Produced and Directed by Dayna Schaaf
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Presenter Information:
Susanne Smith Roley, OTD, OTR/L, FAOTA is an occupational therapist with over 40 years of experience. She is in private practice in Orange County, California specializing in child development, sensory integration, learning difficulties, visual impairment, and autism. She studied under Dr. A. Jean Ayres in 1981, and in 1998 co-founded and then directed the USC/WPS Sensory Integration certificate program for 14 years. She is currently the Co-Founder and President of the nonprofit organization, Collaborative for Leadership in Sensory Integration (CLASI). She is a fellow of the AOTA and recipient of the AOTF Virginia Scardina Award of Excellence and AOTF A. Jean Ayres Award.
Roseann Schaaf, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA is Director of the Jefferson Autism Center of Excellence, Professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy at Thomas Jefferson University and faculty at the Farber Institute for Neuroscience. She has devoted her career to the study of children with autism and other developmental disorders, in particular how processing and integrating sensory information impacts participation in daily occupations. Building on her training as a behavioral neuroscientist, Dr. Schaaf studies the neural foundations of sensory differences in autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders and the effectiveness of interventions to address these. Her team conducted some of the ground-breaking research on using Ayres Sensory Integration© to improve function and participation in children with autism. Dr. Schaaf’s work is funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Nancy Lurie Marks Foundation, among others. She is the author of 4 books and over 75 peer reviewed manuscripts.
Regina Freeman, MS, OTR, an occupational therapist with over 20 years of experience. She is currently a supervisor of pediatric Occupational therapy at Children’s Specialized Hospital Toms River, NJ. Regina studied Occupational therapy at University of Indianapolis and received her BS from Rutgers University. Through her role as OT supervisor, Gina has been involved in program development and research in the areas of feeding, Ayres Sensory Integration and upper extremity function. She shares her advanced clinical skills and child/family approach to treatment through staff and family training. Gina has also participated in a published research study with Thomas Jefferson University, investigating the efficacy of treatment with sensory integration for children with autism. She is the clinical liaison from CSH to the New Jersey Autism Center of Excellence. Regina is committed to growing evidenced base practice, understanding the individual, the science and providing opportunity for families to live their best lives.
Zoe Mailloux, OTD, OTR/L, FAOTA is nationally and internationally recognized for her expertise in child development, sensory integration, autism, test development. With more than 40 years of experience, including working as research assistant to Dr. Jean Ayres, Zoe has been a champion for increasing understanding of individual differences, with the aim of enhancing participation in meaningful ways, for people of all abilities. Zoe is Adjunct Associate Professor at Jefferson University in Philadelphia PA and Co-Founder of the Collaborative for Leadership in Ayres Sensory Integration (CLASI).
NJACE is funded in part by the New Jersey Governor’s Council for the Medical Research and Treatments of Autism and by the NJ DOH
The views expressed herein may not necessarily reflect the views of the NJACE or our partners, the Governor's Council for Medical Research and Treatments in Autism, the New Jersey Department of Health, and Children's Specialized Hospital.
The mission of the NJACE is to educate society about the neurobiology of autism, and autistic people‘s unmet needs across their lifespan. We do this by listening to the perspectives of autistic people, their parents and families, clinicians from interdisciplinary fields, and researchers from various fields including psychology, genetics, engineering, and computer science. We hope to build an all-inclusive community, which embraces autistic people as valued members of our society.