Profectum 2023 International Conference Bios and Disclosures

Conference Financial Support

The FAR Fund – Provided a financial contribution in support of this Conference.
The Bracken Family –  Provided a financial contribution in support of this Conference.
Positive Development – Provided a financial contribution in support of this Conference.
The Joey Lowenstein Family Foundation –  Provided a financial contribution in support of this Conference.
Imagine Academy – Provided a financial contribution in support of this Conference.
Encore Support Services – Provided a financial contribution in support of this Conference.

Presenter Bios and Disclosure Statements

Georgina Ahrens, BAppSc
Georgina Ahrens gained her Bachelor of Applied Science – Occupational Therapy from the University of Sydney, Cumberland College in 1996.  She has spent the last 20 years working with children diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorders and Autism Spectrum Disorders firstly in the United States and then returning to Sydney in 2003 and setting up a private practice in the North Shore.  Georgina is a certified practitioner with the Interdisciplinary Council for the Development and Learning and a Assistant Faculty for the Profectum Academy to provide treatment and training in the use of the ‘DIR’ – Floortime model.   She has been providing this model of treatment to the children and families in her practice for a range of children with a diagnosis of Autistic Spectrum Disorder and other neurological issues.
Relevant Financial Disclosure – None
Relevant Non-financial Disclosure – Faculty member of Profectum.

Carrie Alvarado, PhD, OTR
Dr. Carrie Alvarado, Ph.D., OTR, Chief Operating Officer, serves as the Chief Operating Officer for Autism Community Network (ACN). Carrie has a PhD in Infant and Early Childhood Development with an emphasis on Infant Mental Health and Developmental Disorders. Dr. Alvarado is the creator and director of the Earliest Connections Clinic, our diagnostic program geared toward early surveillance, identification and therapeutic intervention for high-risk infants and toddlers and their families. Additionally, Carrie leads the DIR® Floortime™ and PACT (Pediatric Autism Communication Therapy) therapy/teletherapy programs- intensive intervention programs supporting families impacted by autism through dyadic coaching using both in-vivo and reflective video feedback modalities. Dr. Alvarado’s primary research interests are in Sensoriaffective Integration and attachment, clinical use of reflective video feedback, and in optimizing parent-mediated interventions via telepractice. She completed her dissertation on establishing preliminary validity of a new clinical assessment and coaching tool, the Sensoriaffective Interactional Attunement Scale (SAIAS) geared toward promoting enhanced use of sensoriaffective signaling between caregivers and their children. Carrie is also currently engaged in development of another scale, the Emotional Intelligence and Praxis in Play Scale (EIPPS), focused on evaluating the presence, sophistication, flexibility and organization of themes of emotional intelligence in child-led, symbolic, dyadic play. Dr. Alvarado is a DIR® Floortime™ Certified Expert Clinician, and she serves as an Assistant Faculty for the Profectum™ foundation. She was the first in the United States to become a Pediatric Autism Communication Therapy (PACT) Accredited Practitioner and she serves as an Associate with PACT UK. Dr. Alvarado also serves as the lead for the Clinical Advisory Committee for STAR Institute, in Colorado. Dr. Alvarado is passionate about building bridges where none yet exist, about innovating and expanding the boundaries of our knowledge, and about meeting families and fellow clinicians where they are and empowering them to find the gifts they all have to give.
Relevant Financial Disclosure – None
Relevant Non-financial Disclosure – Faculty member of Profectum.

Mehrnaz D. Azimi Green, OD, FCOVD
Dr. Mehrnaz Azimi Green’s expertise lies with diagnosing and treating patients to develop their visual and cognitive knowledge. She enjoys working with children, including infants and toddlers, with special needs.  Dr. Green is also involved in the rehabilitation of brain injured patients; these patients often suffer from vision related neurological and cognitive challenges. Dr. Green has extensive training in working with children with developmental delays, including autism. She is a DIR®-FCD Certified Profectum Professional in Developmental Optometry and Intermediate DIR® Floortime(tm) provider. Dr. Green enjoys speaking to parents and professionals about visuo-cognitive therapy and has lectured at multiple schools, conferences and symposia. She works with occupational, physical, and speech-language therapists, psychologists, educators, and parents to help them understand the relationship between vision and learning, and how vision therapy can help patients succeed. Dr. Green also volunteers with the Special Olympics and at multiple area schools. She has received several national awards for her skills and knowledge in vision therapy and has published original articles in those subjects.  When she’s not working, Dr. Green spends her time with her husband and two young daughters.
Relevant Financial Disclosure – None
Relevant Non-financial Disclosure – None

Kate Bailey, BSc OT (UCT) MSc OT (WITS)
Kate Bailey is an occupational therapist with more than 35 years experience in the field of paediatrics. Her areas of interest and expertise include working with developmental delay in infants and toddlers, working with children who have sensory processing difficulties, neuromotor challenges, learning challenges and autistic spectrum disorder. She is proficient in the techniques of Ayres sensory integration, Bobath neurodevelopmental therapy and DIR® Floortime.  Kate lives and works in George, South Africa, where she has set up a multi-disciplinary centre called “Therapy Connect”.  Kate has a passion for working with children, in partnership with their parents, teachers and caregivers.
Relevant Financial Disclosure – None
Relevant Non-financial Disclosure – Faculty member of Profectum.

