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OUR AUTHORS AND SPEAKERS
About Speaking Engagements
Often we are contacted by groups looking for information on bringing an author into their area for a speaking engagement. Following is a brief list on our authors who lecture, and what they can bring to your group.
We have many fine speakers available to present at your conference on virtually every subject along with the autism/Asperger’s track. Contact Teresa at Teresa@fhautism.com to see who is available.
Select Any Below Author To Learn More
DR. TEMPLE GRANDIN

Contact Website:Â Â http://templegrandin.com
Dr. Temple Grandin has served as an inspiration and role model to hundreds of thousands of families and persons with autism. In her unique conference presentations, Temple eloquently and candidly describes the challenges she has faced and offers no-nonsense ideas on how others dealing with autism can meet these obstacles and improve the quality of their lives. Backed by her personal experience and evidence-based research, Temple shares her valuable insights on a wide variety of topics, and offers useful dos and don’ts. View all of Temple’s books
By attending a conference with Temple Grandin, participants can:
- Create a learning environment to accommodate sensory challenges
- Illustrate ways to develop talents into a career path for individuals
- Introduce ways of intervention for those newly diagnosed
- Review methods to assist the older child and Adult form social relationships
Ellen Notbohm

Contact Website:Â Â https://ellennotbohm.com
An internationally renowned author, Ellen Notbohm’s books have informed, inspired, and delighted millions of readers worldwide in more than twenty languages. Her award-winning Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew has been one of the autism community’s best-selling and most beloved books for more than a decade. She is also author of the historical novel The River by Starlight, exploring issues in women’s mental health in the early 20th century.
Dr. Jed Baker

Contact Website:Â Â http://www.jedbaker.com
Jed Baker, Ph.D. is an award-winning author and the director of the Social Skills Training Project, serving individuals with autism and social communication problems. Dr. Baker writes, lectures, and provides training internationally.
Beth Aune

Beth Aune, OTR/L teaches at Loma Linda University and currently has a private practice as an occupational therapist. Beth has developed and presented many workshops on the care and treatment of disabled students.
Dr. Tony Attwood

Contact Website:Â http://www.tonyattwood.com.au
Tony Attwood, Ph.D. is known for sharing his knowledge of Asperger’s syndrome. In addition to his writings, Tony operates his clinic two days a week and travels nationally and internationally to present workshops and papers.
Dr. Raun Melmed

Contact Website: www.melmedcenter.com
Raun D. Melmed MD is director of the Melmed Center in Scottsdale, Arizona and co-founder and medical director of the Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center. He is on faculty at Arizona State University. Dr. Melmed earned his medical training at the University of Cape Town in Cape Town, South Africa, and completed a fellowship at Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Boston, where he was an Instructor at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Melmed is a member of the Society for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics and is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. He is board certified in Pediatrics and Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics. The author or coauthor of more than 70 publications, he has set up nationally recognized physician training programs for the early identification of infants and toddlers with developmental and behavioral concerns and authored a program geared toward the early screening for autism spectrum disorders. He is the co-author of Succeeding with Difficult Children, Autism: Early Intervention and just recently authored Autism and the Extended Family. Dr. Melmed is principal investigator of novel psychopharmacological agents in the treatment of autism, Fragile X and ADHD and collaborates on studies of tools used in the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders.
Carol Gray

Contact Website:Â https://carolgraysocialstories.com
Carol Gray is an award-winning teacher, author, and international speaker, completing over 1,000 presentations. She is best known for the development of Social Stories, an evidence-based practice that is used worldwide to 1) teach social understanding, 2) “bridge the gap” related to social communication diversity, and 3) build self-esteem and social competence for everyone involved. Carol is the author of www.CarolGraySocialStories.com, a website with free and accurate Social Story information and resources, and Carol’s Club, where members may request Carol to create custom resources for them.
Carol Kranowitz

Contact Website: www.CarolStockKranowitz.com
During her 25-year career as a preschool teacher, Carol Stock Kranowitz observed many children with sensory processing disorder (SPD) and mild autism. To help them become more competent in their work and play, she introduced SPD to parents and educators through her groundbreaking book, The Out-of-Sync Child. This first book in the “Sync” series has been translated into many languages and has sold one million copies. Her most recent book is The Out-of-Sync Child Grows Up. Carol speaks nationally and internationally about SPD’s effect on children’s learning and behavior and how families, teachers, therapists, and other professionals can support children as they grow at home, at school, and out in the world. A graduate of Barnard College, Carol earned her master’s degree in Education and Human Development from The George Washington University. She lives in Bethesda, Maryland, is a classical cellist, and dotes on her five grandchildren.
Jennifer McIlwee Myers

Contact Website: www.aspieatlarge.com
Jennifer McIlwee Myers grew up in a family where “strong autistic traits” were the norm. Growing up, she was given a LOT of labels (“underachiever,” “does not work to expectations,” “unmotivated”) by was not diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome until she was 36 years old. Since then, it has been her life’s mission to gather knowledge about autism from every possible source to share with parents, teachers, therapists, people on the autism spectrum, and every other kind of person who can benefit from learning more.
In addition to being a professional writer and speaker, Jennifer has BS in Computer Science and an unswerving devotion to Doctor Who. She lives with her husband Gary and a varying number of cats in sunny Southern California, 15 minutes away from her other true love, Disneyland.
Dr. Jim Ball

