Cast
Burbacher
Greenspan
D. Jarman
M. Jarman
Kirby
Messibov
Mintz
Sykes
Thomas Burbacher, PhD
Thomas Burbacher is a Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Research Affiliate with the Center on Human Development and Disability Director, Infant Primate Research Laboratory, at the University of Washington in Seattle, WA. He is currently investigating changes in brain development and function caused by prenatal exposure to neuroactive substances. His studies in nonhuman primate models are yielding information on the long-term effects of prenatal exposure to methylmercury, a widespread environmental contaminant, and the effects of prenatal exposure to methanol, which is under consideration as an alternative motor fuel. In-utero exposure to methylmercury has been linked to mental retardation, sensory disturbances such as blindness and deafness, and significant delays in motor development. Burbacher has been studying the same group of macaque monkeys from birth to 16 years of age to evaluate the immediate and long-term effects of in-utero methylmercury exposure on physical development, cognitive abilities, and sensory functioning. Data from Burbacher's research program are used to help formulate policies aimed at the protection of human populations from levels of exposure to environmental contaminants such as methylmercury and methanol that are associated with adverse health effects and developmental disabilities.
Stanley Greenspan, MD
Dr. Greenspan is a practicing Child and Adult Psychiatrist and Psychoanalyst, a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Pediatrics, at the George Washington University Medical School, the Supervising Child Psychoanalyst with the Washington Psychoanalytic Institute, the Chair of the Interdisciplinary Council on Developmental and Learning Disorders (ICDL), and Co-Chair of the Council on Human Development. He is a Researcher on the prevention and treatment of emotional and developmental disorders in infants and children. He also served as a founder and president (1975-84) of ZERO TO THREE: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families and as the Chairman of the Diagnostic Classification Committee, ZERO TO THREE: NCITF (1988-96).
Mike & Deirdre Jarman
Mike and Deirdre Jarman are the parents of four children including Patrick and Sean, a set of twins who are in the autism spectrum disorder and are founders of the Vista School in Hershey, PA. The Vista School is a group of highly committed parents and professionals, seeking to create an alternative educational and therapeutic program to prepare children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) to function in the community with increasing independence. Vista currently serves more than 48 children with ASD ranging in age from pre-kindergarten to secondary school age from Berks, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Juniata, Lancaster, Lebanon, and Perry Counties.
David Kirby
David Kirbyis the author of Evidence of Harm, a non-fiction book concerning the vaccine debate and Thimerisol. He is a professional journalist and has written for The New York Times for the past eight years. Kirby was a contracted writer with the weekly City Section at The Times, where he covered public health, local politics, art and culture, film and theater, architecture, zoning and land use, among many other subjects. Kirby has also worked in politics, medical research and public relations. He worked for New York City Council President Carol Bellamy as a special assistant for healthcare, cultural affairs and civil rights, followed by employment as chief scheduler to Manhattan Borough President David N. Dinkins. He also was a senior staff adviser to Dinkins’ successful 1989 run for Mayor of New York City. From 1990-1993, Kirby was Director of Public Information at the American Foundation for AIDS Research (AmFAR), where he acted as press spokesman for Chairwoman Elizabeth Taylor, and witnessed first-hand the inner workings of Congress, the White House and powerful Federal agencies like the FDA, CDC and NIH.
Gary Mesibov, PhD
The American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities has selected Dr. Gary Mesibov, former Director of TEACCH, as its recipient of the AAIDD 2010 Service Award. This award is the latest of many honors Dr. Mesibov has received in his many years of work with the TEACCH program. In February, Dr. Mesibov stepped down as Director.
He spent thirty-one of his thirty-five years on the faculty at TEACCH.
TEACCH was founded in the early 1970s by Eric Schopler. Dr. Mesibov followed Dr. Schopler as director and continued his vision of serving families with innovative diagnostic and supportive services that are now used throughout North Carolina and around the world.
Dr. Mesibov is an internationally recognized leader in autism research and practice. He received the Chancellor’s Award for Public Service, a Distinguished Professional Contribution Award for Public Service from the American Psychological Association, and an honorary degree from the University of Mons in Belgium. Dr. Mesibov has written extensively on autism and served as editor of the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders from 1997-2007.
Mark Mintz, MD
Mark Mintz is a pediatric neurologist. Dr. Mintz attended medical school at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ)-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, performed his pediatric residency training at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore Medical Center, and completed a Pediatric Neurology fellowship at UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School. He is triple-Board Certified in Child Neurology, Pediatrics and Neurodevelopmental Disabilities. Dr. Mintz is on the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, and is presently a member of the medical staffs of Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center-Camden, Weisman Children's Rehabilitation Hospital, South Jersey Healthcare and Bancroft NeuroHealth. Dr. Mintz is widely published in the medical literature, and has been an invited lecturer at a number of national and international conferences. Dr. Mintz functions as the Principle Investigator on a variety of clinical drug trials, has been the Protocol Neurologist for a number of national Pediatric AIDS Clinical Trials, and has participated on an array of committees and task forces of the National Institutes of Health and the New Jersey Governor’s office. Additionally, Dr. Mintz has served in the National Health Service Corps of the United States Public Health Service, and has volunteered for medical relief missions in Romania and Russia.
Lisa Sykes
The Reverend Lisa Sykes is the mother of three children. Her middle child Wesley is autistic. An ordained minister currently serving as Pastor for the Christ United Methodist Church in Richmond, Virginia, she is one of the founders of the Coalition for Mercury-Free Drugs (CoMeD) {link: http://www.mercury-freedrugs.org/}, a not-for-profit organization focused on the removal of mercury products used in over-the-counter and prescribed medications.
A Parallel Universe: A Journey Through Autism © 2008