We are very excited to announce that we will be heading to the Maldives this summer to provide autism training and education to teachers, parents, doctors, and other professionals in Malé, Maldives. We will be hosted by the Maldives Autism Association (MAA) and are working closely with the teachers and staff. The MAA was founded by Madam Ilham Hussain in 2011 and they are working very hard to improve the quality of life for children with autism in the Maldives.We have several "veteran" team members, as well as some new faces! We are all very excited.
Here is the team:
Nikki Closser: Nikki founded Knowledge for People in December 2008 due to the lack of autism resources available to families, educators, and communities in many developing countries. She received her MSW and has been a school social worker for the last 9 years.
Lizzy Donovan: Lizzy is a Senior Educational Consultant at ABC of NC. She has over 12 years of working with children who have autism and their families and she is currently completing her supervision to become a Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analyst. Lizzy was the Autism Society of North Carolina’s Professional of the Year in 2008.
Selene Johnson: Selene is currently the Executive Director of ABC of NC in North Carolina. She is also a Board Certified Behavior Analyst, Licensed Special Education Teacher and Infant/Toddler Family Specialist.
Selene Johnson: Selene is currently the Executive Director of ABC of NC in North Carolina. She is also a Board Certified Behavior Analyst, Licensed Special Education Teacher and Infant/Toddler Family Specialist.
Liz Kleine: Liz has been working with children who have autism and their families since 2004. She currently works in the autism center at Seattle Children's Hospital and her primary focus is on behavior and ABA. Liz is currently working on her Master's degree in Counseling.
Young Nelson: Young graduated from the University of Washington and joined the research team in the autism center at Seattle Children's Hospital.
Dawn Rohlik: Dawn has been an occupational therapist since 1983. She is the founder of Pediatric Possibilities, a private practice in Raleigh, NC. Her interest, teaching and extensive training are focused on integrating sensory processing disorders, DIR/FloorTime and listening techniques, including Therapeutic Listening, Samonas, and Integrative Listening System (iLs). She focuses her treatment in a multi-disciplinary model using a family oriented developmental approach so that children and families can be their best.
Cheri Scarff: Cheri has been providing services for children with autism since 1984 in the Pacific Northwest. She has worked with the birth to three population in home health and has over 20 years experience in the public school setting. Cheri has been trained in mindfulness and recently completed level 2 training in the Mindful Schools curriculum in Berkeley, during the summer of 2011. She is currently involved in a research study on the effectiveness of mindfulness on attention in school age children.
Barbara Still, Ph.D.: Barbara is a licensed psychologist in NC who has worked with very young children (0-5) for over 30 years. Her interest in autism spectrum disorder began when she worked at Amos Cottage (part of Bowman Gray Medical School) in the 70s. She has training and experience in play therapy, Theraplay, family systems strategies, cognitive behavior therapy, TEACCH methods, and floortime. As a member of a multidiscipline assessment and treatment team in the early years of NC Developmental Evaluation system, Barbara has a deep appreciation for how “it takes a village” to care for our children. For 18 years, Barbara has owned Wee Play Psychological Services and provided assessment and treatment services to young children with autism and their families within the DIR model.
Tracy Vail: Tracy is a Speech and Language Pathologist who has been working with children who have autism for 29 years. She helped start the Mariposa School for Children with autism and is a co-owner of Let's Talk Speech & Language Services in North Carolina where she works with a team of employees to provide speech therapy, occupational therapy, tutoring and consulting services to children on the Autism Spectrum using evidenced based practices
