CDA Credential - Preschool, Part 4

Tara Warwick
MS OTR/L

Tara Warwick, MS, OTR/L, is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma, obtaining her Bachelor’s degree in occupational therapy in 2000 and completing her Master’s degree in rehabilitation sciences with an emphasis in pediatrics in 2005. She has spent her entire career focusing on improving the quality of services for children, primarily targeting children with autism.  She currently co-owns a pediatric therapy practice called Today’s Therapy Solutions and is a consultant for the Oklahoma Autism Center through the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center – Child Study Center. Tara’s specialties include working with children with autism and challenging behavior. She has extensive experience and expertise in behavior management, sensory processing, self-care training (potty training, eating/feeding, dressing, play, etc.), and assistive technology.  She has conducted trainings and provided consultations for schools, parents and health and child care professionals all across the state.

Karen Deerwester
EdS

Owner of Family Time, Inc.

Karen Deerwester is the owner of Family Time Coaching & Consulting, the director at Family Time classes at B’nai Torah Congregation in Boca Raton and the host of the weekly podcast See Me Hear Me Love Me. Karen is the author of three parenting books: The Entitlement-Free Child (Sourcebooks 2009), The Playskool Guide to Potty Training (Sourcebooks 2008), and The Potty Training Answer Book (Sourcebooks 2007) which won the 2008 NAPPA Gold Award for parenting resources. Karen has also appeared on numerous TV and radio programs including MSNBC, NBC, and NPR, as well as contributed parenting/early childhood advice to Parents Magazine, Parenting Magazine, Real Simple, Women’s Day, and Essence Magazine.

Shari Robertson
PhD CCC-SLP

Shari Robertson, Ph.D., CCC-SLP is a Professor of Speech Language Pathology and Provost’s Associate at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Robertson spent 18 years as a school-based SLP and supervisor prior to obtaining her Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is the current president-elect of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Shari has published numerous articles, book chapters, and clinical materials and presented several hundred workshops at state, national, and international venues related to language and literacy.

Megan Kapcar
BS, MA CCC-SLP

Megan Kapcar, MA, CCC-SLP, is a Speech-Language Pathologist at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Outpatient Northern Kentucky Satellite.  Her area of interest and expertise is in treating children and adolescents with apraxia, autism and language impairments. She also specializes in early intervention, ages birth to three years old, as well as treating Oromyfunctional Disorders.  Megan has previously worked within the school setting with children ages preschool to 8^th grade, who have various diagnoses.  She is the previous Chair for the Birth-Three Team and a contributing member of the Oromyofunctional Disorder Team.

Brynn Hanson
BS, BA, MS CCC-SLP

Brynn Hanson MS, CCC-SLP, is a Speech-Language Pathologist at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Outpatient Eastgate Satellite.  Her area of interest and expertise is in treating children and adolescents with autism, apraxia and language impairments. She also specializes in early intervention, age birth to three-years-old, and augmentative communication. Brynn has previously worked within the school setting with children with various diagnoses. She is the previous Chair for the Birth-Three Team, an active member of the Augmentative and Alternative Communication Team, a contributing member to the Autism Team, and serves as the Communication Lead for Group Therapy in the Division of Speech-Language Pathology.

Brian Fisher
BS, MS CCC-SLP

Brian Fisher, MA, CCC-SLP, is a Speech-Language Pathologist at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Outpatient Fairfield Satellite.  His area of interest and expertise is in treating children and adolescents with apraxia, autism, language impairments, and auditory processing. He also specializes in early intervention, age birth to three years old.  He is the previous chair for the Birth-Three Team.

Anarella Cellitti
PhD

Dr. Anarella Cellitti has an undergraduate degree in education from the Instituto Universitario Pedagógico de Caracas. Her PhD and MEd degrees in elementary/early childhood education are from the University of South Carolina. In addition, she holds an MA degree in psychology from the University of Houston, Victoria. Currently, she is an Associate Professor in the School of Education at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. In addition, she holds a Psychological Examiner License as well as International Medical Interpreter License.  Her work as an educator covers teaching preschool, high school, undergraduate, and graduate students. Dr. Cellitti's work also includes doing therapy and assessments with children and adolescents. In addition, she has worked as a medical interpreter for ten years. Her presentations and publications represent her dedication to work with dual-language learners. Dr. Cellitti is very involved in community initiatives and is an advocate for language access of minority populations.

