Westcoast Communication Symposium
“My Voice… My Future” … Supporting Communication
THE PRESENTERS
Gabriel Aguirre has worked at REACH for nearly 6 years and currently serves as
the Director of Education for Delta Services, where he oversees the day program services
for over 280 clients from multiple regional centers. Prior to REACH, Gabriel had worked
in school districts and other agencies as an educator and advocate. He has over a decade
of experience working and advocating for people with disabilities. He enjoys coming to
work every day; and shares a passion with his REACH colleagues in being a part of
transforming lives.
Christine Ashby, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the Teaching and
Leadership Department of the School of Education at Syracuse University and Director
of the Institute on Communication and Inclusion. She teaches in the Inclusive Elementary
and Special Education Program and coordinates the Graduate Inclusive Special Education
Programs. Her teaching and research focuses on inclusive education broadly, with
specific emphasis on supports for students with labels of autism and other developmental
disabilities, facilitated communication, disability studies, and inclusive school reform.
Her work seeks to disrupt dominant notions of disability as deficiency and underscores
the importance of considering the lived experiences of individuals considered to have
significant disabilities. Dr. Ashby's research has been published in journals including the
International Journal of Inclusive Education, Disability and Society, Teacher Education
and Special Education, RPSD, Equity and Excellence in Education and Intellectual and
Developmental Disabilities.
Jacob Artson received his high school diploma in 2014.
He has been a presenter at
numerous conferences speaking about including people with disabilities in the Jewish
community and has also contributed to several publications on the topic.
Douglas Biklen recently retired as Dean of the School of Education at Syracuse
University. He is founder of the Inclusion Institutes at Syracuse University. He is author
of Autism and the Myth of the Person Alone (2005), Communication Unbound (1993),
Contested Words, Contested Science (1997), Schooling Without Labels (1992), and
Achieving the Complete School (1985) as well as more than 100 research articles in
addition to other books. His most recent article, The End of Intellectual Disability (coauthored with Kliewer and Petersen) appeared in the Spring issue of the Harvard
Educational review.
Biklen was the co-producer of the Academy Award nominated documentary, Autism is a
World (2004). He was the Executive Producer of Regular Lives, and the
Producer/Director with Zach Rozetti of My Classic Life as an Artist: A Portrait of Larry
Bissonnette. He is producer, with Gerardine Wurzburg, of the film Wretches and
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“My Voice… My Future” … Supporting Communication
Jabberers (2010) http://www.wretchesandjabberers.org/
News accounts of his work have appeared in The New York Times Magazine,
Newsweek, U.S. News & World Report, The Washington Post Magazine, People
magazine, El Pais, and on the CBS Evening News, NOW, Frontline, CNN News, ABC's
Primetime Live, and NPR’s Talk of the Nation.
He has won numerous awards including most recently the UNESCO/Emir Jaber alAhmad al-Jaber al-Sabah Prize to promote Quality Education for Persons with
Intellectual Disabilities (2012). In 2000, he was awarded the Honorary Doctorate of
Pedagogy, Jyvaskyla University, Jyvaskyla, Finland.
Publication: Autism and the Myth of the Person Alone (New York University Press);
Communication Unbound (Teachers College Press); Contested Words, Contested Science
(Teachers College Press).
Larry Bissonnette is a disability rights advocate and artist who lives in
Milton, Vermont. He has been painting and drawing since he was a young child and
exhibits his art regularly both locally and nationally. His work is in the permanent
collection of GRACE (Grass Roots Art and Community Effort), Hardwick, Vermont
and in the Musée de l'Art Brut, Lausanne, Switzerland. His work is currently being
featured in a 2015 solo exhibition entitled, “Looking Out: The Self-Taught Art of
Larry Bissonnette" at the Amy Tarrant Gallery at the Flynn Center for Performing
Arts in Burlington, Vermont.
Chris Borthwick is a Community's Thinker in Residence, as well as a key writer of
speeches and publications. He has for some years been active in advocacy and lobbying
for people with disabilities, and he has written widely on disability issues, health
promotion, and organisational structural change. Chris has qualifications in Arts and
Law. His previous position was as Managing Editor of the Health Promotion Journal of
Australia.