Contact Website: www.jbautismconsulting.com
Dr. James Ball, a Board Certified Behavior Analyst-Doctoral, is the President/Chief Executive Officer of JB Autism Consulting. He is also a member of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee as a public member; this committee, as outlined in the Autism Cares Act, makes recommendations to the secretary on autism research gaps and submits to the Congress and the President an annual update on the summary of advances and an annual update to the strategic plan. He has been in the field of autism for over thirty years providing preschool, educational, residential, and employment services to children and adults affected by an autism spectrum disorder. He is also the Director of Clinical Services for New York Families of Autistic Children (NYFAC), a private not-for-profit organization providing support and training for children and families in New York City. He provides private consultation to organizations, schools, and families regarding home program, staff/parent training, home support services, classroom design/support, behavior management/assessment and functional behavior assessment.
Maria Wheeler

Maria Wheeler, M.Ed. has spent more than twenty years of her professional life in the fields of Psychology and Special Education, with an emphasis on Neurobehavioral Disorders, Applied Behavior Analysis, and Specific Learning Disabilities. Maria works as a private consultant serving various school districts, educational agencies, and families throughout Texas.
Britt Collins

Contact Website:Â www.sensoryparenting.com
Britt Collins has been an Occupational Therapist for over 13 years and has practiced in a variety of areas including; pediatrics, feeding, sensory-based, clinics, schools, early intervention, and more. She is a feeding specialist and works with children of all ages. She has authored 3 books and is working on publishing her children’s book series. She also has created a DVD series that can be found on her website. She travels the country speaking for Future Horizons, Sensory World, and other companies on autism, sensory processing disorder, yoga for kids, and more!
Paula Aquilla

Contact Website: www.aquillaotservices.com
Paula Aquilla loves the practice of occupational therapy! Paula and her husband, Mark, raised two beautiful daughters in Toronto. Paula is a graduate of the University of Toronto and has practiced in a variety of clinical, home, and community settings since 1986. She is also a graduate of the Canadian College of Osteopathy and is an osteopathic manual practitioner. She is the director of Aquilla Occupational Therapy: a family-oriented practice that is full of fun and learning! Paula was the founder and the director of Yes I Can! Nursery School, Yes I Can! Summer camps and the I Love My Baby programs in Toronto from 1990-1996. She was the initial director of Giant Steps, Toronto, and consulted to the Muki Baum Treatment Centres in Toronto and the French School Board. Her practice encompasses all types of children and young adults and her specialty is sensory integration therapy. Paula has been a guest lecturer for the University of Toronto, McMaster University and Humber College. She is published in the field: she is a co-author of Building Bridges through Sensory Integration: Occupational Therapy for Children with Autism and other Developmental Disorders (1998), The Sensory Detective Curriculum (2017) and is a contributor to Children, Youth and Adults with Asperger’s Syndrome. Paula has contributed to other magazines and special interest newsletters in Canada, the US, and the UK. Paula brings warmth and enthusiasm in her work with children and their families.
Diane Bahr

Contact Website:Â www.agesandstages.net
For more than 30 years, Diane Bahr has treated children and adults with feeding, motor speech, and mouth function problems. In addition to being a speech-language pathologist, she is a feeding therapist, published author, international speaker, university instructor, and business owner.
Cara Koscinski

Robin Cantor-Cooke

Nick Martin

Lois Jean Brady

Stephen Lockwood

Ellen Yack

Lisa S. Lewis

Carlos Torres

Doreit S. Bialer

Hartley Steiner

Marci Laurel

Kathleen “Mo” Taylor

Sheri Wilkins, Ph.D.

Dr. Sheri has worked in the field of education for over 30 years at the preschool, elementary, high school, and university levels. She has dedicated her professional career to serving students with disabilities and building the capacity of educators to better serve this unique population. After one of her children sustained a mild traumatic brain injury in a car accident in 2010, Sheri had first-hand experience in the power of environmental modifications and metacognitive strategies in supporting people who struggle with executive functions. It was this personal experience that led her to focus her work on executive function skills and drove her to work closely with parents of children with disabilities, specifically children who may be inflexible, emotional, impulsive, and poor at planning and problem solving. It was also this experience that led her to write FLIPP the Switch: Strengthen Executive Function Skills with Carol Burmeister, as well as FLIPP the Switch 2.0: Mastering Executive Function Skills from School to Adult Life for Students with Autism, co-authored with Carol Burmeister and Dr. Rebecca Silva.
Carol Burmeister, M.A

Carol has over 40 years of experience as a paraprofessional, general education teacher, special education teacher, program specialist, university instructor, and consultant in a wide variety of educational settings. This has provided her with the opportunity to work with students with unique learning needs including those with cognitive, behavioral, communication, and autism spectrum disorders. Carol has provided leadership in the coordination and presentation of numerous professional development activities in the area of autism and related disorders as well as having partnered with Dr. Sheri Wilkins, Dr. Rebecca Silva, and the University California, Riverside to develop and implement a certificate program for teachers in the education of students with autism.
Megan Rawlins

Along with assistance from Jennifer M. Schmidt, Ms. Megan Rawlins piloted the PEERspective model, as well as created and implemented a successful social skills class curriculum. She has 9 years of teaching experience in both general and special education classrooms in both elementary school and middle school.