ASHA Schools Conference
Schools 2013: Faculty
We handpicked speakers who are dedicated to supporting school-based SLPs. Read on to learn more about these dynamic presenters or view their disclosures.
Anastasia Antoniadis, MA, MPH, CCC-SLP, works for the Tuscarora (PA) Intermediate Unit and as a state consultant for Early Intervention Technical Assistance through the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network. She earned her master's degree in speech pathology from City College of the City University of New York and a master's degree in public health from Temple University. She was a practicing pediatric SLP for 14 years before becoming an early childhood consultant for Pennsylvania's early intervention system. Her public health studies have focused on environmental health and data mapping using geographic information system technology.
Murray Banks is an honored educator who has taught at every level—from grade school to graduate school. Thanks to his imaginative teaching techniques and his ability to identify the needs of each student, Banks earned the Teacher of the Year award in Vermont and received the Outstanding Educator Award from the national association, AAHPHRD. To top it off, Banks has national and world championship titles in triathlons and skiing.
Teresa H. Caraway, PhD, CCC-SLP, LSLS Cert. AVT, is CEO and founder of Learning Innovation Associates, a practice that advances listening and spoken language for children with hearing loss through professional training, consulting, and mentoring worldwide. A leader in auditory-verbal practice, she served as founding president of the AG Bell Academy for Listening and Spoken Language. She is the co-founder and former executive co-director of Hearts for Hearing. She has served on the boards of directors of the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and Auditory-Verbal International (AVI). She is currently a founding board member of the American Cochlear Implant Alliance. A former adjunct assistant professor at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Caraway is an international consultant and sought-after speaker on auditory-verbal practice. She has been recognized by her peers for outstanding clinical skills.
Sylvia Diehl, PhD, CCC-SLP, has supported children with communication disorders and their families for over 25 years. She is a faculty member of the University of South Florida communication sciences and disorders department where she teaches courses in augmentative and alternative communication, language disorders, and developmental disabilities. In addition to her international, national, and local speaking engagements, she serves as a consultant to many school districts and the Florida Inclusion Network. She has authored webcourses, virtual continuing education opportunities, and a master clinician workshop on autism spectrum disorders (ASD) for ASHA. Her research and publication interests focus on consistent frameworks to support children with ASD and other children with disabilities in classroom settings.
David Hammer, MA, CCC-SLP, is the manager of outpatient speech and language services at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC. He has more than 34 years of clinical experience as a practicing therapist, specializing in work with preschoolers and early school-age children. Hammer is known for his practical, hands-on presentations that include extensive video clips of children in therapy. He is on the advisory board of the Childhood Apraxia of Speech Association of North America. Hammer has presented on his multi-sensory therapy approach for childhood apraxia throughout the United States, Canada, and Australia.
Barbara W. Hodson, PhD, CCC-SLP, has published two phonology tests (one in Spanish), a computer software program, and three books, the most recent being Evaluating and Enhancing Children's Phonological Systems: Research and Theory to Practice. In addition, she has published a number of research articles in scholarly national and international journals, as well as chapters in textbooks. Hodson has given more than 400 clinical phonology presentations nationally (in 50 states) and internationally (11 countries or territories). Before joining the faculty of Wichita State University, Hodson taught at San Diego State University and the University of Illinois (where she received her PhD). Her major recent recognitions include: American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation's Frank R. Kleffner Lifetime Clinical Career Award (2004), the University Excellence in Research Award (2008), and ASHA Honors (2009). Her major professional goal has been to develop more effective assessment and remediation procedures for children with highly unintelligible speech.