Dr. Donald N. Cardinal is Professor of Education in the College of Educational
Studies (CES) at Chapman University, Orange, CA, where he has worked since 1987.
Previously, Dr. Cardinal served as dean of the CES from 2002-2015. Don currently
oversees several programs in autism and disability including the Center for Research on
Ability and Disability, Families and Schools Together, the Chapman Ability Program, the
soon to be announced policy institute on disability and autism and he serves as
chairperson of the board for the Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders in
the School of Medicine at the University of California, Irvine, CA. Before entering
academia, pursuing the goal of a more inclusive society, Don worked alongside the most
marginalized student populations in our society, frequently holding the labels of severe
emotional disturbance, severe and profound mental retardation, autism, and severe
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“My Voice… My Future” … Supporting Communication
behavior disorders. Above all, Don holds in highest regard the complex and
interchanging relationship between student and teacher centered on the presumption of
competence. Don has authored and co-authored numerous articles, books, and book
chapters in a variety of areas including evaluation, measurement of quality, teaching
methods in special education and collaboration. His co-authored books include Essays on
Urban Education: Critical Consciousness, Collaboration and the Self and Contested
Words, Contested Science: Unraveling the Facilitated Communication Controversy. Don,
along with Darlene Hanson and John Wakeham collaboratively authored the largest
single study on the authenticity of FC.
Marilyn Chadwick
has her Master’s degree in Speech/Language Pathology from
Eastern Michigan University. She has worked extensively with families, school districts
and service agencies supporting the communication needs of children and adults with
severe disabilities. Marilyn is considered a leader in understanding Augmentative and
Alternative Communication (AAC) strategies. She has provided training on Facilitated
Communication across the United States, as well as Canada, Israel, Sri Lanka, Brazil and
Europe. As the Assistant Director of the Facilitated Communication Institute (19922010) she has contributed to the development of numerous videos and training materials,
organized conferences and helped develop the FC Training standards and Master Trainer
curriculum. She is currently in a private practice based in Syracuse, New York.
Pascal Cheng has a M. Ed. and C.A.S. in Special Education from the University of
Vermont and has worked for over 30 years with children and adults with developmental
disabilities in school and community settings.
He currently works for the Howard Center in Burlington, Vermont as an educational and
communication specialist, providing training and consultation in the areas of
augmentative communication, assistive technology and literacy for children and adults
with developmental disabilities. He has expertise in facilitated communication, an
augmentative communication method for individuals with limited speech. As part of a
national network of Master Trainers in Facilitated Communication, he works as a
consultant to schools and agencies and regularly participates as a trainer in local, regional
and national workshops and conferences.
His professional associations involve membership on three different statewide
committees: the Vermont Communication Task Force, the Vermont Autism Task Force,
and the Vermont Assistive Technology Advisory Council.
Rosemary Crossley is the co-author, with the late Anne McDonald, of Annie's
Coming Out,[1] the story of Anne's breakthrough to communication and her release from a
large Australian care home for children and adults with severe disabilities.
Rosemary Crossley developed the form of augmentative and alternative communication
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Westcoast Communication Symposium
“My Voice… My Future” … Supporting Communication
(AAC) now known as facilitated communication or (as Crossley herself prefers)
facilitated communication training. Facilitated communication training is today widely
used by people with a variety of communication handicaps. Rosemary Crossley went on
to establish DEAL (Dignity, Education, Advocacy, Language) Communication
Centre,training a wide range of functionally non-verbal people in the use of
communication techniques with family, friends and carers. The DEAL Communication
Training Center is now called the Anne McDonald Centre. Rosemary later wrote
Speechless: Facilitating Communication for People Without Voices about the experiences
of several people who first acquired communication through this technique. She has
presented and trained on AAC throughout the world. Rosemary Crossley has a PhD from
Victoria University, Australia and is a Member of the Order of Australia. Rosemary can
be reached at the http://www.annemcdonaldcentre.org.au.
