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 Dr. Paul Cates
Dr. Cates has a master’s degree in special education
and a Ph.D. in curriculum development. He is the author of "Neurological Impairment: Important Information
for the Special Education Teacher", and he has written and compiled a pre-school curriculum for children ages 2 to 6.
In the past he has hosted his own radio program "Strictly For Parents", and he developed the "U-Fly-It"
toy, a toy designed to develop visual-motor coordination. Dr Cates has devoted much of the last 18 years to the pursuit of
excellence in childhood development, education and spiritual training.
Dr. Cates feels that God has created each child uniquely with a specific learning style, gifts, and talents that can
be used to serve God. The main focus of Dr. Cates’ work is the educational evaluation of children
to determine an individualized curriculum. The curriculum is designed to meet the specific needs of the child, and provide
a homeschool or Christian school schedule to optimize the family or school time and effort. Because of
his background in special education and his working with children with learning disabilities, Dr Cates’ testing and
curriculum planning is especially important to those families who have children with special needs. He and his wife Isobel
have six children: Peter, John, David, Kirk, Linda, and Ann and are blessed with four grandchildren.
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Dr. Amy Davis
I am a Christian and the owner of Crossing Back to Health where I specialize in treating Autistic Spectrum Children.
My son
Alex is 11 years old and the love of my life. Alex has Autism. Because I live with ASD, I know what challenges
you face every day. I have committed my life to helping my son and all those battling ASD. To put it simply, at
my clinic treating ASD is not just a job….it’s personal.
Because Autism is a new epidemic it is also emerging in our understanding of its cause and effective
treatments. I look at Autism from the medical perspective and my protocols involve basic medical assessments (individual
and family history, lab testing for nutritional and biochemical deficiencies, food allergies and environmental toxicities).
From there I then work with the families to implement an individualized plan, “roadmap”, that aims to treat the
causes of the symptoms we encounter with our children.
I am a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Medicine and internal medicine residency
at University of Alabama of Alabama –
Birmingham School of Medicine. I have practiced privately and now am the owner of Crossing Back to Health.
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Dr. Gail Doell Gail
Doell received a BS degree in Biology from the State University of New York in 1971. She went on to receive an MS in Zoology
from Washington State University in 1975. In the ensuing years Dr. Doell taught biology, anatomy, and physiology at Texas
Christian University, Lindenwood University and St. Louis Community College at Forest Park.
Upon graduation from the University of Missouri-St. Louis School of Optometry in 1985, Dr. Doell was awarded such diverse
honors as the Dean’s Award, the Bausch& Lomb Scholarship for Contact Lens Excellence and the Harold Kohn Memorial
Award for Original Research.
From 1985 through 2002, Dr. Doell served as Assistant Professor at the UM-St. Louis School of Optometry providing instruction
in the Primary Care and in the Pediatric and Binocular Vision Clinics. In addition, she lectured extensively in Systemic Disease,
Ocular Anatomy and Physiology, and other courses in the Optometry Curriculum. Currently, Dr. Doell serves as Adjunct Assistant
Clinical Professor of Optometry.
Dr. Doell was a founding partner of Webster Eye Care in 1992. She is thrilled to further serve children and adults
with binocular vision and learning concerns at the Center for Vision and Learning. A native of Brooklyn, New York, Dr. Doell has resided
in University City for 20 years.
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Dr. Stephen Guffanti,
M.D.
As a medical doctor, teacher, tutor, author, and homeschooler, Stephen Guffanti, M.D., brings a unique background
and tremendous insight to his talks. His audiences, parents of children of all ages, and beginning as well as veteran homeschoolers, also
love him for his warmth, humor and sincerity. Not only is Stephen a doctor, but he is also ADHD, and from the unusual perspective
of being both he talks to parents of ADHD children, bringing hope and understanding. Unique about Dr. Guffanti is that he
has helped his patients find and follow their passion as a step in their treatment towards better health. Born with
a passion for education, Dr. Guffanti, dyslexic and a kinesthetic learner, has served as the medical director of a clinic
specializing in learning disorders, where he discovered 70% of those children labeled ADD or ADHD were misdiagnosed.
Following his passion for education, Dr. Guffanti has focused on creating education that meets the needs of all children.
He is the author of the Rocket Phonics reading program and the book Does Your Child Really Have ADHD? This is the book
about which parents say, "This saved our family." Rocket Phonics, a reading program so unique it has a patent
pending, uses the strongest phonics system available in a revolutionary way, with revolutionary results: In a recent UCLA
study of home school families using Rocket Phonics for three months, students using Rocket Phonics improved their reading
skills by an average of 8.9 months. Dr. Guffanti's newest book is The Purpose of Passion.
