Promoting Social-Emotional Capacities in the Community: 

The panel will focus on Training Models for Community-Wide Dissemination of DIR/Floortime Services. Drs. Solomon, Cordero, Casenhiser and Witten have developed and continue to refine, through on-going outcomes research, models for training personnel to offer early diagnosis and intervention services in their communities. Ari Ne'eman, a member of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) and first autistic adult appointed to the National Council on Disabilities by President Obama, will share his work at the policy level to prevent and address bullying towards children with disabilities in public schools.

Panel Presentation: The PLAY Project
Rick Solomon, M.D., MPH, Medical Director, Ann Arbor Center for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, Michigan; and Director and Founder of The PLAY PROJECT (Play and Language for Autistic Youngsters).

• Brief Bio

Panel Presentation: What the Research Tells Us: Effectiveness of Social Communication-Based Communication
Devin Casenhiser, Ph.D. Head of Research, The Milton & Ethel Harris Research initiative (MEHRI), York University

• Brief Bio

Panel Presentation: Special Health Coverage for Autism Spectrum Disorders Based on DIRFloortime
José Cordero, M.D., MPH, Dean, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Puerto Rico

• Brief Bio

Panel Presentation: Neighborhood Groups Support Growth in Families
Molly Romer Witten, Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist, Chicago, IL

• Brief Bio

Panel Presentation: Preventing and Addressing Bullying Towards Children with Disabilities in Public Schools: Improving National and State Legislation
Ari Ne’eman, President, The Autistic Self-Advocacy Network

• Brief Bio