Audrey Vernick is the Director of Patient and Family Advocacy at the Pediatric Epilepsy Surgery Alliance. She is the parent of a child who had hemispherectomy for seizures caused by an in utero stroke. Ms. Vernick holds a level 2 certification in Special Education Advocacy Training from the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates and is certified by The ARC in future planning. She represents PESA in the Rare Epilepsy Network‘s Adult Transition Taskforce and serves on the Youth Advisory Council for HOBSCOTCH (HOme Based Self-management and COgnitive Training CHanges lives), a behavioral program designed to address memory and attention problems for people who have epilepsy.

Diane Smith Howard manages the NDRN team that works on community integration for people living in institutions, such as, prisons, hospitals, residential treatment centers, migrant shelters. Her individual work focuses on conditions for children and youth with disabilities in institutional systems, with a concentration on those who are members of multiple protected classes. Diane also provides training and technical assistance to the P&As, and advocates on these issues within the Administration, on the Hill, and in the courts, through NDRN’s work on amicus briefs.

Diane holds a B.A. with honors from Colby College, and a J. D. from Wayne State University Law School. She has represented individual clients and handled systemic cases at the P&As in Maine and Michigan. She has classroom teaching experience at the graduate, undergraduate, and high school level. Diane’s passion for this work is rooted in a family connection to children and adults with disabilities, LGBTQ and foster and adopted children and youth.

Dan Stewart joined NDRN in May 2022 as the Managing Attorney for Education and Employment.  In that role, he primarily provides special education training/technical assistance to the Network and assists in overseeing training/technical assistance to CAP and PABSS work.    Dan started with the Minnesota P&A (the Minnesota Disability Law Center) in 2006 and served as its Legal Director from 2019-2022.  His disability rights specialties include special education and VR/PABSS employment issues.  He has a B.A. in Social Thought and Political Economy from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, and an M.A. in Educational Policy, a J.D. and a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota.  His doctoral dissertation focused on school-based restraint and seclusion policies and practices.

Ann Simun, Psy.D. has been working professionally with children with learning and behavioral challenges since 1989. She is a licensed psychologist (PSY20113), with a specialization in neuropsychology. She is also a credentialed and experienced School Counselor, School Psychologist, and Licensed Educational Psychologist, making her eligible to conduct IEEs for school district matters. 

Dr. Simun is a member of the American Psychological Association, National Academy of Neuropsychology, and International Neuropsychological Society. She regularly presents at conferences nationwide and provides training for school districts, parents, advocates, and nonprofit disability agencies. Dr. Simun conducts neuropsychological and psychoeducational assessments, provides expert witness and consultation services, conducts formal observations, and teaches psychoeducational assessment at the graduate level.

Sandra Dixon Shove is a former elementary educator, a non-attorney special education advocate in private practice, and a longtime Autism Society affiliate leader.

 She has 12 years of experience teaching, 13 years advocating for children with a variety of disabilities, and more than 14 years supporting and mentoring parents, as well as developing and presenting community awareness programs countywide as an Autism Society leader.

Lisa A. Hernandez is Counsel at Smith Eibeler, LLC. Lisa practices plaintiff-side employment law, representing individuals in all aspects of employment law and litigation, including claims of unlawful termination and discrimination, sexual harassment and whistle-blower retaliation. Lisa also leads the firm’s education law practice, helping families and students with disabilities navigate special education disputes, school-based accommodations, and transition planning to prepare students for employment and independent living.

Kelley Challen, Ed.M., CAS is an expert transition specialist who has been engaged in assessment, development, and direction of transition-focused programming for teenagers and young adults with a wide array of developmental and learning abilities since 2004. Ms. Challen joined NESCA as Director of Transition Services in 2013. While she has special expertise in working with children with autism spectrum disorders, she enjoys working with students with an extensive wide range of cognitive, learning, communication, social, emotional and/or behavioral needs. Through her role at NESCA, Ms. Challen provides an extensive array of services including individualized transition assessment, planning, consultation, pre-college coaching, training, and program development services. She is particularly skilled in providing transition assessment and consultation for students with complex profiles who may not be able to engage easily with traditional and standardized testing tools. When appropriate, Ms. Challen has additionally provided expert witness testimony for families engaged in due process hearings or engaged in legal proceedings centering on transition assessment, services and/or programming—locally and nationally.

Ms. Challen received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology as well as a Minor in Hispanic Studies from The College of William and Mary. She pursued her Master’s Degree and Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study in Risk and Prevention Counseling from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education. She has worked in a variety of school-based and community programs including Boston Latin School, Camp Good Times Summer Program of Milestones Therapeutic Day School, the Massachusetts General Hospital Aspire Program, and the Northeast Arc Spotlight Program. Ms. Challen is a member of Massachusetts Advocates for Children IEP Revision Subcommittee and Asperger/Autism Network (AANE) Program Committee. She has mentored multiple transition specialist candidates in the Transition Leadership Certificate Program through the Institute for Community Inclusion at UMass Boston. She has also participated as a stakeholder in the MA DESE IEP Improvement Project. She is also co-author of the chapter, “Technologies to Support Interventions for Social-Emotional Intelligence, Self-Awareness, Personality Style, and Self-Regulation,” for the book Technology Tools for Students with Autism: Innovations that Enhance Independence and Learning.

Jenn Choi is a former publicist and youth services provider, Jenn Choi was introduced to the world of special education after learning that both of her children had disabilities and required IEPs. She realized that she had to learn as much as she could in order to best advocate for them. Her journey led her to become an education writer publishing in outlets such as Forbes and Quartz. Jenn also studied many evidence-based methods proven to help children with disabilities overcome their challenges including Orton Gillingham and The Writing Revolution. She now works as an advocate supporting parents and youth to prepare and participate in the IEP process.

Jenn also serves her local community as the founder of 2eNYC, NYC Families of Teens with Disabilities and as a member of the ARISE Coalition and NYC Coalition on Transition Services for Youth with I/DD. With her colleagues at Special Support Services, LLC, Jenn also works to survey student struggles in her region. Most recently, Jenn published the report: NYC School Refusal Survey 2022: Summary and Recommendations.

Valerie Kang is a Special Education Instructor and BCBA (Board Certified Behavior Analyst) specializing in autism, executive functioning, and behavior analysis. She has extensive experience in working with preschoolers and youth with ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorder. Her approach to working with youth includes collaborating with them from the start by incorporating their wishes into their work together while providing frequent structured feedback to both students and parents. She works on planning, setting individual goals, and improving adaptive living skills (hygiene, eating habits, and declutter/reorganization projects). She also speaks English, Korean, and Malay fluently.