Organizers

Mark Aronoff Ph.D.



Mark Aronoff is distinguished Professor of Linguistics at Stony Brook University. He works on the emergence of structure in Al-Sayyid Bedouin Sign Language. Dr. Aronoff is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Science.

Matthew D. Lerner Ph.D.

Matthew D. Lerner is an Assistant Professor of Psychology, Psychiatry, Pediatrics in the department of Psychology at Stony Brook University. His research focuses on the development of social competence in children with and without ASD.

Sanja Cale Ph.D.

Sanja Cale is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Education and Director of the Regional Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders at SUNY Old Westbury. Her research focuses on the teacher training and peer support strategies for those with ASD.

Jennifer Gillis Mattson Ph.D.

Jennifer Gillis is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Binghamton University and the Associate Director of the Institute for Child Development. Her Research includes measuring stigmatization of young adults with ASD and improving skills and relationships in individuals with ASD across the lifespan.

Presenters

Pamela Block Ph.D.

Pamela Block is Associate Dean for Research in the School of Health and Technology and Management at Stony Brook, Associate Professor in the Occupational Therapy Program, Director of the Concentration in Disability Studies.

Noah Britton M.A.

 

Noah Britton as an Adjunct Professor at Bunker Hill Community College. He is interested in causes of and interventions for ASD, and is a Public Member of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Helen Tager-Flusberg Ph.D.

Helen Tager-Flusberg is Professor of Psychological and Brain Science and Director of the center for Autism Research Excellence (CARE) at Boston University. Her research has focused on autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders, using behavioral and brain imaging methodologies. She is the immediate Past-President of the International Society for Autism Research.

Michele Friedner Ph.D.

 

Michele Friedner is Assistant Professor in Stony Brook's School of Health Technology and Management. Trained as a medical anthropologist, Friedner conducts research with sign language- using deaf people in India.

Morton Ann Gernsbacher Ph.D.

 

Dr. Gernsbacher is a Vilas Research Professor and the Sir Frederic C. Barlett Professor of Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Gernsbacher's research investigates the cognitive and neural mechanisms that underlie human communication.

Elizabeth Grace Ph.D.

 

Elizabeth Grace is Assistant Professor of Education at National Louis University. Her academic interests include disability studies and research methodology. She serves on the board of the Society for Disability Studies.

Jana M. Iverson Ph.D.

 

Jana M. Iverson is Professor of Psychology at the University Pittsburgh. She studies the nature of gesture-speech links in children with ASD.

Vikram Jaswal Ph.D.

 

Vikram Jaswal is Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia, where his research focuses on early social and cognitive development. He has recently turned to questions about the relationship between conventional forms of communication and assumptions about competence.

James McPartland Ph.D.



James McPartland is Associate Professor and Director of the Developmental Disabilities Clinic in the Child Study Center at Yale University. His research links clinical insights with neuroscience methods to deepen understanding of ASD.

Richard Meier Ph.D.

 

Richard P. Meier is Professor and Chair in the Department of Linguistics at The University of Texas at Austin. He has long studied the relationship between modality and the structure and acquisition of language.

Carol Padden Ph.D.



Carol Padden is Professor of Communication and Interim Vice Chancellor of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at the University of California, San Diego. She has written about American Sign Language grammar and comparative language structure across sign languages. She is the co-author of two books on culture and community of deaf people in the United States and two ASL textbooks. Her honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship and a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship.

Aaron Shield  Ph.D.



Aaron Shield is a postdoctoral fellow in Psychology at Boston University. His work has focused on the acquisition of ASL by deaf and hearing children with ASD who are exposed natively to ASL by their Deaf parents.

 Stephen Shore Ed.D.



Stephen M. Shore is Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Education at Adelphi University. His Goal is to help people with Autism and other conditions to lead fulfilling and productive lives to their greatest potential.

Melanie Yergeau Ph.D.

Melanie Yergeau is Assistant Professor of English at the University of Michigan. Her academic interest include digital media studies and disability studies, and what the neurodiversity movement has to teach us about learning, teaching, writing, difference, and being. She serves on the board of the Autism National Commitee.