Our Faculty + Experts |

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Our Faculty + Experts |










Our Faculty + Experts

Program Faculty BILT™ Course (Formerly AGI Residential/Daily Living)

Courses are taught by expert and engaged professors who guide learning. All Houlton instructors are supported by Teaching Assistants. The faculty includes recipients of distinguished awards from the National Science Foundation, Ford Foundation, Institute for Humane Studies, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, New York Academy of Science, and National Academies of Sciences, among others. Our educators are highly experienced practitioners and scholars and have garnered prestigious book awards and research fellowships.

Program Faculty

VALERIE PARADIZ

Valerie Paradiz, PhD heads the Center for Integrated Self-Advocacy and is the director of the Autistic Global Initiative (AGI) of the Autism Research Institute, a groundbreaking program staffed by adults on the autism spectrum devoted to building partnerships across stakeholder groups within the disability community. Paradiz also directs her own consultancy, Valerie Paradiz, LLC, which designs leading curricula and provides technical assistance and strategic planning to schools, universities, corporations and agencies that support individuals with disabilities. In her capacity as AGI director, Valerie serves as an NGO representative to the United Nations and as Editor-in-Chief of the Autism Research Institute’s Adults with ASD eBulletin. Her service to boards and advisory councils include Autism Speaks’ Family Services Committee, the Autism Society of America, IDEA Partnership’s National Community of Practice in Autism, the National Institute of Mental Health’s Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee’s Strategic Planning Consortium, and Bankstreet College of Education’s Autism Annotation Board.

Dr. Paradiz is the developer of the 2010 International Book Award finalist in education, Integrated Self-Advocacy ISA®, which includes a certification training series for educators, therapists, families and support providers who wish to foster individuals with ASD in achieving greater self-determination and ability in self-advocacy. Additional publications include Lesson Plan a la Carte (AAPC, 2011), an easy planning model that helps educators and support providers to create interventions that integrate learning objectives with therapeutic supports and accommodations directly in the classroom, the community, employment or other learning settings. Valerie is also a contributor to Scholars on the Spectrum Achieving Dreams (Auricle, 2012), a collection of essays written by adults with autism spectrum diagnoses. Her memoir, Elijah’s Cup (Simon & Schuster, 2003) is the story of the author’s experiences raising her autistic son and their involvement together in the self-advocacy community. Dr. Paradiz has been featured in the New York Times, Redbook Magazine, The Guardian, Parade Magazine, on NHK Japan, MTV’s True Life and on National Public Radio. Valerie received her PhD in German Studies from City University of New York’s Graduate Center.

ANDREW NELSON

Andrew Nelson, M.Ed., ISA-CI is a Positive Behavior Support Trainer with the West Virginia Autism Training Center at Marshall University where he provides Family Focused Positive Behavior Support and training to parents, teachers, and professionals on a variety of autism-related topics. He is the founder of the Autism Theatre Network and is the author of Foundation Role Plays for Autism (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2010). Andrew’s work has been noted in American Theatre, The Autism File, Southern Theatre, and Tathaastu: So Be It magazines. Andrew is an Integrated Self Advocacy Certified Instructor and also serves as an assistant editor for the ARI Adults with Autism eBulletin.

ANNE DUQUETTE

Anne Duquette is a special education teacher at a New York City public school in East Harlem; she teaches adolescents who are on the autism spectrum. Anne received her B.A. at Smith College. Anne received two M.A.’s at Teachers College, Columbia University. For her first M.A., as part of a fellowship, Anne assisted with a research project on an abuse-prevention curriculum designed to empower women with intellectual disabilities to become effective decision-makers. For her second M.A., she conducted research in Kenya on sexual violence against female students with intellectual disabilities. Anne is presently working on her M.Ed. in School Leadership.

BRENDA SMITH MYLES

Brenda Smith Myles Ph.D, is the recipient of the Autism Society of America’s Outstanding Professional Award, the Princeton Fellowship Award, and the Council for Exceptional Children, Division on Developmental Disabilities Burton Blatt Humanitarian Award. Brenda has made over 1000 presentations all over the world and written more than 200 articles and books on ASD. In addition, she served as the co-chair of the National ASD Teacher Standards Committee; was on the National Institute of Mental Health’s Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee’s Strategic Planning Consortium; and collaborated with the National Professional Center on Autism Spectrum Disorders, National Autism Center, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services who identified evidenced based practices for individuals with autism spectrum disorders and served as Project Director for the Texas Autism Resource Guide for Teachers (TARGET). Myles is also on the executive boards of several organizations, including the Scientific Council of the Organization for Autism Research (SCORE) and ASTEP – Asperger Syndrome Training and Education Program. She serves as a consultant with the Ohio Center for Autism and Low Incidence (OCALI) and the Ziggurat Group. In the latest survey conducted by the University of Texas, she was acknowledged as the second most productive applied researcher in ASD in the world.

