Noted and Keynote Speakers
The Autism Spectrum
Dana Commandatore is an advertising director, author, disability advocate and mother to an autistic boy. Commandatore and her husband Michael Broderick startedRethinkingAutism.com in 2009 to change the media conversation about autism from causation and cure to improving the quality of life of autistic individuals. Learn More...
Ari Ne’eman is the Founding President of the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network, where he initiates and directs efforts to increase the representation of autistic individuals in public policy discussions. He is a leading advocate in the neurodiversity movement, frequently briefing policymakers and speaking publicly on disability and autism policy issues. Learn More...
Milani Smith, Ph.D., licensed clinical psychologist, serves as the Associate Director and Director of Clinical Services at the University of Washington Autism Center. She oversees the UW Autism Center clinical services, professional training and outreach activities in the clinical program. She conducts diagnostic assessments, consults with school districts, and provides individual therapy for children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders. Learn More...
Jamie M. Winter, Ph.D. is a research scientist at the University of Washington Autism Center and the Center on Human Development and Disability, where she conducts research on autism and early intervention. She is the intervention team director of the University of Washington site of the Early Steps Study, a research study designed to evaluate the effectiveness of the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM). Learn More...
Scott Robertson is an autistic adult pursuing a Ph.D. at Penn State University who researches disabilities, quality of life, and technology. His dissertation research is examining bullying and cyberbullying of autistic adolescents. Scott is the Vice President of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network and serves on many other autism organizations.
Jim Sinclair is an autistic adult and the founder of Autism Network International, an autistic-run organization that has provided support to autistic people for more than two decades and has hosted the autistic-run conference Autreat since the mid-1990s. Jim holds a master’s degree in the field of vocational rehabilitation counseling.
Disability Rights
Kerry Thompson works for Disability Rights Fund which collaborates with donors and the disability community to advance the new UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). She has been involved with efforts to promote human rights for persons with disabilities in developing countries. Learn More...
Michael Stein is Executive Director at Harvard Law School Project on Disability, and Cabell Research Professor, William & Mary School of Law. Learn More...
Ms. Akiko Ito is Chief of the Secretariat for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and UN/Focal Point on Disability. She is also a Departmental Focal Point for Women of Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations. Learn More...
Disability Studies and Disability Culture
Stephen Gilson, PhD and Elizabeth DePoy, PhD have collaborated on scholarship and teaching in disability studies for over ten years. In 10 co-authored books and over 80 articles, they have advanced their theory of disability from a legitimacy perspective, suggesting that disability is a disjuncture between bodies understood as complex human phenomena and diverse environments. Learn More...
Employment
Since 2006, Joe D. Cardova has been the Administrator of Vocational Rehabilitation and Services for the Blind at the Hawaii Department of Human Services. He has over thirty years of experience in the field of human services. Previously, he was the Regional Commissioner, Regions V and VII, Kansas City and Chicago, 2003-2005. Overseeing the administration of federally funded programs under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, across ten states in the Midwest region of the country. Learn More...
Gender and Ethnicity
Angela Weaver, Project Coordinator, has worked for the Oregon Office on Disability Health for 11 years. She received her Master’s in Education from Colorado State University. For the last 24 years she has supported, encouraged, taught, advocated and created opportunities for people with disabilities to lead healthy and integrated lifestyles.
Cindy Henderson is a member of Oregon’s Self Advocates as Leaders (SAAL), and was diagnosed with breast cancer in April 2008. She went through treatment, the removal of her right breast, and reconstructive surgery. She is passionate about her story because she doesn’t want what happened to her, to happen to other women!
Pam Dickens has served as Women’s Health Coordinator at the North Carolina Office on Disability & Health for 10 years. Pam works to improve the health of women with disabilities & to reduce health disparities. She has worked extensively to improve access to breast cancer screening for women with disabilities.
Hidden Disabilities
Logan Olson is an individual with a disability and a young business woman (Logan Magazine). In 2001, at age sixteen, Logan sustained a brain injury. After a long hospital stay and journey through rehabilitation, she arrived home to face the day-to-day process of recovery. Her story defines the human spirit and demonstrates clearly that with the right support, anything can be accomplished. Learn More...
Independent Living
Helen Kutz is currently working at Progressive Independence (PI) as the Assistant Director. PI was the first Center for Independent Living in Oklahoma founded in 1981. Helen was instrumental in securing the federal grant that started PI and served as the first director. In the late 1980’s, she moved to Denver to serve as director of advocacy at Holistic Approaches to Independent Living. There she worked closely with ADAPT and was on the board of the National Council for Independent Living. Learn More...
Living Healthy and Aging Well
Terry Shintani, MD, JD, MPH is a physician, attorney, nutritionist, author, lecturer, radio show host and community advocate. He is formally designated a “Living Treasure of Hawai‘i.” Dr. Terry Shintani has made significant contributions in Medicine, Law, Nutrition, Native Hawaiian Healing Arts, and community health. In Medicine: he was instrumental in creating the Integrative Medicine department at the WCCHC that incorporated healing arts from various healing disciplines including arts such as acupuncture, chiropractic and traditional Hawaiian Healing. Learn More...