Tal Baz, MS, OTR/L
Tal Baz, MS, OTR/L is a registered and licensed occupational therapist who has practiced as a DIRFloortime® therapist, supervisor and consultant for more than fifteen years and works both nationally and internationally with families, clinicians, and various school systems. She has a clinical practice in Somerville, MA, and is teaching DIRFloortime® courses through the Profectum Foundation, nationally as well as internationally. Her special interests are in sensory-affective regulation, as it develops within the parent-child relational field. Tal has served on the DIR® faculty since 2001.
Relevant Financial Disclosure – None
Relevant Non-financial Disclosure – Faculty member of Profectum.

Mari Caulfield, LCST, SLP, MIASLT, MRCSLT
Mari Caulfield is a CORU registered Speech and Language Therapist and Trainer who has been working for 40 years in the areas of generalized speech and language disorders, learning difficulties and Autism.  She is a member of the Irish Association of Speech and Language Therapists. She has worked in a variety of clinical and management roles in Health settings in Ireland and voluntary bodies in Ireland. Mari has also followed further specialized training, which includes Montessori, Integrated Psychotherapy, Sensory Integration, MBSR Mindfulness Training, and SCERTS. She has completed the certification process in the DIRFloortime® Relationship-based Model of intervention in the USA, under the direction of Dr. Serena Wieder and Dr. Stanley Greenspan, between 2002 and 2007. Mari is an international Faculty member of Profectum, USA. www.profectum.org. She works collaboratively with team members, which include other therapists, medical professionals, educators and parents. She encourages the sharing of experience and expertise amongst team members, to ensure optimum quality of intervention for the child and family. Mari offers ongoing training to a wide variety of groups including parents, organizations, professionals, educators, community groups, staff, and university students in areas of special needs and communication, both nationally and internationally.
Relevant Financial Disclosure – None
Relevant Non-financial Disclosure – Faculty member of Profectum.

Sherri Cawn, MA, CCC-SLP
Sherri Cawn is Clinical Director of Cawn-Krantz and Associates Developmental Therapies of suburban Chicago, has over 40 years of clinical pediatric experience specializing in the assessment and treatment of infants, toddlers, and school-age children. She is a leading practitioner of the DIRFloortime® in speech and language development and trains other professionals throughout the United States and overseas on the concepts of this model. She is a frequent invited presenter at professional events. Sherri is the author of the self study DVD/Manual on the Assessment and Intervention of DIRFloortime® Model produced by the American Speech and Hearing Association (2011). She is co-author of the language disorders chapter in the Diagnostic Manual for Infancy and Early Childhood (2005). Sherri is a senior faculty member of the ICDL DIR/FT Model Training Institute and the online Profectum Academy DIR model training programs and she is an adjunct faculty member at the Erikson Institute in Chicago, Illinois. She received her graduate and undergraduate degrees from the University of Illinois.
Relevant Financial Disclosure – None
Relevant Non-financial Disclosure – Faculty member of Profectum.

Linda Cervenka, MA, CCC-SLP
Linda Cervenka is a licensed speech-language pathologist and works primarily with children and adolescence with autistic spectrum and related disorders utilizing DIR® model and development language models. She has a private practice in LaGrange, Illinois. Linda is also co-founder of Soaring Eagle Academy, an Illinois State Board of Education approved school serving students 5 through 21 years of age with autism and related disorders. Within the academy, Linda serves as an expert clinician, supporting staff and students in learning and growing within the DIR® model and developmental language model. Linda received her Bachelor’s Degree from Elmhurst College in Elmhurst, IL and her Master’s Degree in communicative disorders from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She has worked for 30 years with children with special needs, in home based and clinic based therapeutic services and public and private schools providing consultation, training and support for children and families. Linda is a senior faculty member of Profectum and has presented nationally on the topic of developmental approaches to intervention for children.
Relevant Financial Disclosure – None
Relevant Non-financial Disclosure – Faculty member of Profectum.

Tyler Choate, MS, CCC-SLP
Tyler P. Choate is a Speech-Language Pathologist and an Infant/Early Childhood Mental Health Consultant based in Chicago, Illinois. Tyler has been an assistant faculty member at Profectum since 2020.
Relevant Financial Disclosure – None
Relevant Non-financial Disclosure – Faculty member of Profectum.

Mona Delahooke, PhD
Mona M. Delahooke, PhD is a clinical psychologist specializing in the development of infants, young children, and their families. She has received training as an infant mental health specialist, and works widely with multi-disciplinary teams supporting children with developmental or emotional delays. She is a faculty member of the Early Intervention Training Institute (EITI) of the Los Angeles Child Guidance Clinic. She is a senior faculty member and mental health working group Co-Chair of the Profectum Foundation. She also provides training to personnel in the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health and agencies across the country. Dr. Delahooke has a blog for parents and professionals, the Visible Parent, at www.thevisibleparent.com and at Facebook at /www.facebook.com/thevisibleparent and twitter at /twitter.com/monadelahooke
Relevant Financial Disclosure – None
Relevant Non-financial Disclosure – Faculty member of Profectum.

Griffin Doyle, PhD
Griffin Doyle is a clinical psychologist in private practice treating children of all ages, adolescents, adults and couples. His work has focused for over twenty five years on the DIR® model and practice with developmentally delayed, regulatory and autism spectrum disordered children. He also consulted to the Milton and Ethel Harris Research Initiative at York University studying the effectiveness of the DIR® model intervention. As an expert witness on attachment/separation, early development and autism spectrum disorders he has served for over ten years in several jurisdictions throughout Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia. Dr. Doyle has been a faculty member of the DIR® model Training Institute Program since 2001, a member of the ICDL Advisory Board and a past faculty member (2007 – 2011) of the ICDL Doctoral Program in Infant Mental Health and Developmental Disorders. In addition, he has been a core faculty member for fifteen years and past Co-Chair of the Infant Mental Health Postgraduate Seminar Program at the Washington School of Psychiatry (Washington, DC). His published articles include the subjects of forgiveness, the internal world of the infant and in-depth book reviews on child development and neuro-relational treatment approaches to infants and children. In 2009, Dr. Doyle was cited through a randomized, peer survey conducted throughout the Washington, DC metro area by WASHINGTONIAN magazine as a regional expert clinician in the treatment of autism spectrum disorders.
Relevant Financial Disclosure – None
Relevant Non-financial Disclosure – Faculty member of Profectum.

