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Speakers
Autism Summer Institute 2009 |
 Scott Bellini, PhD is the Assistant Director of the Indiana Resource Center for Autism (IRCA) and an Assistant Professor of School Psychology at Indiana University, Bloomington. He is also the Director of the newly formed Social Skills Research Center (SSRC), a university based center specializing in developing and empirically examining the outcomes of social skill interventions for youth with ASD. He is a licensed psychologist in the state of Indiana and an endorsed Health Services Provider in Psychology. He is currently conducting research on professional development outcomes for educators, anxiety disorders, and social skill interventions, including video modeling for youth with ASD. He has published numerous research manuscripts and has provided consultation and training to families and professionals in over 25 states on the topic of social skills programming for students with ASD. He is the author of the book, Building Social Relationships, which was named the 2007 Literary Work of the Year by the Autism Society of America.
 Lillian Stiegler is a professor of communication sciences & disorders at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, LA. She is a certified SLP with 26 years of experience in the assessment and treatment of childhood communication disorders. She teaches one of Louisiana’s only graduate level courses on communication and autism spectrum disorders. She has presented often at national and regional conferences, and has published a number of articles on ASD topics. Dr. Stiegler has served as a consultant to the Louisiana Department of Education and several Louisiana school districts. She also serves as an advocate for families of children with autism spectrum disorders.
Gina Easterly-Taylor, PhD is an assistant professor with the Human Development Center at Louisiana State University Health Sciences in New Orleans, Louisiana. She is a speech-language pathologist and has worked with young children with disabilities, including autism spectrum disorders, and their families for 12 years. Her primary service, research, and teaching interests are related to inclusion, working with families and program development/evaluation.
Sharon Edwards, M.Ed., CCC-SLP
Sharon has a Masters degree in Speech-Language Pathology and has worked in the area of assistive technology for 10 years. Before joining the Center, Sharon worked for Ascension Parish School Board as the Assistive Technology Specialist. She has presented at numerous trainings and conferences on the local, regional and national levels. She has served as the AT facilitator for Region III Assistive Technology Center for the last 5 years.
Kristie Stapler, BS Mild/Moderate Special Education K-12
Kristie has a BS degree in Mild/Moderate Special Education and has worked in the area of education and technology for 21 years. She has concentrated on the area of assistive technology for the past 6 years. Kristie has participated in InTech, DiversiTech, and UDL training as a participant and has presented at numerous conferences on the local, regional and national levels. Kristie has served as an AT facilitator for the Region III Assistive Technology Center for the last 5 years.
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 Dr. Alisa Lowrey is an Associate Professor at LSU Human Development Center. She has more than 20 years experience in the field of special education working with individuals with developmental disabilities and preparing others to work in this field. Primarily, she is interested in improving real life outcomes for individuals with developmental disabilities in the areas of employment, independent living, community involvement, and opportunities for relationships. Current projects include the Louisiana Autism And Related Disabilities Project (LASARD), the Louisiana Low Incidence Disabilities Consortium, the Supported Employment Continuous Improvement Project (SECIP), the Employment Consortium and a statewide employment study. Dr. Lowrey current serves on the editorial review board for Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities and the Journal of Disability Policy Studies.
 Dr. Linda Flynn serves as an administrator in the Department of Special Education and Habilitative Services in the role of Graduate Program Coordinator. In addition, she is the Coordinator of the Early Intervention Program (children from birth-to-five years old and their families). She has directed several federal and state projects on the topics of inclusive education, cross-cultural competence, teaming and collaboration, program development, and personnel preparation for doctoral and master’s programs. Dr. Flynn has past experience as a teacher in the preschool classroom as well as working with infants and toddlers in homes and community-based programs. Her line of research is concerns, priorities, and resources of families who have young children with disabilities.
 Paul Wehman, Ph.D. Professor and Director of the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Workplace Supports.
Dr. Wehman is Professor of Physical Medicine with a joint appointment in the Department of Special Education at Virginia Commonwealth University. He has his Ph.D. from University of Wisconsin. He helped to develop supported employment at VCU in the early 1980s. He has published over 200 articles and authored or edited 40
books, most recently Autism and the Transition to Adulthood by Paul Brookes Publishing Company. He was a recipient of the Kennedy Foundation Award in Mental Retardation in 1990 and also received the President’s Committee on Employment for Persons with Disabilities Award in 1992. Dr. Wehman was recognized as one of the 50 most influential special educators of the millenium by the Remedial and Special Education journal in December, 2000. He is also Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation.
Ms. Patricia Ghiossi has provided supported employment training and technical assistance as well as state policy development in Louisiana since 1989. Currently, she is the coordinator for the Louisiana Supported Employment Continuous Improvement Project at the Human Development Center, LSUHSC. The Continuous Improvement Project is a Louisiana Rehabilitation Services funded project that assists supported employment providers and rehabilitation personnel to improve, enhance or expand employment services for individuals with disabilities across the state.
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