Dr. Laurie Tom, MD completed her Internal Medicine residency at the University of Hawai‘i Integrated Medical Residency Program then did fellowship and specialty training in Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, California. She has been in private practice since 2001. She is an assistant clinical professor at University of Hawai‘i John A. Burns School of Medicine. Learn More...
The Pacific
Jean Clayton was a teacher for 22 years, 20 of which were spent teaching students with significant cognitive disabilities. While teaching, she developed a training module for the state of Kentucky on building peer relationships and supports with middle school students, served on the state advisory board for alternate assessment, and served as a technology resource instructor. Learn More...
Mike Burdge was a teacher for 25 years, beginning his career at a school for students with moderate to severe disabilities. Over time, he was able to initiate inclusionary programs in several public schools across the country. He serves on expert panels for several states, and has played key roles in a number of Enhanced Assessment Grants. Learn More...
June De Leon has over 20 years of experience in the field of special education, inclusive of providing technical assistance and training for parents, educators, and administrators in the Pacific region. Learn More...
June Quitugua, PACIFIC Project Coordinator and Initiative Area Coordinator for the University of Guam CEDDERS, has over 25 years of experience as a special education teacher and technical assistance provider for parents, educators, and administrators in the Pacific region. Ms. Quitugua coordinates all regional and on-site entity-specific PACIFIC Project activities.
Sustainable and Green Futures
Carol Locust, Ed.D (Eastern Band Cherokee) works with tribal groups to improve services for persons with disabilities, prevent family violence and child abuse, and in state courts in Indian Child Welfare cases. She shares tribal cultural concepts, beliefs, psychosocial and physical health information in lectures and through publications. Learn More...
Technologies for the future
Frank DeRuyter, Ph.D.—Dr. DeRuyter has been at Duke University Medical Center since 1995. He is Professor in the Department of Surgery and Chief of the Division of Speech Pathology & Audiology. In addition to his clinical and academic responsibilities, he is Principal Investigator of the NIDRR national Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Communication Enhancement (AAC-RERC) and Principal Investigator of the international Consortium for Assistive Technology Outcomes Research or CATOR. Learn More...
Howard C. Shane, PhD.—Dr. Shane is the Director of the Center for Communication Enhancement at Children’s Hospital Boston. The Center is known internationally for its inventive communication procedures for persons with autism as well as innovative ways to operate and control computers. He is also a partner in the NIDRR national Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Communication Enhancement (AAC-RERC). Learn More...
Dr. James Skouge is an associate professor of special education at the University of Hawai‘i. For nearly 20 years he has worked throughout the Pacific region supporting islanders to integrate assistive technologies and multimedia into island life. Dr. Skouge is the team leader for the Pacific Voices Project—an informal association of Pacific Islander students dedicated to ethical applications of technology to honor village wisdom, create career opportunities for youth, and celebrate the beauty of the Pacific through digital storytelling. Learn More...
Transition to Postsecondary Education
Cate Weir, M.ed. is the project coordinator for the NIDRR funded Center on Postsecondary Education for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities and the ADD funded Consortium on Postsecondary Education for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities at the Institute for Community Inclusion at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Previously, she served as project coordinator for the OSEP funded Postsecondary Education: A Choice for Everyone and the OPE funded Equity and Excellence in Higher Education at the Institute on Disability at the University of NH. Learn More...
Debra Hart, Ph.D. is the Director of the Education and Transition Team for the Institute for Community Inclusion at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. She serves as the Principal Investigator for the NIDRR funded Center on Postsecondary Education for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities, the ADD funded Consortium on Postsecondary Education for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities and the OSEP Funded College Career Connection. Learn More...
Upturn in a Downturn Economy
Puanani Burgess works as a community building facilitator and consultant in Hawai‘i, the U.S. and the Pacific. She was the Executive Director of the Wai‘anae Coast Community Alternative Development Corporation and helped to develop Backyard Aquaculture, beginning in her home community of Wai‘anae. Learn More...
For more than 25 years, Linda Smith has revolutionized the principles of non-profit fundraising, community relations and event management in Las Vegas, Nevada. As a fundraising specialist for Opportunity Village, now Nevada’s largest organization for people with intellectual disabilities, she has gained an international reputation as an innovative leader, public speaker, and most of all, a humanitarian. Learn More...
War and Disability
Susan Schweik is Associate Dean of Arts and Humanities and a recent recipient of the Chancellor’s Award for Advancing Institutional Excellence. A former Presidential Chair in Undergraduate Education for Disability Studies at U.C. Berkeley, she has been involved with the development of disability studies at Berkeley for nine years. She was co-coordinator of the Ed Roberts Fellowships in Disability Studies post-doctoral program at Berkeley (coordinated by the Institute for Urban and Regional Development). Learn More...