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R. James Ottomeyer III, DC,
NMD
Dr. Ottomeyer
is a 40 year old accomplished Christian physician who has been in practice for over 14 years. He and has a wife, Kerrie, have
4 beautiful children, Jessica, Jay, Lauren and Blake. He has a Baccalaureate degree in Human Biology from the University of
Iowa. He also has a Doctorate degree in Chiropractic Medicine from Logan College of Chiropractic. Since graduating from Logan
College he has received 2 post-graduate degree’s in Sports Medicine and Acupuncture. In 2001 he graduated with his second
Doctorate degree which was in Naturopathic Medicine from John Thomas College.
Dr. Ottomeyer
is the owner of Frontier Integrated Health Center, Inc. This is a multi-disciplined facility where medical doctors, chiropractors,
physical therapists, naturopathic physicians and acupuncturists work together to facilitate the best, most holistic health
care available today.
Dr. Ottomeyer
also has had the privilege to serve on the O’Fallon Chamber of Commerce, serving as the president, vice president, and
secretary. He has served on the League of Chambers as president, and vice president. He was president of the Elder Board of
Joy Community Church and vice president of the Library Foundation Board. Currently he is serving on the; board of the St.
Charles County Vision Leadership Program, the board of John Thomas College and the St. Charles County Community Assistance
Board and his second tenure with the O’Fallon Chamber of Commerce..
In his spare time you will find Dr. Ottomeyer enjoying the company of his wife and
4 children, trout fishing, golfing, coaching soccer and baseball, camping, boating and waterskiing. Dr. Ottomeyer has been
blessed with a very successful practice, good health and a loving family. Service beyond belief is the motto of his business
and his life. Serving God, his family, his business, and his community is what drives his life.
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Maureen Taylor, Ed.D., NCC, LPC
Maureen Taylor, Ed.D., NCC, LPC, has been active as a private clinician in the area of child
abuse/neglect, PTSD and Attachment Disorder since 1994. Her primary focus has been on children aged 3-12 who have been victims
of abuse/neglect and who have been removed from their families of origin.
Dr. Taylor received her Doctorate in Education, with a specialty in counseling, from the University of Missouri-St. Louis,
in 1996. She began her education in the treatment of Attachment Disorder in 2000 and continues her education in this area
through on-going attendance at workshops and conferences.
Dr. Taylor's treatment model for children with
Attachment Disorder incorporates Narrative Therapy, EMDR, and cognitive therapy, under the umbrella of a systems approach.
This model has been found to be quite effective with this population of children and their families.
Dr. Taylor also advocates for the children in her care be educating
teachers and school administrators about Attachment Disorder and academic strategies that optimize student success. In addition,
she consults with a local adoption agency on attachment and adoption issues.
Dr. Taylor is the proud mother of three children and the
grandmother of four grandchildren.
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Dr. Matthew E. Worth
Dr. Matthew E. Worth is a St. Louis native and one of only 650 Board Certified Chiropractic
Neurologists in the world. In addition to being in private practice for over 12 years, he serves as a Professor of Clinical
Neurology, teaching both chiropractic and medical physicians across the country and in Europe. Dr. Worth’s
practice specializes in the evaluation and treatment of brain-based disorders.
For
the past ten years he has also served as a consultant for Neurology Consultants/Midwest, providing evaluation and management
services on difficult cases for both medical and chiropractic physicians across North America. In addition,
he is certified as a court appointed expert witness in the field of neurology and physical medicine.
Currently, Dr. Worth is in the process of researching/writing two papers for publication: “Effects of Vestibular Canal Activation on Spinal Stabilization” and “Plasticity and Learning”.
Dr Worth is married and has a 15 month old daughter. His wife,
Jackie, is expecting their second child who should be born just before the expo. He and his wife plan on
homeschooling their children.
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Carlita Boyles
Carlita Boyles is a Christian wife and mother, and the author of the new homeschool
math curriculum, Math on the Level. Together with her husband, John, who is the editor and illustrator, she has developed
a program that gives parents the tools to teach their children at each child's level of maturation using real-life family-centered
activities instead of textbooks. Carlita has a passion for helping parents confidently teach children in the way that
the children learn best. Her talks are focused on equipping parents to be better teachers.
Carlita's interest in helping homeschooling parents is a reflection of her background in education. She has a Bachelor
of Science degree in Child Development and a Master of Arts degree in Special Education. She also holds a California
Multiple Subjects teaching credential and a California Specialist in Learning Disabilities credential. For over 12 years,
Carlita taught in California public schools, primarily in classes for children with learning disabilities, and has worked
as both a Resource Specialist and a Special Day Class teacher. With the birth of her oldest daughter in 1993, she left
the public school setting to become a homeschooling mother. She and John live in Windsor, California where they
continue to homeschool their three delightful children who are in 4th, 7th, and 9th grades. They love the freedom and
flexibility of being a home schooling family and are grateful that God has allowed them this joy.