Luis Hernandez
MA

Sara Pullen
DPT, MPH

Dr. Pullen is an Associate Professor at Emory University School of Medicine, where she coordinates the service learning program and the pro bono physical therapy clinic. Dr. Pullen’s clinical practice and research focuses on the intersection of HIV, chronic pain and opioid use, especially in underserved areas. Dr. Pullen started the first physical therapy clinic within a freestanding, multi-service AIDS clinic in the southeastern U.S. where she holds weekly clinics and conducts clinical research.  She has wide experience in the provision of health services to underserved communities both in the U.S. and internationally. She has published several peer-reviewed journals on the topic of HIV and physical therapy, and provided the HIV content of the two major study guides for the physical therapy national board licensure exam. In 2015, she received the IPT-HOPE Award from the World Congress of Physical Therapy for her work in the field of HIV and physiotherapy. In 2018, she received the Emory University School of Medicine’s prestigious Hidden Gem Award for her groundbreaking work with HIV and chronic pain in vulnerable communities. 

Marva Lewis
PhD

Dr. Lewis earned a PhD in Sociocultural Psychology and is an Associate Professor at Tulane University School of Social Work in New Orleans, Louisiana. She is Adjunct Faculty at Fielding University in the doctoral program in Infant Mental Health. She completed her dissertation with Dr. Robert Emde and Dr. O. J. Harvey at University of Colorado, Boulder and a post-doctoral Zero to Three fellowship with Drs. Joy Osofsky and Charles Zeanah at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center. She serves as a consultant with the Infant Toddler Court Program (ITCP) focusing on reducing racial disparities in child welfare. She is a member of the National ITCP Leadership team and currently President of the Louisiana Infant Mental Health Association. She is the Founder and Director of the Center for Natural Connections (CNC) that provides programs centered on the everyday routine of combing hair as an opportunity for parents to connect with their children, culture, and community. CNC interventions address the legacy Colorism from the historical trauma of slavery and parental acceptance or rejection of children. In 2017 Dr. Lewis co-authored the Ubunto Program for Emotional Wellness web-based curriculum for the Take Action for Health national initiative that uses culturally valid, community-based strategies to heal from historical trauma as well as everyday modern stressors facing African American communities. This curriculum has been translated into Spanish as, Compartiendo el Café y Chocolate for Latino.

Amanda Schwartz
PhD

Amanda Schwartz, Ph.D. is an educator and Federal contractor who has worked at national, regional, state, and local levels. While her expertise is focused on special education, health, early childhood education, and family engagement, Dr. Schwartz has worked on program management and emergency preparedness issues related to children and families. As a team member on several Federal projects, Dr. Schwartz worked in technical assistance, resource development, research, and monitoring. Throughout her career, Dr. Schwartz has developed professional development opportunities and publications to facilitate the use of research-based interventions and support data-driven decision-making by practitioners, technical assistance providers, and Federal staff in the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services. 

J. Michael Hall
MEd

J. Michael Hall is the father of two sons (a high school teacher and a marketing director) and the husband to a beautiful middle school reading teacher. Mr. Hall has been a special education teacher, a teacher of the gifted and talented, and an intermediate and middle school principal. As an educator, speaker, and founder of Strong Fathers-Strong Families, he has presented to more than 225,000 fathers and parents at local schools, Head Starts, and regional and national conferences. J. Michael has worked with over 300 schools in Texas and in over 45 states with public schools and Head Starts.

“Mike” is also the current co-host of the Intentional Partnerships, a collaborative podcast in partnership with Lindsey Shah and the National Center for Parents as Teachers. He has written five different fatherhood curricula and is also a contributing author to the book on fathering entitled Why Fathers Count. He is considered one of the country’s foremost experts on working with fathers in schools and Head Starts. For his pioneering work in education, he was honored as a 2012 White House Champion of Change for his work in the fatherhood field around the nation.