Dr. Daniel Openden

Autism Light #50 is Dr. Daniel Openden.

Dr. Daniel Openden

Dr. Daniel Openden is Vice President and Clinical Services Director for the Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center (SARRC) in Phoenix, Arizona.  Dr. Daniel Openden has received his Ph.D. in Special Education, Disability and Risk Studies from the University of California and was mentored by Drs. Robert and Lynn Koegel. Dr. Daniel Openden is an Autism Light because of his important role as a leading autism researcher and clinical services director who has focused on early intervention strategies and the role of parents in educating children with autism.

In addition to his work at SARRC, Dr. Daniel Openden has the following special roles in autism research.

• Science Advisory Board of TeachTown. 
• Associate Editor for the Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions.
• Adjunct faculty member of Arizona State University.

He is also a founding Board Member of the Council for Autism Services.

Awards: 

• In June, 2011, Dr. Daniel Openden received the Phoenix Business Journals Forty Under Forty Award.
• In 2004, Dr. Openden received the CalABA Julie Vargas Award for original  research with his study, "A Systematic Desensitization Paradigm to Treat Hypersensitivity to Auditory Stimuli in Children with Autism in Family Contexts."  

Speaker: Dr. Openden is also a frequent speaker at autism conferences and events.

• He spoke at the 2011 National Autism Conference and the program at the 2011 National Autism Conference listed his research interests as, "parent education, professional development, positive behavior supports, early intervention, inclusion, and dissemination of service delivery models for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders."  
• In 2010 Dr. Openden gave a presentation in South Carolina and SCNow.com wrote a news article on that speech.
• In 2009, he was the keynote at the OAR Conference.  

Research Area: The majority of Dr. Openden's work has focused on parent training.  He explained to me the importance of this strategic partnership with parent education in this way:

I think it is important to recognize that parents can be effectively trained to deliver high quality intervention (in my work, Pivotal Response Treatment [PRT]) and make a positive impact on their child's symptoms. Parents are often our most committed group of people, and when provided with good training in evidence-based interventions, likely increase the intensity of treatment and improve outcomes. (Daniel Openden)

Dr. Daniel Openden shared with me that in his opinion two particular professional studies by others have had the most impact on autism research.  These two are:

• Dr. O. Ivaar Lovaas' Study (1987) 
• Dr. Phillip Strain's Study on LEAP

Behavior Imaging Solutions: The following is the video of Dr. Openden explaining how they use Behavior Imaging Solutions at SAARC to help with early intervention strategies. Behavior Imaging Solutions is a system where parents upload video of children being taught to their Internet site and then trained therapists can access them and offer guidance on the intervention strategies being employed to improve specific behaviors with a specific child.

Social Media:  Follow Dr. Daniel Openden on the following social media.

• LinkedIn

Thanks to Dr. Daniel Openden for being an Autism Light. The research and work that he is doing to improve the lives of those with autism is making a difference in Arizona and beyond.  

Autism Light honors diverse heroes to the world of autism.

Photo: Photo in this post used with permission of Daniel Openden.

This post went into syndication on Autisable. 

Cynthia Howroyd

Autism Light #31 is Cynthia Howroyd.  

Cynthia Howroyd

Cynthia Howroyd is an experienced speech language pathologist who specializes in autism treatment and is currently the CEO of a software company aimed at autism that is being used worldwide.  She is also a conference speaker. Cynthia Howroyd is an Autism Light because of the work she has done to improve the speech and education of children with autism.

Cynthia Howroyd is from Canada but grew up in Australia.  The following was written about her in a PR Web Press Release in March of 2007.

"Leaving Tasamnia at the age of six when her father accepted a teaching post at a Canadian university, Cynthia Howroyd went on to become one of the first speech language pathologists on the Canadian East Coast to work with children with autism. Years later, as president and CEO of a software company, she's a pioneer in the use of technology to provide autism services."

Cynthia Howroyd founded the Canadian company AutismPro in 2006 to engage technology in the treatment of autism. AutismPro is a custom intervention program she created to assist educators with improving the learning experiences of children with autism.  It utilizes a combination of online computer software and professional consulting services. Presently there are over 1,000 clients throughout the world using AutismPro. The following YouTube video explains the AutismPro workshops and website.

For more information on AutismPro and Cynthia Howroyd's work visit these websites:

• AutismPro (About Us)
• Press Release - 2007
• Press Release - 2008

You can also visit her Website at http://www.howcreative.org/ or follow her on Twitter.

Special thanks to Cynthia Howroyd for being an Autism Light. Countless children with autism have the potential for improved speech through your efforts.

Autism Light honors diverse heroes to the world of autism. 


Photo: Photo in this post used with permission of Cynthia Howroyd.

John LeSieur

Autism Light #2 is John LeSieur.

John LeSieur created the Zac Browser and is the President of People CD.  The Zach Browser is a web browser designed to help children with autism navigate the internet. The USA Today did a story on John LeSieur which can be found at this Website. This resource was created in order to help limit the frustrations of his grandson Zachary experienced when using the internet.  Zachary has autism. People CD summarizes the unique features of their browser by saying,

"The buttons are limited to essential functions and the browser prevents the child from accessing inappropriate sites. Children suffering from autism are known for being able to adapt easily to PECS (pictograms) so we designed an icon based navigation system like the PECS system."

  Below is the Associated Press story on this special web browser. 

Social Media: You can follow John LeSieur and his work at the following social media areas:

• Twitter - @zacbrowser
• Google+ - John LeSieur

You may find out all about this special browser for computer users with autism on their home page at www.zacbrowser.com.   A free download is available.  John LeSieur is an Autism Light because of the potential this browser has to help many children with autism experience the world of the Internet.  

Autism Light honors diverse heroes to the world of autism.