Joshua Feder, MD
Dr. Joshua Feder is a child and family psychiatrist in Solana Beach, California. He serves as Editor in Chief at the Carlat Child psychiatry Report, and as Senior Faculty with Profectum. Dr. Feder is the National Medical Director at Positive Development, providing affordable developmental relationship-based support for autistic children and their families. Dr Feder cowrote the first American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Practice Parameter on the Assessment and Treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorder and conducts research with UCSD, SDSU, Fielding Graduate and An Najah National University. Dr Feder helps run the Autism Is inclusion program, the only active antibullying program certified by the State of California Department of Education.  He is the author of two acclaimed books, Prescribing Psychotropics and The Child Medication Fact Book for Psychiatric Practice. Many of Dr. Feder’s podcasts and lectures can be found online at joshuafedermd.com.
Relevant Financial Disclosure – President, Medical Director at Positive Development, ownership interest. Editor in Chief at Carlat Publishing, receives salary, Intellectual Property Rights. Medical Director, SymPlay division at Quicksilver Software, ownership interest and Intellectual Property Rights.
Relevant Non-financial Disclosure – Faculty member of Profectum. Member of the DIR Floortime Coalition of California.

Caroline Ferguson-Walsh, MS-LP(C), CCC-SLP
Caroline Ferguson-Walsh, MS-LP(C), CCC-SLP is a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist and founder of BEAR Pediatric Speech & Language Therapy, based in Chicago, Illinois. Caroline is a member of the American Speech & Hearing Association (ASHA), Illinois Speech & Hearing Association (ISHA) and Speech-Language & Audiology Canada (SAC). She holds a position as a Faculty Member of Profectum Foundation and is a DIR-FCD™ Expert Clinician, Tutor and Trainer. Caroline is a presenter for the Early Intervention Training Program at the University of Illinois and is a credentialed instructor for conferences, trainings and professional certification courses through Profectum. She is committed to community outreach and provides local and regional trainings on supporting families of children with communication disorders. Caroline has worked in a multitude of settings including pediatric hospitals, early childhood facilities, schools, homes and private practice in the United States, Canada and Ireland. Her clinical focus includes providing assessments and treatment to children with developmental delays, autism and disorders of relating and communicating. Her work is supported by her training in DIR-FCD™, Hanen It Takes Two to Talk® and the Sequential Oral Sensory (S.O.S) Approach to Feeding. She is dedicated to coaching and supporting families to be an integral part of the clinical team.
Relevant Financial Disclosure – None
Relevant Non-financial Disclosure – Faculty member of Profectum.

Gilbert Foley, EdD, IMH-E
Gilbert M. Foley, Ed.D., IMH-E serves as Consulting Clinical Psychologist at the New York Center Center for Child Development (NYCCD) in New York City and Clinical Co- Director of the New York City Early Childhood Mental Health Training and Technical Assistance Center.  He is Endorsed as an Infant Mental Health/ Clinical Mentor, Level IV and is a founding board member of the New York and Pennsylvania State Associations of Infant Mental Health. He a senior faculty member of the DIR® Profectum Academy and is on the editorial board of the Journal of Infant, Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy. Dr. Foley serves as a core faculty at the Psychodynamic Institute for clinical Social Work and consultant to the Bank Street College of Education program In Infant and Family Development and Early Intervention Program. He is the author/co-author of four book and over 45 scholarly articles and chapters. He teaches and lectures nationally and internationally.
Relevant Financial Disclosure – Core Faculty at the Institute for Clinical Social Work, receives a salary. Supervisor at Communicate & Connect, receives a consulting fee. Receives ZERO TO THREE royalty
Relevant Non-financial Disclosure – Faculty member of Profectum. Professional member of New York Association for Mental Health.

Steve Glazier, MA
Steven Glazier is a Licensed Psychologist who has been working with individuals with developmental, emotional, and behavioral challenges for over 30 years. Since 1995, he has been in private practice, specializing in treating neurodivergent children with a developmental, relationship-based approach. He sees children, adolescents, and their families virtually and in his suburban Philadelphia office, consults in preschools/schools and trains/mentors multidisciplinary professionals in the DIR-FCD Model. Steven is one of the first certificate holders in the United States in PACT (Pediatric Autism Communication Therapy), an evidence-based, parent-mediated approach. He is a Senior Faculty member of Profectum Academy and he is designated an “Expert Practitioner” by the Interdisciplinary Council on Developmental and Learning Disorders. Steven has been on the faculty of Widener University’s Early Childhood Mental Health Program and many advisory boards. These include: The Philadelphia Early Intervention Autism Committee, The Delaware Valley Chapter of the World Association for Infant Mental Health, and The Center for Autism.
Relevant Financial Disclosure – None
Relevant Non-financial Disclosure – Faculty member of Profectum.