Anne Donnellan is a long time researcher, advocate and teacher, she founded one
of the first programs in the English-speaking world for autistic children here in San Diego
in 1970. For over 20 years, Dr. Donnellan and her students and colleagues have been
writing books and articles emphasizing the importance of studying movement differences
in order to understand and support autistic people. Today the Special Research Topic in
Frontiers on “Autism: The Movement Perspective” strongly supports this view with over
30 scientific research articles from top research institutions world-wide. Dr. Donnellan
co-edited the Frontier's issue and edited the three papers of Dr. Torres and colleagues
from Rutgers and Indiana that document and measure those movement differences. She
and her colleagues and students have two research papers in the issue as well (Donnellan,
Hill & Leary; Robledo, Donnellan & Strandt-Conroy). The collective works of all these
researchers are expected to transform autism by shifting the focus of research and
treatments to the individual on the spectrum in ways that are more objective as well as
more personalized.
Publication: Autism: Sensory-Movement Differences and Diversity. CBR Press (Leary
& Donnellan. 2012 ) Autism: The Movement Perspective. Frontiers in Intergrative
Neuroscience. (Torres & Donnellan,)
Darlene Hanson is currently the Director of Communication Services WAPADH,
and is a Speech and Language Pathologist with an expertise in working with individuals
with severe communication impairments for over 25 years. She focuses on bringing
alternate modes of communication to those who do not use speech to communicate
effectively. Currently she is focusing on training the communication partners to increase
and improve their communication. Darlene received her M/A. from Whittier College, and
her B.A. from Chapman College, both in communication Disorders. She is also
recognized as a Master Trainer in Facilitated Communication, has participated in the
writing of the Standards of Best Practice for Facilitated Communication from Syracuse
University, and has co-authored research on authorship for Facilitated Communication
and the development of speech for those who type. You can reach Ms. Hanson at
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Westcoast Communication Symposium
“My Voice… My Future” … Supporting Communication
dhanson@wapadh.com.
Harvey F. Lavoy, III
has worked for Community Developmental Services
(CDS), a Division of Washington County Mental Health Services in Montpelier,
Vermont since 1994. He has a B.S. in Special Education and has worked in the field of
Human Services since 1973.
He currently is the Director of Communication Training and Resources at CDS and
provides education, training and technical assistance to adults and children with complex
communication needs as well as their families, support staff, educational teams, schools
and agencies. He has been a member of the Vermont Statewide Communication Task
Force since 2000 providing statewide trainings, workshops, and conferences to enable
adults in Vermont with developmental disabilities to communicate, make social
connections, and participate in community life more fully.
He is a member of a National network of Master Facilitated Communication
Trainers. He received a Certificate of Recognition as a Master Trainer in Facilitated
Communication in 2006 from the Institute on Communication and Inclusion, School of
Education, Syracuse University and provides introductory and skill building training at
the institute two to three times a year.
Alisha Magilei-Noterman is co-founder of Dynamic Therapy Solutions, Alisha
is an Assistive Technology Specialist. She has been working with children, adolescents,
and adults with disabilities in the area of AAC/AT since 1996. Alisha received her AT
Certificate through CSUN Northridge in 2001. Alisha presents both nationally and
internationally.
Jeff Mohler has been active in the field of Special Education and Human Services
for fifteen years, focusing on communication, movement issues, housing services,
transition services, staff development and case management.
Jeff has conducted programs in settings such as Special Education classrooms, Day
Programs and Vocational Programs, as well as at several Supported Living Agencies. In
addition, he has organized and supported clients during supported vacations and travels.
Jeff currently works at REACH in Santa Fe Springs CA. Jeff has worked at REACH for
the last eight years. He is working as a Training Specialist/Case Manager for adults with
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Westcoast Communication Symposium
“My Voice… My Future” … Supporting Communication
developmental disabilities. Jeff also provides communication trainings to staff as well as
assisting with communication workshops for clients and families.
Bob Rubin has 40 years experience in applying mathematical and statistical modeling
and analysis, signal and image processing to a wide variety of research programs. After
11 years as a math professor at Whittier College and 20 years in aerospace, Dr. Rubin
currently does consulting and collaborative research in biostatistics/bioinformatics with
companies and organizations around the country. His recent efforts involve analysis of
genetic and proteomic differences between brains of people with autism and controls,
analysis of blood chemistry of autistic people after receiving nutritional supplements, and
development of blood tests for Lyme disease and major depressive disorder.
