Want to know more about the speakers in Autism Awareness Centre's conferences, trainings or events? Scroll down for a list of bios on past or upcoming speakers, including links to books that they have authored for purchase at our store. Not finding who you are looking for? Feel free to contact us and we will see if we can help!
Peter Gerhardt, Ed.D., is the Executive Director of the EPIC School in Paramus, NJ. Dr. Gerhardt has more than 35 years of experience utilizing the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis in support of adolescents and adults with autism spectrum disorders in educational, employment, residential and community-based settings. He is the author or co-author on a number of articles and chapters…
Elizabeth Sautter, M.A., CCC-SLP, is a licensed speech and language pathologist (since 1996) and founder of Make Social Learning Stick. She is also the co-director and co-owner of Communication Works, a private practice providing speech and language services to school districts in the San Francisco Bay Area. She specializes in social, emotional and executive functioning intervention and consulting and presents…
Jennifer M. Schmidt has spent 22 years in the field of education as a general teacher, autism consultant, and a special educator. In addition to teaching at a high school, Jennifer is also an instructor at Wright State University and Antioch McGregor Midwest, both in Dayton, Ohio. Jennifer is an experienced presenter at national and international conferences and recently published…
Cindy Schneider completed her B.S. at West Chester University, the Autism Certification program at Penn State, the Communication Specialist certification at Temple University and earned her Master’s Degree at Immaculata University, all in Pennsylvaia, Cindy was a special educator and consultant for Chester County Intermediate Unit in Pennsylvania for 27 years, specializing in autism spectrum disorders. Also a thespian and…
Scott Bellini, PhD is the Director of the Social Skills Research Clinic (SSRC), a university based center specializing in developing and empirically examining the outcomes of social skill interventions for youth with ASD. He is also the Program Director for the School Psychology program at Indiana University, Bloomington. He is a licensed psychologist in the state of Indiana and an…
Marc Serruys studied psychology at the University of Louvain. He is a colleague of Theo Peeters at the ‘Opleidingscentrum Autisme Theo Peeters’ (Recently the name changed to Team Vlaanderen, a division of the Fontys University The Netherlands) in Belgium. He works as an autism consultant in a residential care centre for children and adults with autism and a learning disability.…
Barbara Sher MA, OTR, a mother, grandmother, pediatric occupational therapist and workshop leader. Barbara is the author of nine books and one CD/tape on activities for children. Her books have been translated into 8 languages so far (Italian, French, Spanish, Chinese, Estonian, Arabic, Russian and Swedish) She gives workshops on the Power of Play and on making learning toys out…
Susan Aud Sonders, M.ED has over twenty years of experience teaching children with autism. She has created and refined techniques that develop crucial communication skills, and has presented numerous seminars detailing the methodology of her Giggle Time program. Giggle Time is a step-by step program for parents, teachers and other professionals to help develop the non-verbal, verbal and social reciprocity skills…
Shirley Sutton is an Occupational Therapist with over 30 years experience working with children with special needs, from infants through teens and adults with significant disabilities. Her specialty training areas include sensory integration, autism and other developmental disorders. She co-authored the book “Building Bridges Through Sensory Integration – Occupational Therapy for Children with Autism and other Pervasive Disorders” (now in…
Anna Vagin, PhD, is a licensed speech/language pathologist with over 30 years experience. In her private practice in Marin County, California, she provides individual sessions and social learning groups to children and their families. Her particular interest is using media to support social thinking in students with diagnoses such as Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD/ADD, and Anxiety Disorder. She provides consultation…
Peter Vermeulen, MSc and PhD in Psychology and Educational Sciences, has worked with people with ASD and their families for more than 30 years. He is a Senior lecturer at Autisme Centraal, a training and education centre for autism spectrum disorders. Peter is an internationally respected lecturer/trainer and he presents all over Europe and beyond. Peter has written more than…
Michelle Garcia Winner is a speech language pathologist (SLP) who specializes in the treatment of students with social cognitive deficits at the Social Thinking Center, her clinic in San Jose, California. It was her interest in autism while attending the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 1979 that became the catalyst for becoming an SLP. She coined the term “Social…
Ellen Yack has practiced as an occupational therapist since 1979 and has a Masters Degree in Education. She currently is the Director of Ellen Yack and Associates Paediatric Therapy Services, a private agency providing occupational therapy and speech and language services to children, adolescents and their families in Toronto and surrounding areas. Her areas of expertise include autism spectrum disorders,…