The Family Center on Technology and Disability

Board of Advisors

Joan Breslin Larson – Ms. Breslin Larson brings an SEA perspective to the Board, as the Minnesota Department of Education’s Supervisor of Low Incidence Disabilities and Workforce Preparation. Prior to her current position, Ms. Breslin Larson served as the SEA’s senior specialist on assistive and instructional technology interventions.

 

Dave Edyburn, Ph.D. – Dr. Edyburn’s seminal publication, Handbook of Special Education Technology Research and Practice, is one of the most respected books in the field. He is one of the country’s leading experts in research-based practices in assistive and instructional technology-enhanced learning environments for students with disabilities.

Robin Hurd – Ms. Hurd is the moderator of the Augmentative and Alternative Communication Institute’s Parents’ Corner. Ms. Hurd is the parent of three children with disabilities and writes and speaks widely on assistive and instructional technology use.
 

 

Howard P. Parette, Jr., Ed.D. – Director of the Special Education Assistive Technology (SEAT) Center at Illinois State University, Dr. Parette has interests and expertise in the family and multicultural aspects of successful AT/IT adoption. More recently his research interests have focused on AT/IT outcomes in early childhood settings. He also is Editor of Assistive Technology Outcomes and Benefits, the only peer-reviewed AT outcomes-focused journal in the U.S.

 

Linda Robinson, M.S.Ed.– Ms. Robinson serves as both Assistant Director of the Center for Best Practices in Early Childhood at Western Illinois University, and Director of STARNET Regions I and III, funded through the Illinois State Board of Education. As such, she brings both an early childhood perspective as well as an understanding of SEA needs.
 

Wendy Whipple – Ms. Whipple is the administrator of Nevada’s Bureau of Early Intervention Services. Nevada is currently the fastest growing state in the U.S. and Ms. Whipple’s organization is in the process of developing AT/IT guidelines and training materials for the state’s early intervention service providers.

Joy Zabala, Ph.D. – Creator of the SETT Framework, Dr. Zabala is one of the nation’s top experts in AT/IT assessment and evaluation and in universal design for learning. She is co-author of the Quality Indicators for Assistive Technology and co-founder of the QIAT listserv.  Dr. Zabala currently serves as project manager of the Accessible Instructional Materials Consortium (AIM) at CAST.