Temple Grandin, PhD
Temple Grandin, Ph.D., is a professor, best-selling author, animal behaviorist, and autism self-advocate in top demand as an international speaker. An extraordinary inspiration for autistic children and their parents, she is the subject of the Emmy and Golden Globe winning HBO film, Temple Grandin, starring Claire Danes and Julia Ormond, and she was also one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in 2010. Diagnosed with autism when she was three, Dr. Grandin’s mother rejected her doctor’s advice to institutionalize her, and provided her with intensive speech therapy, a structured home and a nurturing school environment. Later, with encouragement from her high school science teacher and an aunt who ran a ranch in Arizona, Dr. Grandin pursued a career in animal science. With unique abilities to think visually and recall small details she began to design humane live-stock handling equipment, eventually revolutionizing the industry. Today over half the cattle in North America are handled in a system she designed. Other professional activities include developing animal welfare guidelines for the meat industry and consulting with McDonalds, Wendy’s International, Burger King, and other major companies. Dr. Grandin has authored over 400 articles in both scientific journals and livestock periodicals on animal handling, welfare, and facility design. In her book, Thinking in Pictures, she makes the case that the world needs people on the autism spectrum: visual thinkers, pattern thinkers, verbal thinkers’ In a recent interview she stated, “I read in the paper that Google was starving for talent. Well, these geeky, quirky kids, we need to get them interested in science. They’re not going to get interested if they’re not exposed to it.” Of her many books, Animals in Translation and Animals Make Us Human were both on the New York Times best seller list. Dr. Grandin’s numerous awards include honorary doctorates from McGill University, University of Illinois, and Duke University. She is a fellow of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, and a past member of the board of the Autism Society of America. Dr. Grandin obtained her B.A. at Franklin Pierce College, her M.S. in Animal Science at Arizona State University, and her Ph.D. in Animal Science from the University of Illinois. She is a professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University.
Relevant Financial Disclosure – Receiving an honorarium for presenting at the Conference.
Relevant Non-financial Disclosure – None

Cortney Grove, MA CCC-SLP, IECMH/C Candidate
Cortney Grove, MA, CCC-SLP I/ECMH-C is a speech-language pathologist and owner of a private practice in Chicago, Illinois. She has a special interest in illuminating the connection between communication and other developmental domains, especially in the context of relationships. Cortney earned an MA in Communication Disorders from Northwestern University and holds a certificate in Infant/Early Childhood Mental Health from Erikson Institute. Cortney is also a trainer & expert clinician in DIR-FCD through Profectum Foundation.
Relevant Financial Disclosure – None
Relevant Non-financial Disclosure – Academy member of Profectum.

Helena Gueiros, PT/OT
Clinical practice in PT and Psychomotricity clinical supervisor from Redentor college Clinic Coordinator of the nucleus of inclusion of the Redentor School
Relevant Financial Disclosure – None
Relevant Non-financial Disclosure – Faculty member of Profectum.

Cindy Harrison, MSc Reg CASLPO
Cynthia Harrison is the President of CommuniCare Therapy, a rehabilitation company that provides speech-language pathology, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, registered dietetics, and social work. She is a speech-language pathologist, and her area of clinical focus is the provision of assessment and treatment of children, adolescents and adults with autism, disorders of relating and communicating, global developmental delays and their families and is a well-known public speaker who trains and educates clinicians and parents in North America and abroad. She holds a Master of Science in speech-language pathology from the University of Vermont and a post graduate certificate in the DIR® model. She is very active in her community and serves on a number of Boards and community associations.
Relevant Financial Disclosure – None
Relevant Non-financial Disclosure – Faculty member of Profectum.

Jennifer Hein, OT
Jennifer Hein is the occupational therapy Supervisor and DIR® model Expert Clinician at Soaring Eagle Academy. As an occupational therapist for 18 years, she has worked in private practice and the school setting specializing working with children and families using the DIRFloortime® and sensory integration theoretical models. She is SIPT certified and has completed the DIR® model certification receiving trainer status through the Interdisciplinary Council of Development and Learning and Profectum Organization. She has served in a variety of leadership roles throughout her career including supervisor of program development, lead clinical supervisor, clinical director of a private practice as well as starting her own practice. In these roles, she has focused on developing programs to support caregiver-child interactions through incorporating innovative and unique occupational therapy interventions individualized to meet the needs of families. In addition to helping parents understand the unique and individual sensory and motor profiles of his/her child, Jennifer is passionate about teaching health care professionals and has supervised and mentored numerous professionals throughout her career. She has provided direct training, supervision and coaching to professionals including occupational therapy students, occupational therapists, teachers, mental health workers, speech language pathologists, physical therapists, and paraprofessionals. In addition, she has co-taught a class in Developmental Interventions at the Erikson Institute of Chicago. She has also presented numerous presentations throughout her career around Chicago and in the Washington, DC area. She was chosen to present a poster presentation at the World Federation of Occupational Therapy in Santiago, Chile in 2010.
Relevant Financial Disclosure – None
Relevant Non-financial Disclosure – Academy member of Profectum.

Laura Jendusa, MOT, OTR/L
Laura has practiced as a DIR® occupational therapist for 12 years. She has been trained and mentored with Profectum throughout this time. Laura has practiced in childhood mental health in private practice, internationally and in community mental health. She is currently an infant mental health consultant for Oakland Head Start, supporting families and teachers in their relationships with young children, as well as at the systemic level of program planning.
Relevant Financial Disclosure – None
Relevant Non-financial Disclosure – Academy member of Profectum.