JACQUELINE SHORE

My name is Jacqueline Shore. I have been a Special Education Teacher in District 75 since February 1987 to the present. I have a Bachelor’s Degree from Baruch College and a Master’s Degree from Hunter College in Special Education.

I began my teaching career in a self contained 6:1:1 classroom for young children, ages 5-10, on the autism spectrum. After that, I taught in a self contained classroom for middle school children, ages 11-13. The students were also on the autism spectrum. For the past 3 years I have been teaching teenage students at the high school level, ages 14-21, on the autism spectrum.

I learned so much from older classroom teachers whom I collaborated with for science/cooking and music. It was with great pleasure that I was asked to present PD workshops in house for my colleagues on topics such as the picture exchange communication system and behavioral supports.


ANDREA LEE ROUNDFIELD

Andrea Lee Roundfield, PhD (ABD) MS, MA, LSCI & TCI certification, is a Special Education instructor and IEP and Related Services coordinator in New York City’s District 75, the only school district of its kind. She has also taught in Mercy College’s Graduate Teaching Fellows Program. Ms. Lee Roundfield has led inquiry studies and action research in teaching students with varying disabilities.

SONIA MADISON KASLOW

Kaslow graduated from Fordham University – Summa Cum Laude; Fordham University School of Law- Dean’s list; City College, New York City Teaching Fellows Program (“Fellows”)- completed a Masters of Science- Special Education graduating with High Honors – equivalent to Summa Cum Laude. Upon graduating from Law school, Kaslow worked at American Express, Morgan Stanley, and Deloitte and Touche. Upon starting the Fellows, Kaslow started teaching at Jane Addams High School in the South Bronx. Kaslow taught students with cognitive disabilities in a general education classroom setting under the collaborative team teaching model. From a collaborative team teaching setting, Kaslow am now teaching in PS79, in a District 75, self-contained setting. Kaslow teaches Autistic children and children with severe cognitive and physical disabilities.

Kaslow continues to capitalize on years of educational experiences and her use of Socratic expertise to ask the right questions, offer creativity, and foresight to produce a multi-contextual perspective to better crystallize and facilitate the art of being a Special Education Teacher.

DEVELOPER OF THIS PROGRAM

Autistic Global Initiative of the Autism Research Institute

CURRICULUM EDITORS

Valerie Paradiz, PhDJanine Collins, MTS, MSWBrenda Smith Myles, PhD

EXPERT REVIEW COMMITTEE

David Black, PhD
Pediatrics and Developmental Neuroscience Branch National Institutes of Health/NIMH

Anna Hundley
Director, Autism Treatment Center NARPAA Co-Founder

Gary Mesibov, PHD
FPG Child Development Center University of North Carolina

Linda Rogen, BA, MPH
Director of Programs and Services Vista Vocational and Life Skills Center

Paige Rogers
Former Director of Employment Programs Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center

Stephen Shore, EdD
Department of Education, Adelphi University

COMMUNITY ADVISORY REVIEW COMMITTEE

Nicolas Hegarty, JD
Vice President, Private Wealth Advisor, Goldman Sachs

John Maltby, MSW
Director, Community Support Programs Westchester Institute of Human Development

Laurie Raymond, LCSW
Director of Clinical Services, Port Resources of South Portland Maine

Denise Resnick
Co-Founder Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center

Sue Rubin
Student, Whittier College, Los Angeles

CURRICULUM CONTRIBUTORS

Catherine Boyle
Director, Autism Housing Pathways

Janine Collins, MSW, MTS
Editor and Project Research, Autistic Global Initiative

Lisa Crabtree, PhD
Center for Adults with Autism, Towson University

Margaret Creedon, PhD
Co-Founder, International Autism Network for Individuals with Visual and Hearing Impairments

Judy Endow, MSW
Autistic Global Initiative

Chris Filler, RN
Director, Lifespan Transitions Center, Ohio Center for Autism and Low Incidence

Robyn Heffelfinger
Autistic Global Initiative

Erika Laurion, MS, CNS
Certified Nutritionist

Brenda Smith Myles, PhD
Editor and Contributor; Consultant, Ziggurat Group

Paul Nussbaum
Autistic Global Initiative

Valerie Paradiz, PhD
Managing Editor and Project Director, Director of Autistic Global Initiative

Kelcey Ryan, BS
Nutritionist and Personal Chef

Judy Shanley, PhD
Director, Student Engagement and Mobility Management, Easter Seals Project ACTION

Donna Smith
Director of Training, Easter Seals Transportation Group

Sondra Williams
Director, Youth Division Autistic Global Initiative

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