Speakers
Speaker Bios
Stephanie Madrigal, MS, CCC-SLP
| Speaker Region: | U.S., Canada, International |
| Speaker Focus: | Workshops: A B C D E J K |
| School Age, School related programs in public/private settings | |
| Consultation and/or on-site customized trainings to schools and groups |
Stephanie Madrigal is a speech-language pathologist and senior therapist at the Social Thinking Center. She has worked alongside Michelle Garcia Winner since 2003. She graduated in 1993 with a BA degree in Speech Pathology and Audiology from San Jose State University and completed her MA degree in Speech Pathology from the same university in 1995.
Pamela J Crooke, PhD, CCC-SLP
| Speaker Region: | U.S., Canada, International |
| Speaker Focus: | Workshops: A B C E F G J K |
| School age, School related programs in public/private settings; Adults | |
| Consultation and/or on-site customized trainings to schools and groups |
Pamela J. Crooke is the senior therapist at the Social Thinking Center and part of the social-cognitive team in San Jose, CA. She has an active caseload of children, teens, and adults, conducts Dynamic Assessments, and consults with school programs.
Michelle Garcia Winner, MA, CCC-SLP
| Speaker Region: | U.S., Canada, and International |
| Speaker Focus: | Workshops: A B C D E F G J K |
| Consultation and/or on-site customized trainings to schools, groups, and businesses |
Michelle Garcia Winner is a speech language pathologist (SLP) who specializes in the treatment of students with social learning disabilities at the Social Thinking Center, her clinic in San Jose, California. It was her interest in autism while attending the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 1979 that became the catalyst for becoming an SLP.
Kari Palmer, MA, CCC-SLP
| Speaker Region: | Midwest U.S. |
| Speaker Focus: | Workshops A B C E H |
| Preschool, School age, School Programs |
Kari Palmer’s interest in communication and related disorders began long before she studied it formally. Her mom, Jane, is a speech language pathologist and Kari grew up in the field. When she took her first language course in college, Kari could actually go back and listen to her own development as Jane had recorded it all! As a graduate student, Kari was selected for the Communication and Autism Project, a training program offering specialized education in the area of autism spectrum disorders.
Nancy Clements, MA, CCC-SLP
| Speaker Region: | Northeast U.S./Eastern Canada |
| Speaker Focus: | Workshops: A B C E |
| School age, School related programs in public/private settings |
Nancy Clements is a speech language pathologist, Executive Director of Social Thinking® Boston (more info coming soon), and the director of the east coast Social Thinking Clinical Training Program. She developed an in-depth Social Thinking program, including developmentally based groups, off-site coaching and consultations, and a three-credit graduate course in partnership with Saint Michaels College.
Nancy Tarshis, MA, MS, CCC-SLP
| Speaker Region: | Northeast and Eastern US |
| Speaker Focus: | Workshops: A B C E H |
| Parent training, Preschool and School age | |
| Individual Speaker or a co-presenter with Debbie Meringolo |
Nancy Tarshis is a speech-language pathologist whose prolific career includes extensive experience working with children and their parents. In 1992, she joined the professional team at the Children’s Evaluation and Rehabilitation Center (CERC) at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where, in 1996, she was named Supervisor of Speech and Language Services. Currently, she maintains a clinical practice, seeing patients birth to 21 for diagnoses and therapeutic treatment, supervises ten speech pathologists, lectures to medical residents and psychology interns, participates in research projects, and serves as adjunct clinical instructor at Teachers College, Columbia, Hunter College, NYU, and Hofstra University. She is deeply experienced in a wide variety of treatment methodologies, including Social Thinking, and is a frequent speaker across the U.S. on its concepts and strategies.
Debbie Meringolo, MA, MS
| Speaker Region: | Northeast and Eastern U.S. |
| Speaker Focus: | Workshops: A B C E H |
| Preschool, Parent Training, School Age |
Debbie Meringolo, a special educator and developmental specialist, is the Associate Director of the Infant/Toddler Team at the Children's Evaluation and Rehabilitation Center (CERC) at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, the director of the Baby Team Program, and co-director CERC's RELATE program, which provides diagnostic evaluations and treatment for children with language and social difficulties.
Renee Attaway, MS, CCC-SLP
| Speaker Region: | Southern U.S. |
| Speaker Focus: | Workshops: A B C E |
| School age, School related programs in public/private settings |
Renee Attaway has worked as a Speech Language Pathologist since 2000. For most of her career, she has worked at The Parish School, a private school in Houston, TX for children with language and learning differences. She is the founder and director of Social Thinking® at Parish, a program that offers social cognitive services for children from preschool to high school, a Social Thinking summer camp, parent groups, and workshops for professionals.
Ryan Hendrix, MS, CCC-SLP
| Speaker Region: | San Francisco Bay Area |
| Speaker Focus: | Workshop: H |
| Preschool, School Age |
Ryan Hendrix is a Social Cognitive Therapist at Social Thinking Stevens Creek in San Jose and a private therapist in San Francisco. She trained and works directly with Michelle Garcia Winner and Dr. Pamela Crooke. Her diverse caseload experience includes preschool-age children through young adults with varying levels of social cognitive learning challenges.
Gretchen Schmidt-Mertes, M.Ed.
| Speaker Region: | Northwest U.S./U.S. |
| Speaker Focus: | Workshop: A |
| Education Systems & Administration, Social Thinking and RTI/PBS |
Gretchen Schmidt-Mertes is an Educational Specialist in Autism and a well known presenter and consultant throughout the Pacific Northwest. She has over 20 years of experience teaching both general and special education students, and currently works as a TOSA (Teacher on Special Assignment) with students pre-school through high school.
Chithra Kathiresan, B. App. Sc.
| Speaker Region: | Singapore |
| Speaker Focus: | Workshops: A & Custom |
Ms Chithra Kathiresan has been working 18 years as a Speech Language Therapist. She left full- time employment as Head of Speech Therapy at KK Hospital Rehabilitation Department in 2000, to care for her two children. She has been in private practice since. Currently she is Senior Speech Therapy Consultant at Kaleidoscope Therapy Centre, a private pediatric centre in Singapore. Chithra has a special interest in Autism Spectrum Disorders and disorders of relating. She is constantly exploring new tools to best meet the needs of this unique group of children.