Maureen Karwowski, OTR/L
Maureen Karwowski serves as the Vice President of Clinical services at Easterseals DuPage and Fox Valley. She is a graduate of Western Michigan University’s Occupational Therapy program with more than 25 years of experience working with children. Her experience has included work with children with a variety of diagnosis, including autism spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy, sensory processing disorders, and feeding issues. Maureen has provided treatment in settings such as an early intervention program, a children’s hospital, schools, as well as out-patient therapy centers. Maureen holds a certificate in Neurodevelopmental Treatment Techniques (NDT) and just completed the Trainer’s course through Profectum in Developmental Individualized Relationship Based treatment (DIR®). Maureen incorporates this DIR® training as well as the NDT training to the treatment of children with autism spectrum disorders, sensory processing disorders as well as children with feeding challenges.
Relevant Financial Disclosure – None
Relevant Non-financial Disclosure – Academy member of Profectum.

Chithra Kathiresan, SLT
Chithra has been practicing as a Speech Language therapist in Singapore for more than 26 years. She has worked in adult rehab, the children’s hospital and private practice. Her experience includes adult & geriatric neurology, neonatal care, congenital and developmental disorders. She is passionate about social pragmatic approaches and a developmental model to engaging and shaping the individual from within. This passion lead her to find ‘Connect and Communicate’ in 2013, a center dedicated to social communication. She is Hanen™ certified in It Takes Two to Talk™ (1997), More Than Words™ (2003) and Talkability™ (2010) programs. She presented the inaugural More Than Words™ program in Singapore in 2003 and has conducted regular Hanen® parent training programs since. Chithra was introduced to Social Thinking® in 2005 and attended mentorship and training with the founder Michelle Garcia Winner in 2006 and 2008. She was invited to be a member of the Social Thinking® Training and Speakers Collaborative in 2012, and is their trainer for the region. She has presented on Social Thinking in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong and China. In 2003, Chithra was introduced to DIRFloortime® and has pursued it since. She sought intensive mentoring in the model from senior faculty. She has presented to senior faculty at DIR® Institutes in the US. In 2012, she qualified as a DIR®Floortime® Expert with ICDL. In 2013, she was in the inaugural DIR® Trainer program with Dr. Serena Wieder. Chithra is associate Profectum Faculty and has taught on their online professional certification program, as well as tutored professionals world-wide. She co-presented a DIR® workshop in Australia with Senior DIR® Faculty.  She has also presented several DIRFloortime® trainings in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong and India. In her practice, Chithra works with kids as young as infants all the way to young adults and older. She works with a broad spectrum of functioning, from significantly challenged non-verbal to twice exceptional gifted individuals. Her diverse caseload has helped her appreciate development in all its colours and explore the application of DIR® across the lifespan. Chithra firmly believes our intervention will only be as effective as our understanding of the individual and his or her family support system. DIR® has helped inform, define and integrate all other approaches within her practice.
Relevant Financial Disclosure – None
Relevant Non-financial Disclosure – Faculty member of Profectum.

Karen McDowell
Karen McDowell is an educator with over 25 years experience working with the adolescent and young adult population. She is an assistant faculty member of Profectum Foundation and strives to implement a comprehensive developmental curriculum into both her classroom environment and therapy work. As a lead teacher and Young Adult Program Coordinator at Celebrate the Children school for 13 years, she has contributed to innovative curriculum and strategies with the unique needs of individuals in mind while promoting opportunities for growth and development in both group and individual settings. Karen facilitates a weekly young adult group for several years with intensive focus on social and emotional strengths and challenges. Areas of interest and study include executive functioning, visual spatial processing, emotional regulation, and problem solving and she has provided workshops around the country on these developmental areas. Karen strives to provide programs that entice thinking, collaborative problem solving, effective communication, and positive coping strategies to support success, independence, meaningful and fulfilling experiences, and happiness within the demands of the 21st century.
Relevant Financial Disclosure – None
Relevant Non-financial Disclosure – Faculty member of Profectum.

Mary Ann O’Connell, MA, CCC-SLP
Mary Ann is a pediatric speech-language pathologist seasoned in working with various communication and language development challenges within a transdisciplinary model.  Mary Ann is a certified DIRFloortime® clinician through Profectum Academy.  Mary Ann’s areas of interest include working to establish and maintain partnerships with students and their families who may be experiencing unconventional and complex challenges. Mary Ann is pursuing a doctoral degree in Infant and Early Childhood Development with a concentration in Infant Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities.
Relevant Financial Disclosure – None
Relevant Non-financial Disclosure – Academy member of Profectum.

Monica G. Osgood
Monica has worked and collaborated with neurodiverse individuals of all ages in homes, therapy centers, and private and public school settings for over 30 years globally. Some of her experience includes developing progressive intervention programs and resources, curriculum and IEP development, publication of books, webcasts, and resources for educators, parents, and professionals, speaking and media engagements, advocacy, and serving on multiple Board of Directors and Advisory Boards. Monica is the Founder of the Celebrate the Children School (CTC) Model and Co-founder and Executive Director of the state-approved CTC school in Denville, NJ. Recently, Monica started a post-21 Day Program adapted from the school model and is working closely with a new non-profit to establish independent living homes in the near future.
Relevant Financial Disclosure – None
Relevant Non-financial Disclosure – Faculty/Board member of Profectum.

Beth Osten, MS, OTR/L
Beth Osten, MS, OTR/L, has more than three decades of pediatric experience. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Washington, Seattle, and her master’s degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Beth’s graduate studies focused on sensory integration theory and practice, as well as on infant motor development. She brought this expertise to her practice in clinical, research and academic settings, including Beth Osten & Associates, Michael Reese Hospital, the Illinois Institute for Developmental Disabilities, and the University of Illinois at Chicago. Beth specializes in sensory processing and motor disorders in infants and young children, including children on the autism spectrum. She helped to develop the Test of Infant Motor Development (TIMP), a diagnostic motor evaluation for premature and young infants. Currently, Beth is a faculty member with the Interdisciplinary Council on Developmental and Learning Disorders’ DIR® model certificate program. Beth lectures on other treatment models and pediatric conditions. She has presented both nationally and internationally on topics including infant motor development, care to the high-risk infant, sensory integration, treatment of autism spectrum disorder, handwriting, and the DIR® model.
Relevant Financial Disclosure – None
Relevant Non-financial Disclosure – Faculty member of Profectum.