Tracy Kovach, PhD, CCC-SLP, has more than 30 years of experience supporting individuals using augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems. She has worked in private and public school systems, inpatient and outpatient hospital clinics, and in private practice. Her focus has been on working with children having complex communication needs who use AAC systems, and their families. As the program coordinator for augmentative communication and learning services at Children's Hospital Colorado she developed and directed the Talking with Technology Camp for 25 years. Kovach is an associate professor in the department of physical medicine and rehabilitation, school of medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. She regularly teaches the AAC course to graduate students in the department of speech, language, and hearing sciences at the University of Colorado, Boulder. She is the author of The AAC Profile: A Continuum of Learning and co-author of the chapter "Visual issues and Access to AAC" in Communicative Competence for Individuals Who Use AAC: From Research to Effective Practice (Light, Beukelman, and Reichle). Kovach supports professional development and has been involved in leadership roles in her state association, ASHA, and the United States and International Societies for Augmentative and Alternative Communication.
Judy Montgomery, PhD, CCC-SLP, is professor and program director at Chapman University in Orange, California. She administers and teaches in a graduate-only CSD program with an innovative clinical education program utilizing authentic school, private practice, and medical settings in the community. She worked for 23 years as an SLP in three school districts in Orange County, California, and as a school principal and director of special education. She is a board recognized specialist in child language and editor-in-chief of the journal Communication Disorders Quarterly. She received the Annie and John Glenn Award for Outstanding Leadership in School-Based SLP Services four years ago. In 1998, she received the Honors of the California Speech and Hearing Association and was awarded ASHA Honors in 2010. She has been active in many professional associations and has served as president of five state and national organizations in our field, including the U.S. Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (USSAAC), Division of Communication Development & Deafness (DCDD), California Speech Language Hearing Association (CSHA), and ASHA. Her research and publications focus on child and adolescent language, AAC, vocabulary development, and service delivery models in schools.
Barbara J. Moore, EdD, CCC-SLP, has more than 30 years of experience in educational services in a variety of positions, including director, program specialist, and direct service provider. She is the ASHA Vice President of Planning, and former president of the California Speech-Language-Hearing Association (CSHA) and the Council for State Association Presidents (CSAP). A board-recognized specialist in child language, Moore consults and lectures widely on issues related to special education, response-to-intervention, and school-based speech-language services. Along with Dr. Judy Montgomery, Moore has co-authored Making A Difference for America's Children: Speech-Language Pathologists in Public Schools (2nd Edition) and START-IN: A Response to Intervention Program.
Beth A. Nishida, MA, is an experienced special education director with a background in speech-language pathology. She is the special education director for Hacienda La Puente Unified School District, in Los Angeles County. Nishida is a highly sought after public speaker who has conducted numerous trainings throughout the state and nationally. Nishida has a keen understanding of the relationship between assessments, the IEP process, and special education due process hearings.
Patricia Prelock, PhD, CCC-SLP, is dean of the college of nursing and health sciences, professor of communication sciences and disorders, and professor of pediatrics in the college of medicine at the University of Vermont. Prelock coordinates parent training programs for caregivers of children with autism spectrum disorders and has been awarded more than $9 million in state and federal funding as a principal investigator or co-principal investigator to develop innovations in interdisciplinary training, facilitate training in speech-language pathology, and support her intervention work in autism spectrum disorders. She has more than 125 publications and 400 peer-reviewed and invited presentations in the areas of autism, collaboration, language assessment and intervention, and language learning disabilities. Prelock received the University of Vermont's Kroepsch-Maurice Excellence in Teaching Award in 2000. She was named an ASHA Fellow in 2000 and a University of Vermont Scholar in 2003. She was awarded the Puppets Choice Award through Kids on the Block of Vermont in 2010 for her work in autism. Prelock earned her bachelor's and master's degrees from Kent State University and her doctoral degree from the University of Pittsburgh. She is a board recognized specialist in child language, and a Hanen certified SLP for It takes Two to Talk and More Than Words. She is the 2013 president of ASHA.
Gail J. Richard, PhD, CCC-SLP, is a professor and chair of the communication disorders and sciences department at Eastern Illinois University. She specializes in childhood developmental disorders such as autism, auditory processing, selective mutism, syndromes, and learning disorders. She has numerous clinical publications, including The Source for Processing Disorders, Language Processing Test, and Differential Screening Test for Processing. She chaired an ASHA committee charged with exploring the SLP's role in identifying and treating auditory processing disorders, which resulted in an evidence-based systematic review and series of clinical forum articles in the July 2011 issue of Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools. She is an ASHA Fellow and currently serves on the ASHA board of directors as the vice president for speech-language pathology practice.
