New York's First City-Wide Special Education Conference Provides Knowledge & Hope
A Collaboration of Education Update & The City College of New York
Our Esteemed Speakers continue to make important contributions to
special education.
|
Commissioner Matthew Sapolin
|
Commissioner Matthew Sapolin
Matthew P. Sapolin is the Executive Director of the Mayor’s
Office for People with Disabilities (MOPD), functioning as a liaison between
the disability community and City government. MOPD works collaboratively with
other agencies to assure that the rights and needs of people with disabilities
are included in all City initiatives by fostering greater cooperation,
communication and coordination of functions and services in New York City.
Matthew P. Sapolin most recently served as Co-Executive Director
for the Queens Independent Living Center, where he oversaw operations.
Previously, he was the Coordinator of the Client Assistance Program for the
Center for Independence of the Disabled of New York. Sapolin received his BA at
New York University as well as a Masters of Public Health Administration from
Wagner School of Public Service at New York University.
|
Betsy
Gotbaum, Public Advocate
|
Betsy
Gotbaum, Public Advocate
Over the past three decades, Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum has
led a distinguished career in the public and private sectors. She has
worked as advisor to three mayors; financial executive developing capital for
start-up entrepreneurial firms; executive Director of The New York City Police
Foundation; Commissioner of the Department of Parks & Recreation; and
President of the prestigious New York Historical Society. In all her jobs, Ms.
Gotbaum has been known for using nontraditional methods to turn troubled
institutions into success stories.
Since Ms. Gotbaum was first elected Public Advocate in
2001, her leadership has paved the way for municipal reform in education,
school construction, prevention of crime against women, and the fight against
hunger. Additionally, each week she helps solve hundreds of city-service
complaints made by residents and business owners. She was reelected in 2005.
Ms. Gotbaum is married to labor leader Victor Gotbaum and has one
daughter, three grandchildren, four stepchildren, and eight stepgrandchildren.
President
Lynda Katz, Landmark College
Dr. Lynda Katz, Ph.D. assumed the presidency of Landmark College
on July 1, 1994.
Prior to coming to Landmark College Dr. Katz held dual
appointments at the University of Pittsburgh as Associate Professor of
Psychiatry and Education in the School of Medicine, and Associate Professor of
Health and Rehabilitation Sciences. She was also an Adjunct Professor at the
University of West Virginia in Counseling Psychology. Dr. Katz obtained her
Ph.D. in Rehabilitation Counseling/Psychology, as well as a M.Ed. in special
education and rehabilitation counseling, and a M.S.W. in psychiatric social
work, all from the University of Pittsburgh. Her undergraduate work was in
Music Education at Carlow college, also in Pittsburgh, PA. She is a licensed
psychologist in Pennsylvania, Vermont and New Hampshire. Dr. Katz’s
postdoctoral work in neuropsychology was directed by Gerald Goldstein, Ph.D.,
Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology at the University of Pittsburgh and
Research Director of Neuropsychology, Veterans Administration Medical Center in
Pittsburgh. Dr. Katz is a Board Certified Fellow in the International College
of Prescribing Psychologists and a Board Certified Medical Psychotherapist and
Psychodiagnostician. She is also a fellow in the International Academy of Research
on Learning Disabilities and a Fellow in the National Academy of
Neuropsychology. Dr. Katz has authored and co-authored scores of reference
articles, book chapters and other publications in the areas of psychiatric rehabilitation,
mental retardation, rights of the developmentally disabled, vocational
assessment, achievement testing, learning disabilities, and attention deficit
hyperactivity. She has also presented her research findings at seminars internationally.
Dr. Katz has been project director or co-director on 19 major
research projects in rehabilitation, learning disabilities, and other diverse
topics. Her current research activities involve attention deficit disorder and
specific learning disabilities in adults. She and her co-authors have recently
written a book entitled Learning
Disabilities in Older Adolescents and Adults: Clinical Utility of the
Neuropsychological Perspective, which was published in August 2001.
Dr. Shirley Cohen, Hunter
College
Shirley Cohen, Ph.D. is a Professor in the Department of Special Education at Hunter
College. She is the author of the book Targeting
Autism, the third edition of which was published in fall 2006. She
also serves as the director of the nascent Hunter College Autism Center for
Parents, Professionals, and Programs. Professor Cohen has held various
administrative positions at Hunter College for many years, including the
position of Interim Dean of the Hunter College School of Education from
2003-2005. She has directed city, state, and foundation training grants on
autism spectrum disorders, and serves as a consultant to the ASD Nest program
of the NYC Department of Education.
David Flink, Founder Eye To Eye
David Flink is the Managing Director and Co-Founder of Project
Eye-To-Eye. Project Eye-To-Eye is a national mentoring program that matches
college and high school students with LD/ADHD, acting as tutors, role models
and mentors, with elementary, middle, and high school students with LD/ADHD in
order to empower these students and help them find success. Like many who are
eventually diagnosed with dyslexia, David Flink’s first exposure to the
treatment of this learning difference was on the cold linoleum floor outside
his 5th grade classroom. He existed for a year in this reading group of one
where his teachers, although often well intentioned, did not teach David
fundamental reading skills but instead, shame. Though struggling through much
of his pre-college education, David eventually found success in school and once
attending Brown University decided he needed to transcend his past experiences
and attempt to empower others who might be encountering similar difficulty in
school. Hence, he became one of the founding creators of Project Eye-To-Eye.