Michele Parkins, MS, OTR
Michele Parkins is an Occupational Therapist specializing in working with children and families with differences in sensory processing capacities leading to challenges in social emotional development as the Founder/Director of Great Kids Place.  She obtained Advanced Certification in Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health and has submitted application for IMH Endorsement. She is faculty for Profectum.   She is faculty and a senior instructor of the Sensory Therapies and Research (STAR) Institute, educating therapists around the world on sensory, regulation and relationships.  She has developed a play-based Sensori-Emotional Engagement Model that outlines the connection between sensory, emotion and action and its impact on social interaction.
Relevant Financial Disclosure – None
Relevant Non-financial Disclosure – Faculty member of Profectum.

Yana Peleg, PhD
Dr Peleg is a clinical psychologist with an extensive experience and training in psychotherapy with children, adults and families . In addition to her formal doctoral training, Dr. Peleg is a certified DIR® therapist and a faculty member of the DIR® Israel team. Dr. Peleg’s experience also includes comprehensive diagnostic assessments of young children, program coordination, and clinical supervision. While living and working in California, Dr. Peleg founded and managed White Tulip – an interdisciplinary clinic serving children and families in San Jose. Currently she resides and works in Israel where she provides assessment and psychotherapy to children, adults and families, consults to special education preschools and program coordinators. Dr. Peleg consistently trains and lectures both in Israel and abroad.
Relevant Financial Disclosure – None
Relevant Non-financial Disclosure – Faculty member of Profectum.

Michele Ricamato, MA, CCC-SLP
Michele is a licensed speech and language pathologist, who works primarily with children diagnosed on the autistic spectrum. Michele is one of three founders of Soaring Eagle Academy, a school for children with special needs that utilizes developmental language intervention and the DIR® model. In addition, she has a private practice in the western suburbs of Chicago. Michele has a master’s degree in speech-language pathology from Northwestern University (1995) and an undergraduate degree in communicative disorders from University of the Pacific. Michele is a mother of three children and has learned the most about development and language acquisition through her interactions and experience as a parent.
Relevant Financial Disclosure – Instructor of Profectum CL1 & CL2 Courses, receives a stipend.
Relevant Non-financial Disclosure – Faculty member of Profectum.

Ricki Robinson, MD, MPH
Ricki Robinson, MD, MPH. is co-director of Descanso Medical Center for Development and Learning in La Canada, California and a clinical professor of pediatrics at the Keck School Medicine of USC. She has been in private pediatric practice for nearly forty years, specializing in children with autism and developmental delays for over twenty-five years. Dr. Robinson received her MD degree in 1973 from the University of Southern California. She trained in pediatrics at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, having served as Chief Pediatric Resident for CHLA in 1976. She is board certified in pediatrics. In 1988 she received her MPH from the University at Berkeley School of Public Health. She has been actively involved in the field of autism since 1990, developing multidisciplinary educational and medical programs for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and devoting endless hours in education, legislation and research efforts on a national level. Dr. Robinson has been at the forefront of leading grassroots autism organizations. She was a founding board member of Cure Autism Now (now Autism Speaks) and the Interdisciplinary Council on Developmental and Learning Disorders (ICDL), and most recently Profectum Foundation. She was a member of the Autism Speaks Scientific Review Panel for over eight years. Dr. Robinson organized and chaired the first nationally recognized task force to define the standard of care for clinical trials in autism. The results of this outstanding effort were published in CNS Spectrums (January 2004, Vol. 9, #1). Most recently she was appointed as Medical Director of Profectum Foundation, an organization devoted to providing multi-disciplinary education and training for parents, families and professionals working with individuals with ASD across the lifespan.
Relevant Financial Disclosure – None
Relevant Non-financial Disclosure – Faculty member of Profectum.

 

Stacy Sue Rosello, MA, OTR/L
Stacy Sue Rosello, MA, OTR/L, an expert occupational therapist, and always a visual thinker, has nearly 30 years of experience. She owns a thriving private practice, Embrace the Child®, Ltd., in Pittsburgh, PA. Stacy first discovered the DIR® model 20 years ago and acquired her dynamic visual spatial lens through professional mentoring and personal study. The presentation of her longitudinal case of a child and his family will draw conference-goers toward expanding visual-spatial concepts while integrating the fullness of the DIR® Model. As a distinguished Profectum™ Faculty member, she combines her passion for DIR® and her sensitive nature, creating an energized and reflective atmosphere during mentoring and training for interdisciplinary clinicians. Additionally, Stacy values and embraces the family in her practice. She is the 2019 American Occupational Therapy Association honored award recipient for Innovative and Emerging Practice: “Defining Excellence and Leadership in Family-Centered Practice.”  She trailblazed, published, and co-authored research and chapters encompassing family life dynamics and relationships, and her practical, heartfelt presentations reach audiences far and wide. Stacy continues family related scholarly endeavors and advocacy for the OT profession through her Doctoral studies at Misericordia University.
Relevant Financial Disclosure – Owner, Founder, President at Embrace the Child, Ltd., has Ownership Interest. Presenter for PESI, receives royalty.
Relevant Non-financial Disclosure – Faculty member of Profectum.