Judy Rudebusch, EdD, CCC-SLP, is assistant superintendent for student services and federal programs in the Irving (Texas) Independent School District. She has more than 30 years of experience in public education as an SLP, autism assessment specialist, program specialist, special education director, and state and federal programs director. She is vice president for research and development for the Texas Speech-Language-Hearing Association and is on the steering committee of ASHA's Special Interest Group 16, School-Based Issues. She has also served on ASHA's School Finance Committee. She participates in national and state initiatives to improve services in schools and is a frequent presenter at workshops and conferences on issues related to special education, response to intervention, systems change utilizing a workload approach, literacy, school-based speech-language services, and aligning SLP services to the Common Core State Standards.
Anthony P. Salvatore, PhD, CCC-SLP, is professor and chair of the department of rehabilitation sciences, director of the speech-language pathology program, and director of the concussion management clinic in the College of Health Sciences at the University of Texas at El Paso. He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees at Emerson College, Boston, and his doctorate at the University of Pittsburgh. He completed an NIH post-doctoral research fellowship at the Minneapolis VAMC-Aphasic Section. He is board certified by the Academy of Neurologic Communication Disorders and Sciences in adults. A member of the Hall of Fame of the Texas Speech Language Hearing Association, he was formally recognized by Texas Region 19 for his contributions to the health of student-athletes. His current research interests lie in the diagnosis and treatment of sports-related concussion.
Wayne A. Secord, PhD, CCC-SLP, is a senior research scientist at Ohio State University. An ASHA Fellow and Honors recipient, Secord has authored or co-authored more than 80 publications and served as the editor of Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools from 1992 to 1998. His publications and other innovations have helped millions of children with disabilities and empowered thousands of professionals in the field. A former school SLP, Secord is a frequent conference presenter and a nationally recognized expert on clinical and educational assessment; children with disabilities in speech, language, and literacy; and the delivery of school-based speech and language services.
Ricardo R. Silva, Esq., is the office managing partner in Lozano Smith's San Diego office. He has dedicated his legal career to representing public school districts, with a majority of his practice focused on special education. He routinely represents clients in IEP meetings, mediation, and special education due process hearings. He is a prolific speaker and routinely conducts workshops for education decision-makers. Silva was named one of Hispanic Business magazine's 100 Most Influential Hispanic Leaders of 2009.
Gabriela Simon-Cereijido, PhD, CCC-SLP, is an assistant professor in the department of communication disorders at California State University, Los Angeles. Her research has focused on the development, assessment, and intervention of bilingual (Spanish–English) preschool children with and without language impairments.
Bonnie Singer, PhD, CCC-SLP, is the founder and CEO of Architects for Learning, where she provides teacher professional development and school consultation internationally and directs a staff that provides academic intervention services. Formerly, she was an instructor in the communication sciences and disorders department at Emerson College. With expertise in language, learning, and literacy in school-age children, she is passionate about working with students who struggle academically, especially with written expression. In partnership with Dr. Anthony Bashir, she developed EmPOWER™, a method for teaching expository writing, as well as Brain Frames®, graphic scaffolds for language, literacy, teaching, and learning. Her primary research and numerous publications focus on the relationship between spoken and written language, cognition, spatial processing, and self-regulated learning. Singer currently holds an adjunct teaching position in graduate and professional studies at Endicott College.
Vivian Sisskin, MS, CCC-SLP, is a clinical instructor in speech-language pathology at the University of Maryland. She is an ASHA Fellow and a board recognized specialist in fluency disorders. She served as coordinator for ASHA's Special Interest Group 4, Fluency and Fluency Disorders. Sisskin has presented her work on the treatment of stuttering both nationally and internationally. In addition, her articles and workshops include principles for effective group therapy and communication strategies for children with autism spectrum disorders. Sisskin serves on the boards of directors of the National Stuttering Association and the Specialty Board on Fluency Disorders. She is a faculty member for the Stuttering Foundation's Mid-Atlantic Workshop.