In addition to his work in Project Eye-To-Eye, he also received
a double degree in Education and Psychology from Brown University and graduated
with honors. The Orton Gillingham Society has recognized his Honors Thesis on
the Treatment of Dyslexia through Multisensory Learning and David has lectured
at Brown University, Dartmouth College, Vassar College, Columbia University,
Reed College, and numerous conferences for organizations including the
International Dyslexia Association.
Dr.
Jess Shatkin, NYU Child Study Center
Jess Shatkin, M.D. is the
Director of Education and Training at the NYU Child Study Center. Dr. Shatkin
leads the educational efforts of the NYU Child Study Center. In addition to
directing the child and adolescent psychiatry residency training program at the
NYU School of Medicine and the Bellevue Hospital Center, Dr. Shatkin is the
director of undergraduate studies for the first child and adolescent mental
health college minor in the country (the Child and Adolescent Mental Health
Studies [CAMS] Minor) at NYU. His major clinical interests are Autism Spectrum
Disorders, Mood and Anxiety Disorders, Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity
Disorder, and Oppositional Defiance and Conduct Disorders. Dr. Shatkin has
published in the areas of child mental health policy, complementary and
alternative medications, sleep medicine, and medical education. He was recently
selected as one of six nationwide AACAP (American Academy of Child and Adolescent
Psychiatry) Teaching Scholars, whose mission is to develop innovative methods
for training the next generation of child and adolescent psychiatrists by
working in conjunction with the Harvard Macy Institute for Physician Educators.
Dr.
Thomas E. Brown, Yale University
Thomas E. Brown, Ph.D., a
clinical psychologist, is Associate Director of the Yale Clinic for Attention
and Related Disorders at the Yale University School of Medicine. He maintains a
private practice in Hamden, CT. where he specializes in assessment and treatment
of high IQ children, adolescents and adults with ADHD and related problems. Dr.
Brown has lectured for lay audiences and professionals throughout the US and in
32 other countries. He developed the Brown ADD Scales for Children, Adolescents
and Adults and is author of the prize-winning book, Attention
Deficit Disorder: The Unfocused Mind in Children and Adults (Yale University Press, 2005). His website is www.DrThomasEBrown.com.
Dr. Marvin Stober, CCNY
Marvin Stober is a lecturer in special education at the City
College of New York. He served the New York City Department of Education as a
Regional Administrator of Special Education in Region 4 (Districts 24, 30, and
32). He was Senior Education Administrator for the Manhattan Office of
Monitoring and School Improvement. He has also served as staff developer and
teacher of special education students during his tenure with the Department of
Education. Mr. Stober holds a Bachelor of Science in Education from the
University of Minnesota, a Master of Science in Special Education from Yeshiva
University, a Specialist Certificate in Psycho-educational Diagnosis and
Remediation from Yeshiva University, and a Master of Education with honors in
Administration and Supervision from the City College of New York.
Dr.
Rima Shore, Ph.D.,
Bank Street College
Rima Shore, Ph.D. is Adelaide Weismann Chair in Educational
Leadership at Bank Street College of Education where she chairs the Educational
Leadership Department. As director of the LDRS Consortium, of which Bank Street is the lead partner,
she oversees a middle school reform initiative encompassing 28 schools in
Brooklyn. Shore is the author of What Kids Need: Today’s Best
Ideas for Nurturing, Teaching, and Protecting Young Children (Beacon
2002), as well as Rethinking
the Brain: New Insights into Early Development and many other
monographs and articles.
Sam
Koplewicz, Dalton School
Sam Koplewicz is a senior at
the Dalton School where he founded a mentoring organization, Eye to Eye, to
help students with LD and ADHD. He will continue Eye to Eye as a student at
Brown University which he begins next year. Sam is the captain of his soccer
team, the head of model Congress and started the legal society at Dalton.
Coping with dyslexia himself, he’s become a strong advocate for his peers with
LD
Angela
Mouzakitis, M.S.Ed.,BCBA
Angela is a full-time
lecturer at CUNY Queens College in the Graduate Programs in Special
Education Department. She holds certification as a school psychologist, special
education teacher, and behavior analyst. Angela works with children on the
autism spectrum coordinating home-based and center-based individualized
programs. She is completing her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology at CUNY
Graduate Center.
Dr.
Cecilia McCarton, Founder, McCarton School
Cecilia McCarton, M.D. is a Professor of Pediatrics at the
Albert Einstein College of Medicine. In 1998 she founded the McCarton Center
for Developmental Pediatrics. She is widely regarded as one of the nation’s
leading experts in diagnosing and treating children with developmental
disorders.
Dr.
Andrea Spencer, Ph.D., Bank Street College
Andrea Spencer is Co-Chair of the Special and Bilingual
Education Department at Bank Street College in New York City. She advises
graduate students in their supervised fieldwork placements, teaches on-line and
traditional special education courses and provides professional development to
general education and special education teachers in elementary and middle
schools in New York City school districts. Prior to joining the Bank Street
Faculty she supervised multiple special and alternative day and residential
education programs for students with developmental disabilities, neurological
impairments and social-emotional and behavioral disorders in Connecticut, Maine
and Massachusetts.
Dr.
Laura Rader, CCNY
Dr. Laura Rader is an Assistant Professor in the School of
Education, Department of Educational Leadership, Program in Special Education.