Ruby Salazar, LCSW, BCD
Ruby Salazar is a child and family psychotherapist who has worked with children and families for over fifty years. She is the Founder and Director of Pennsylvania Lifespan Services, a family-focused developmental practice providing developmental and family therapy, professional consultation and development: teaching, lecturing and mentorships. Currently, Mrs. Salazar’s focuses are on clinical support of young children and their families with developmental concerns, supportive consultation of individuals and agency/practice groups, teaching, consultation on clinical delivery and organizational matters and writing.  Mrs. Salazar received a BS from New York University and MSS from Smith College, followed by a post graduate psychoanalytic certificate in the treatment of children from the Karen Horney Psychoanalytic Institute, New York City.  She has taught at Sarah Lawrence College, Columbia University, Bryn Mawr College, Marywood University and Keystone College, Fielding University and several infant mental health training programs including Bank Street, The Infant-Parent Mental Health Post-Graduate Certificate Fellowship Program at UMass Napa, the NYC Infant Mental Health Institute of the Jewish Board of Children and Families.  She is currently adjunct professor at Pennsylvania Medical College. Mrs. Salazar has been PA Touchpoints site coordinator, having founded, with Beth Beh, the first medical Touchpoints program. She worked in the office of three PA governors as a child-care consultant and was appointed to the Pennsylvania Governor’s Council for Children. Mrs. Salazar was also appointed to the PA Department of Welfare Workgroup to establish Autism Assessment Policy and clinically directed both the ASD Comprehensive Assessment Project and the PA Department of Early Intervention Reflective Supervision Project. Proudly, Mrs. Salazar chaired candidate Obama’s first Autism Workgroup who drafted the bill which became ASD Federal Law. Mrs. Salazar has received many professional awards, among them the first Sally Provence Award for excellence in infant and family practice from Zero to Three, National Center for Infants, Toddlers and Families, Girl Scouts of America National Professional of the Year award and National Guidance Counselors Association Professional Excellence award, all Washington, D.C. She has been distinguished as Pennsylvania Professional of the Year and awarded the Community Strengthening Parents award from the Arc of Northeastern Pennsylvania.
Relevant Financial Disclosure – None
Relevant Non-financial Disclosure – Faculty member of Profectum.

Diane Selinger, PhD
Diane Selinger, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst in private practice, who works with children, adolescents and adults. She is a faculty member of Profectum Academy and the Chicago Center for Psychoanalysis. For many years, she was the mental health consultant for Beth Osten and Associates, a multidisciplinary pediatric clinic. She continues to be the mental health consultant at Soaring Eagle Academy, a DIR® school for children with neurodevelopment challenges.
Relevant Financial Disclosure – None
Relevant Non-financial Disclosure – Faculty member of Profectum.

Christine Seminaro, MEd
Chris Seminaro is an instructional coach for students with autism spectrum disorders in a large suburban public school system near Chicago, Illinois. She has 30 years of teaching and administrative experience specializing in working with families and students with ASD. Chris has presented nationally on development, assessment, intervention, working with families as part of the school system and educating students with autism spectrum disorders. She has presented at the International Council on Developmental and Learning Disorders (ICDL) International Conferences on the topic of the DIR® model in public school systems. Chris has been on the faculty of the DIR® model Training Institute and is on the faculty of Profectum.
Relevant Financial Disclosure – None
Relevant Non-financial Disclosure – Faculty member of Profectum.

Jehan Shehata-Aboubakr, BA, CCC
A developmental Speech and Language Pathologist working in the private sector within the DIR/FT and Functional Pragmatic model and approach with Families of Autistic Individuals for the last 20 plus years.
Relevant Financial Disclosure – None
Relevant Non-financial Disclosure – Faculty member of Profectum.

Suzi Tortora, ED.D., BC-DMT, C.M.A., LCAT, LMHC
Dr. Tortora is a board certified dance movement therapist, Laban Nonverbal Movement Analyst, and specialist in the field of infancy mental health and development. Her expertise in early childhood development and the importance of early relationships inform her psychotherapeutic work across the life span. Dr. Tortora has a private dance movement psychotherapy practice, in New York City and Cold Spring-on-the-Hudson, New York. Dr. Tortora offers training programs and lectures about her dance therapy and nonverbal video analysis work with infants, children and families, at national and international professional meetings and universities. She is on the board of the New York Zero-to-Three Network. Dr Tortora has been featured on “Good Morning America” and Eyewitness Five-O’Clock News, WABC –TV; Women’s Day magazine; highlighted in Malcolm Gladwell’s New Yorker article and book titled What the Dog Saw and other adventures; has published numerous papers about her therapeutic and nonverbal communication analysis work with children, parent-infant dyads, and Autism Spectrum Disorders; has twice been guest editor of the Zero to Three Journal; and has a book with Paul H. Brookes Publishing Company titled The Dancing Dialogue: Using the Communicative Power of Movement with Young Children. Dr. Tortora graduated with honors from the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development Tufts University specializing in child development, education and psychology; received her dance movement therapy masters degree at New York University; and her doctorate with a specialization in infancy/early childhood development, psychology and education from Teachers College, Columbia University. She has done extensive study and training in the field of infancy and early childhood research, development, education, communication and intervention through the Zero to Three Institute and Dr. Stanley Greenspan. She has studied Authentic Movement with Janet Adler & Body-Mind Centering with Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen. Dr Tortora is also a certified Laban Movement Analyst, and Kestenberg Movement Profiler. Suzi practices at both the Cold Spring and New York City offices.
Relevant Financial Disclosure – None
Relevant Non-financial Disclosure – Faculty member of Profectum.