Sean Sweeney, MS, MEd, CCC-SLP, is an SLP and technology specialist working in private practice at the Ely Center in Newton, Massachusetts. He consults to local and national organizations on technology integration in speech and language interventions. Sweeney is passionate about thoughtful technology integration in speech and language intervention to improve student engagement and clinician productivity. He is a frequent contributor to ASHAsphere, ASHA's blog, and The ASHA Leader, and recently presented on app integration at the regional Social Thinking® Providers Conferences. His blog, SpeechTechie, looks at technology "through a language lens."
Nancy Alemian Telian, MS, CCC-SLP, is the founding co-director of Reading with TLC and author of the Lively Letters program, which she created while working in the Boston public schools in the early 1990s. Since then her methods have been utilized globally by clinicians and educators, and Telian has presented professional development workshops to thousands of participants in schools, clinics, and universities across the U.S. and Canada. She speaks regularly on literacy at national and state conventions. Telian is an adjunct faculty member at Boston's MGH Institute of Health Professions Graduate Program in communication sciences and disorders, where she has served as a clinical supervisor. She was a master trainer for the Massachusetts Department of Education Reading First and No Child Left Behind teaching training initiative, and also served as editor of the Massachusetts Speech Language Hearing Association newsletter, The Voice. An accomplished pianist, Nancy composed and performed the music for the Lively Letters character songs.
Kathy J. Wheat, PhD, CCC-SLP, is professor and program director for the Oklahoma City Community College speech-language pathology assistant program. She received degrees from the University of Norman, the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, and the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma. During her career, Wheat has practiced as an SLP in schools, outpatient clinics, hospitals, private practice, and home health care settings. She is active in ASHA, serving as chair of the school finance committee, and in the Oklahoma Speech-Language Hearing Association serving as Schools Issues Chair and the Oklahoma State Education Advocate. Wheat consults with Oklahoma school districts on SLP and SLPA concerns. She teaches speech-language pathology coursework, as well as fundamentals of speech and communication for teachers. Wheat routinely presents at state and national conferences on topics including supervision of SLPAs, negotiation skills for SLPs, service-delivery models, communication styles and strategies, school finance, and various educational research topics of interest.
Catherine B. Zenko, MS, CCC-SLP, has worked with individuals on the autism spectrum for more than 14 years. She has been an adjunct lecturer at the University of Florida department of speech language-hearing sciences since 2008, teaching a graduate-level course on autism and AAC. She has worked at the University of Florida (UF) Center for Autism and Related Disabilities (CARD) for more than 12 years. During her time at the UF CARD, she has served hundreds of persons with autism, their families, and caregivers. She has conducted hundreds of trainings on local, regional, and national levels on a wide range of topics related to ASD. She is author of two books: Understanding the Nature of Autism: A Guidebook to the Autism Spectrum Disorders, 3rd Edition (San Antonio: Hammill Institute on Disabilities, 2012), and Here's How to Do Balanced Intervention for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (San Diego, CA: Plural Publishing, Inc., in preparation).
Vicky Zygouris-Coe, PhD, is an associate professor of reading education at the University of Central Florida. Her research focuses on literacy in the content areas, reading comprehension, teacher knowledge, online learning, and professional development. Her work has been published in The Reading Teacher, Reading & Writing Quarterly, Reading Horizons, Childhood Education, Early Childhood Education Journal, The International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, Focus in the Middle, Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, The International Journal of E-Learning, Florida Educational Leadership Journal, and Florida Reading Quarterly among others. She has developed a statewide professional development program in reading that, to date, has served more than 43,000 K–12 teachers in Florida. She serves in several editorial roles, including co-editor of Literacy Research and Instruction, associate editor of Florida Educational Leadership and Florida Association of Teacher Educators Journal, the editorial review boards of Reading Psychology, Journal of Literacy Research, and the International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.