certified Behavior Analyst-Doctoral, Dr. Openden has expertise in developing training programs for teaching parents and professionals to implement Pivotal Response Treatment. Dr. Openden is an adjunct professor at Arizona State University, is a founding member of the Council of Autism Service Providers, and serves on the Autism Speaks Mission Delivery Committee and the Scientific Council of the Organization for Autism Research.
Nancy E. Rosenberg, Ph.D., Teaching Associate, Experimental Education Unit, University of Washington, 4000 15th Avenue Northeast, Seattle, Washington 98195. Dr. Rosenberg received her Ph.D. in special education from the University of Washington with a particular focus in autism. She currently teaches classes for both educators and parents around issues related to autism and consults with families and school districts for these children. Dr. Rosenberg is also the parent of a son with autism.
Laura Schreibman, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Psychology, University of California, San Diego (UCSD), 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California 92093. Dr. Laura Schreibman directs the UCSD Autism Intervention Research Program, a federally funded research program focusing on the experimental analysis and treatment of autism. A co-developer of Pivotal Response Training, her general research interests include naturalistic behavioral intervention strategies, development of individualized treatment protocols, analysis of language and attentional deficits, generalization of behavior change, parent training, and issues of assessment. She is the author of three books and more than 120 research articles and book chapters.
Dr. Schwartz is Professor of Special Education and Director of the Haring Center at the University of Washington. Dr. Schwartz is also the Director of Project DATA (Developmentally Appropriate Treatment for Autism), a school‐based early intervention intensive behavioral intervention program for children with autism. She has an extensive background working with young children with special needs and their families, specifically with young children with autism and related disabilities.
Dr. Schwartz is the director of the Applied Behavior Analysis Program at the UW, and is dedicated to creating high quality inclusive schools so that all children, regardless of their background or ability, can attend the school of their choice and receive a high quality education.
Dr. Schwartz has published numerous chapters and articles about early childhood education and social validity. She serves on the editorial review boards of Topics in Early Childhood Special Education and the Journal of Early Intervention.
Bryna Siegel, Ph.D., Adjunct Professor, Director, Autism Clinic, Co-director, Autism Neurodevelopment Center, 401 Parnassus Avenue, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), California 94143. Dr. Siegel founded and directs the UCSF Autism Clinic. She has been involved with autism research for the past 25 years and has authored numerous books, chapters, and scientific papers. Her work has focused on operationalizing a definition for autism as specific autistic learning disabilities and autistic learning styles that can be treated with developmental curricula administered using behavioral methodologies.
Lori Frost, Co-founder, Pyramid Educational Consultants, Inc., 13 Garfield Way, Suite 1, Newark, Delaware 19713. Ms. Frost is Vice-President and Co-founder of Pyramid Educational Consultants, Inc., as well as a coauthor of the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) Training Manual. Ms. Frost has been the driving force behind creating PECS, a unique system that allows children with limited communication abilities to initiate communication with teachers, parents, and peers. She has a wealth of background in functional communication training and applied behavior analysis.
Carol Gray, President and Consultant to Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders, The Gray Center for Social Learning and Understanding, Embassy Drive Southeast, Kentwood, Michigan, 49546. Ms. Gray is an author, speaker, and consultant who works on behalf of individuals with autism spectrum disorders. She developed the Social Story approach early in 1991 and is noted for the development of other instructional strategies and her groundbreaking articles on bullying and loss and learning. She is the recipient of the Barbara Lipinski Award for her international contribution to the education and welfare of individuals on the autism spectrum.
Aubyn C. Stahmer, Ph.D., BCBA, Research Scientist, Psychologist, Rady Children’s Hospital, 3020 Children’sWay,MC5033, San Diego, California 92123. Dr. Stahmer is a research scientist and clinical psychologist at Rady Children’s Hospital and the Child and Adolescent Services Research Center. She has published many scholarly articles on inclusion and early intervention services in the area of autism. Her current interests include the study of early intervention systems for children with autism and the translation of evidence-based practices into community settings.
Jessica Suhrheinrich, Ph.D., Department of Special Education, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA. Dr. Suhrheinrich is an assistant professor of special education at San Diego State University and an investigator with the Child and Adolescent Services Research Center. Broadly, her research aims to improve com-munity-based services for children with ASD.
Manya Vaupel, M.Ed., BCBA, Curriculum Director, Jigsaw Learning, 2815 Eastlake Avenue East, #300, Seattle, Washington 98102. Ms. Vaupel is an internationally recognized Board Certified Behavior Analyst and has a master’s degree in early childhood special education with a specialized focus in applied behavior analysis, remedial reading, and early literacy. She has worked with children with autism spectrum disorders ages 8 months to 21 years since 1994 and continues to build comprehensive, data-based, and individualized programs that meet the specific needs of this population in schools, homes, and community settings.
Mary Jane Weiss, Ph.D., BCBA,
Director of Research and Training, Douglass Developmental Disabilities Center, Rutgers University, 151 Ryders Lane, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901. Dr. Weiss is an associate research professor at Rutgers University. Her clinical and research interests center on defining best practice applied behavior analysis (ABA) techniques, on identifying the specific utilities of various instructional methodologies within ABA, on evaluating the impact ofABAin learners with autism spectrumdisorders, and in maximizing family members’ expertise and adaptation. She has written numerous articles and four books on autism and is a regular presenter at regional and national conferences.