Rita Rubin, in addition to being trained as an archeologist, and owner of a wholesale
jewelry business for eighteen years, Rita Rubin’s expertise in Facilitated Communication
Training grew from working with her daughter Sue on FC since 1991. She was a
committee chair on the Standards in Facilitated Communication Taskforce at Syracuse
University and trains FC users and their parents/ care providers for WAPADH, an agency
that supports adults. Rubin has served on the Boards of Directors of the Greater Long
Beach/San Gabriel Valley Chapter of the Autism Society of America (as President for 14
years), Team of Advocates for Special Kids (TASK), Community Advisory Council,
Eastern Los Angeles Regional Center, Whittier Area Interfaith Council, and Beth Shalom
of Whittier. She speaks frequently on the subjects of autism, inclusion, and Facilitated
Communication.
Sue Rubin was diagnosed at 4 with autism and mental retardation. She attended
public special day classes until high school, where, when given a means of
communication, she was fully included and graduated with honors. In May 2013, after
sixteen years, Sue graduated Whittier College (BA, Latin American History). She carried
st
the 1996 Olympic Torch in Los Angeles; received CalTASH’s 1 Annual Mary Falvey
Outstanding Young Person Award (1998) and the Autism Society’s Wendy F. Miller
Award (1999); has presented at over 100 conferences, workshops and classes; was the
subject of two PBS Life and Times program, had articles published in the L.A. Times,
TASH Connections and Disability and Society, wrote chapters in two books, was the
subject and writer of the 2004 Academy Awardnominated Autism is a World, and was elected to TASH’s National Board of Directors.
Sue is now an elected CalTASH Board member, and a dedicated advocate for people
with disabilites, enjoying an active social and cultural life.
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Westcoast Communication Symposium
“My Voice… My Future” … Supporting Communication
Lisa Sandoval, MS-CCC/SLP is co founder of Dynamic Therapy Solutions,
Lisa is a Speech-Language Pathologist . She is certified by the American SpeechLanguage Hearing Association, and licensed by the State of California. She has been
working with children, adolescents and adults with communication disorders
(specializing in AAC, neurogenics, head & neck cancer, and speech-language-learning
disabilities) since 1989. Lisa received her AT certificate through CSUN Northridge in
2001.
Tracy Thresher is a native Vermonter who lives and works in Vermont. Tracy
began using Facilitated Communication in 1990 and was one of the first individuals with
autism in Vermont to be introduced to it. He has presented at local, statewide and
national workshops and conferences. He has consulted with local schools and also
mentors high school students, is a member of the Vermont Autism Advisory & Planning
Committee, the Vermont Communication Task Force, the WCMHS Communication
Alliance and does freelance work for Green Mountain Self-Advocates. He also works
with the Institute on Communication and Inclusion at Syracuse University as a Master
Trainer. Tracy and his friend Larry, travel promoting their documentary “Wretches &
Jabberers” in an effort to change the World’s view of disability to one of positivity.
Tracy Thresher, Kris Medina, and Conor Cleveland are from Barre,
VT. They belong to a group of self–advocates that type to communicate called the
Communication Alliance of Washington County. The Communication Alliance provides
awareness, advocacy, and education in the areas of disability, autism, and
communication. They work closely with Green Mountain Self-Advocates (a statewide
self-advocacy organization) providing testimony at the statehouse on many different
topics.
Dr. Benjamin Zequeira-Russell is a licensed psychologist with 18 years of
clinical experience with children with developmental, emotional, and learning
differences. His profound respect for and celebration of Interpersonal Neurobiology
along with his personal character provide the foundation for his company, Real
Connections Child Development Institute.
Dr. Zequeira-Russell received a Doctorate in Psychology from Fuller Graduate School of
Psychology, receiving the prestigious William James award for his dissertation.
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Westcoast Communication Symposium
“My Voice… My Future” … Supporting Communication
Compelled by a passionate sense of social justice and responsibility Dr. Zequeira-Russell
independently founded Real Connections in 2004, the same month he was licensed as a
clinical psychologist. With diligence and a persistent expectation for growth and
improvement, RCCDI now sustains over 60 employees. This drive for excellence has
cultivated an ongoing commitment to continued education for Dr. Zequeira-Russell who
now holds DIR certificates from both Profectum and ICDL, is on the IRB at Fuller
Seminary, the board for the DIR/Floortime Coalition of California, and continues to push
RCCDI into arenas of integration and research.
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