P RE S E N T E R S Emily Rubin
Emily Rubin, M.S., CCC-SLP, is the director of the educational outreach program at the Marcus Autism Center at Emory University. As an adjunct faculty member at Yale University, she served as a member of the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Clinic. Her publications have focused on early identification and programming guidelines for social-emotional development. She is a co-author of the SCERTS Assessment Process. Rubin participated on the ASHA’s Ad Hoc Committee on Autism Spectrum Disorders to develop guidelines for the diagnosis, assessment, and treatment of ASD.
Amy Rule
Amy Rule is mother to and advocate for her son, who has shown signs of being on the spectrum since he was about 3. He is medically undiagnosed due to his anxiety, though he has an educational diagnosis of ASD and qualifies for services at school. Rule and her husband have made it their mission to educate themselves and to do as much as possible to help their son succeed at school and in life. She has worked hard to increase her son’s ability to control his anxiety and sensitivities when faced with sensory overload and to boost his confidence as he tries new (potentially scary) things.
Jennifer Runco
Jennifer Runco serves as co-director for the Studio Support Program and coordinator of Disability Services at Daemen College in Amherst, NY. Runco holds an M.Ed. in student development in higher education and B.A. in communication sciences and disorders from the University of Maine. She has worked on a federally-funded grant initiative with the goal of assisting young adults with disabilities receiving social security benefits to transition to employment. Runco has presented to faculty, staff, and parents about autism and other disabilities and best practices for working with students.
Alex Russo
Alex Russo is an entrepreneur whose career concentration is residential real estate. He is also owner of a pharmaceutical company located in Cleveland, OH. Russo’s real estate career focuses on residential real estate investing and understanding how markets develop. He specializes in how to identify opportunities for individuals at all levels. Russo is a board member of Independent Living Communities, a nonprofit that specializes in acquiring and renovating housing for people with disabilities that is safe, affordable, and accessible.
Mariah Ryan
Mariah Ryan graduated from Lakeview High School in 2013. She is currently working on an undergraduate degree in speech pathology and audiology at Kent State University. She has a minor in psychology and a certificate in disability studies and community inclusion.
Bruce Saddler
Bruce Saddler, Ph.D., is an associate professor and director of the Division of Special Education at The University of Albany. A military veteran and former special education teacher and teacher of the year, he has taught courses in inclusion, reading, writing, and learning disabilities. His current primary research interests center on writing disabilities. He has presented at over 90 regional, national, and international research and professional conferences and has published over 40 scholarly articles in national and international journals. He has also authored two books on writing.
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Elizabeth Sammons
Elizabeth L. Sammons serves as program administrator in the Bureau of Services for the Visually Impaired under the Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities agency. Her academic focus was journalism and linguistics. While normally involved in outreach and written communications at her agency, Sammons was excited to administer a deaf-blind project this summer to help adults learn greater independence and literacy. As someone growing up blind, she was used to ney-sayers and facing barriers. She used the tenacity developed in her youth and professional years to coordinate this first-of-its-kind adventure.
Josie Santomauro
Josie Santomauro is a full-time Australian writer and published in over 50 resources on ASD and fiction (pseudonym Montano). Her son Damian, diagnosed at five with Asperger Syndrome, completed his doctorate and research on autism. Josie received the Parent/Carer Award Autism Queensland in recognition of her outstanding achievements and recently a Certificate of Recognition as Community Mentor – Naturally Autistic People Awards, BC, Canada.
JIll Schramm
Jill Schramm currently teaches Reading Recovery at South Elementary in Morgan County, OH. She has taught for 19 years in grades 4 through 8 before becoming a Reading Recovery teacher in 2014. She has an MAE with both a reading and teacher leader endorsement. Schramm serves on the building intervention committee and the district LPDC committee. In addition to being a mentor for teachers, she is an advisor for the student mentoring Change of Heart program at South Elementary.
Scott Schuelke
Scott Schuelke is the autism safety specialist for the Autism Alliance of Michigan and has been instrumental in the autism safety training movement in Michigan. Sgt. Schuelke has provided training on ASD, including most common situations and best strategies for safe outcomes. Schuelke was also instrumental in developing active violence incident response training for all law enforcement in Clinton, Eaton, and Ingham Counties. He retired from the Lansing Police Department in 2010 where he served as a supervisor in the Investigations Division.
LaQuita Schwartz
Amy Savage, M.S., CCC-SLP, is a speech-language pathologist with 20 years of experience in diverse settings. She currently works for Little Miami Schools in the integrated preschool program. She provides therapy in the classroom to provide an inclusive environment for all of her students. She is passionate about providing children with the functional language skills they need to be as independent as possible across settings.
LaQuita Schwartz is employed as a certified, licensed speech-language pathologist in the Little Miami Preschool Program, within the Little Miami Local School District in Morrow, OH. She has over 15 years of experience in a variety of settings, including schools, pediatric hospitals, Head Start programs, private practice, and early intervention programs. She enjoys working collaboratively with team members to help children overcome their communicative challenges and to increase their ability to interact and communicate with others more effectively.
Carol Schall
Katie Scott
Amy Savage
Carol Schall, Ph.D., is the co-director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Autism Center for Excellence. She has over 30 years’ experience supporting adolescents and adults with ASD as a teacher, administrator, researcher, and consultant. Schall provided consultation and instructional technical assistance for the Project SEARCH Plus ASD Supports program at Virginia Commonwealth University and was the research coordinator for the project. She has consulted nationally and internationally on issues related to adolescents and young adults with ASD.
Katie Scheetz
Katie Scheetz is a statewide program specialist with Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities (OOD). She manages the contracts with Ohio’s Community Centers for the Deaf and the Personal Care Assistance Program, and coordinates several statewide initiatives designed to improve services to deaf, hard of hearing, and deafblind Ohioans. Previously, Scheetz served as an employer services specialist and rehabilitation counselor for the deaf at OOD. She holds a postgraduate certificate in rehabilitation administration from San Diego State University and a master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling from Wright State University.
Jennifer Schmidt
Jennifer M. Schmidt, M.Ed., is an intervention specialist at Beavercreek High School in Beavercreek, OH. She has 19 years of teaching experience in both general and special education settings. Schmidt piloted a communication class in the fall of 2007, and the class continues to this day. She was recognized as Beavercreek City Schools Teacher of the Year in 2012, and in 2014 was awarded the Beavercreek Chamber of Commerce Educator of the Year recognition as a result of her innovative communication class.
Katie Scott, M.S., LISW, works for the West Central Ohio Network as a PLAY consultant for Ohio counties. She has a master’s degree in child development from the Erikson Institute and an MSW from Loyola University of Chicago. Scott worked as a PLAY tutor for several years, became a trained PLAY consultant and a PLAY Supervisor, and is certified in teaching PLAY.
Rachel Seaman
Rachel Seaman, M.Ed., BCBA, is a doctoral student in the Department of Special Education and Applied Behavior Analysis at The Ohio State University. Her research interests include vocational interventions for transition-age students with autism, job and vocational coach training, and school practitioner training. Seaman has worked as a behavior analyst, school consultant, and researcher.
Allison Shardell
Allison Shardell, Ph.D., has a doctorate in human services and counseling, with a focus on autism and developmental disorders. She is working towards a degree in American Sign Language Interpreting. She is the director of religious education, an American Sign Language choir, and special needs ministry through a local Catholic Church. She is a facilitator for special needs courses through the University of Dayton, training Catholic educators in the diocese of Columbus and around the world on working with children with autism and other special needs. She is the proud mother of four children, including one with autism and one who is profoundly deaf.