Alisa Vig, PhD
Dr. Alisa Vig is a clinical psychologist who has practiced the DIR model for over 15 years in Israel and in the US. She did her pre and post doctoral internship with babies, young children and their families in the San Francisco area and taught at Palo Alto University. She completed her DIR® model certificate under Dr. Serena Wieder and became one of the founders and co-directed the Israeli DIR® model organization until 2013, and now serves on their advisory board. She is also a faculty member of Profectum and DIR® Model Israel. Dr. Vig is the Founder and Director of Simaney Kesher Center, a multidisciplinary clinic in Israel treating babies, children, and adolescents with neurodevelopmental emotional and behavioral difficulties and their families. She has provided training programs in the DIR® model to different organizations and supervises interdisciplinary professionals. Recent publications include chapters describing DIR® principles and focus on inclusion in the DIR® model.
Relevant Financial Disclosure – None
Relevant Non-financial Disclosure – Faculty member of Profectum.

Rosemary White, OTR/L
Rosemary White has been an occupational therapist since 1972 and brings a wealth of clinical experience to every workshop she teaches throughout the United States and internationally in Canada, Europe, South Africa, Uganda and Australia. Rosemary is a true clinician’s clinician! Rosemary received her neurodevelopmental therapy training in London with the Bobaths, her sensory integrative therapy training in Los Angeles with Dr. A Jean Ayres and her training in the DIRFloortime® model with Stanley Greenspan and Serena Wieder, Ph.D. and the Faculty of ICDL. She currently owns and operates Pediatric Physical and Occupational Therapy Services in Seattle, Washington. Rosemary has her certificate in the DIR® model and has been senior faculty on the Interdisciplinary Council on Developmental and Learning Disabilities (ICDL) chaired by Stanley Greenspan, M.D. and Serena Wieder, Ph.D., since 2002. Rosemary is on the clinical faculty at the University of Washington in the School of Nursing Infant Mental Health Certificate Program. Rosemary is also faculty in the ICDL Graduate School in the Ph.D. in infant and early childhood mental health and developmental disorders. This is an on-line Ph.D. program providing education to professionals throughout the world. Rosemary is also Profectum Foundation Faculty.
Relevant Financial Disclosure – None
Relevant Non-financial Disclosure – Faculty member of Profectum.

Noemi White, MSc, (Psych)
Noemi White is a Hungarian-Swiss who grew up in France, Austria, South Korea and Switzerland before moving to Barbados in 2000. She completed her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Psychology and, for a couple of years, worked as a counsellor with women and children at the local shelter for battered women. In 2009, Noemi began working at the Sunshine Early Stimulation Centre, a DIR®-informed centre catering to children with neurodevelopmental challenges from one to eleven years of age. As Family Services Counsellor, Noemi aims to support the families’ journey by offering parent support groups, educational workshops, individual or family counseling and home visits, by liaising between the classroom and homes, and providing parent-mediated Floortime sessions. Noemi is a member of the Barbados Society of Psychology and has in the past functioned in the roles of, in turn, Secretary, Chair of the Professional Development Committee and President. She has completed the Professional, Fellows and Trainers Certificate Program with Profectum, and is currently an Assistant Faculty Member. Noemi is happily married and has two teenage daughters.
Relevant Financial Disclosure – None
Relevant Non-financial Disclosure – Faculty member of Profectum.

Serena Wieder, PhD
Dr. Serena Wieder is the Clinical Director and a founding member of the Profectum Foundation, dedicated to advancing the development and infant mental health of all children, including children, adolescents and adults with autism and special needs through training and educational programs. She also co-founded the Interdisciplinary Council on Developmental and Learning Disorders with the late Stanley Greenspan. Dr. Wieder was a Board Member of Zero to Three for 23 years and also serves on advisory boards to various programs serving infant mental health and other special needs.  She established DIR-Israel and provides consultation and training to international and national programs. As a clinical psychologist, Dr. Wieder has pioneered important approaches to diagnosing and treating infants and toddlers with infant mental health and developmental disorders.  She created the DIR® model with Stanley Greenspan, edited two diagnostic manuals for infants and young children, and created models for interdisciplinary post-graduate case based training and work with parents. She has co-chaired and organized national and international conferences integrating development, neuroscience and intervention approaches for over 30 years. Dr. Wieder also developed approaches to integrate visual-spatial knowledge to advance emotional and cognitive development.  Her research interests concern follow up studies of children on the autism spectrum who have received DIR® model comprehensive interventions and the evaluation of training and educational programs. Dr. Serena Wieder co-authored Engaging Autism, The Child With Special Needs and Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health with Stanley Greenspan, M.D. They also co-edited Infants in Multi-Risk Families as well as the ICDL Diagnostic Manual for Infants and Young Children (DMIC) and the original Diagnostic Classification of Mental Health and Developmental Disorders of Infancy and Early Childhood (DC 03).  Dr. Wieder co-authored Visual Spatial Portals to Thinking, Feeling, and Movement with Harry Wachs, O.D. She has published numerous journal and book chapters and presents at multiple conferences nationally and internationally. At this time, Dr. Serena Wieder also has a private practice in NYC for diagnosis, treatment and consultation regarding complex developmental and mental health challenges.
Relevant Financial Disclosure –  Dr Wieder co-authored a book with Dr Harry Wachs, Visual/Spatial Portals to Thinking, Feeling and Movement, and receives royalties.
Relevant Non-financial Disclosure – Faculty/Board member of Profectum.