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Wendi Dicken-Bradshaw
Artistic Director, Concert Arts Association; Conductor, Choral Arts Singers; Assistant Director,
Townsend Music School; Vocal Coach, Stages St. Louis Repertory Theatre
Wendi Dicken-Bradshaw
is a home school mom, an adoptive mom of two, stepmother of two and grandmother of one. She has dealt with issues such as
Reactive Attachment Disorder, developmental delays, speech and language delays, vision problems, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder,
and tired mom syndrome.
Wendi began her performance career as a youngster in Southwest Ohio
in such shows as the Sound of Music and Peter Pan. At the age of 13, she founded the Heritage Community Theater in Cincinnati,
a program for outreach to the local community for children and teens. She studied voice with Joan Moynagh and Russell Hosler.
In addition, she has worked with such notable conductors as John Wabrick, William Bausano, Thomas Schippers, Boris Goldovsky,
and Margaret Hillis. Wendy holds degrees in vocal music and performance from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
Along with a professional opera and musical theater performance career which has spanned the United States and Europe, Wendi
has directed musicals for schools and theaters in Ohio, Missouri, and Montana. She has sung with and conducted the Glacier
Orchestra and Chorale. She has also served as Music Director for several churches in Eastern Missouri, as well as directing
the Flathead Valley Children's Theater. Wendi has worked with children and adults of all abilities for over 25 years,
and is committed to bringing the joy of music to everyone!
In addition to serving as Artistic
Director for Concert Arts Association and Musical Director for Choral Arts Singers, she has served as an instructor of voice
and piano at Townsend School of Music in Ballwin, Missouri since 1987. Wendi also writes curriculum and teaches Sing Broadway
classes for Stages St. Louis Repertory Theatre in Chesterfield, Missouri. She has composed original music for the Concert
Arts Association. Under her careful direction, Concert Arts Association has grown to include a youth choir, music theory classes
for all ages, Kidz Muzik, and will soon add music classes for children with special needs.
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Dawn Griffin
Dawn Griffin is a wife and a homeschool mother of two children. She has run Cornerstone
Montessori Preschool for the past 11 years. After becoming certified in S.P.I.R.E, Specialized
Program Individualizing Reading Excellence in 2002, Dawn also started a successful
tutoring business. She currently serves the homeschool
community as the leader of the O'Fallon Christian Home Educators and as the co-director of the
O'Fallon Christian Co-op.
http://www.ofche.net
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Kelli Kellen
Kelli Kellen has been home schooling her two special
needs children for 13 years. A military spouse, Kelli has home schooled in 5 different states and presented on
various home school related topics in over 20 different states. Kelli was formerly a Marketing Manager and Product Manager
for K12. She is currently the Administrative Director for Wheelchair Sports, USA.
http://www.wsusa.orghttp://www.dasasports.org
http://www.showmeaquatics.org
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Leaps
& Bounds Lisa Cooseman OTR/L, MS, CRC
Lisa has worked with children
from 0-18 years of age with a wide range of disabilities. Her practice has taken her into schools, community settings,
and families' homes. She has received training in the areas of handwriting, oral motor, and sensory processing.
She has also been trained in strategies to use with children on the Autism Spectrum. Lisa is a certified rehabilitation
counselor with experience in life skills training and transition planning with adolescents. She currently
serves as an adjunct faculty member to the Occupational Therapy Program at Maryville University University, where she earned
her degree in Occupational Therapy. Jaimie Poston Jaimie Poston is a speech language pathologist who received a Masters
Degree in Communication Disorders from Truman State University . She has experience with school-based,
in-home, and community-based therapy. She currently is a First Steps provider and provides speech
and language services for children of all ages at Leaps and Bounds, Inc. Jaimie has experience with children
with a variety of diagnoses, including: speech/language delay, speech/language impairment, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy,
autism spectrum disorder, apraxia of speech, hearing impairment, and seizure disorders. Carrie Salyer
MS, OTR/L Carrie earned her Master's Degree in Occupational Therapy from Washington University
in St. Louis. She has provided therapy to children ages 0-18 in the school, home, and community setting.
Carrie has received training through a variety of courses taught by leading OT's from across the nation. These courses
have included numerous sensory integration therapy techniques, visual-vestibular therapy, oral motor/feeding, handwriting,
and craniosacral/myofascial release. In addition, Carrie has been instructed in strategies to use with children on the
Autism Spectrum. She is also trained in the Therapeutic ListeningTM programs.
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Susan
Lesch
I am a Christian wife and mother. My
husband Matt and I have been married for 14 years. We have two beautiful children,
Caroline, 11 and Sam, 9. Matt and I are both St. Louis
natives. I attended the University of
Missouri, St. Louis
where I received a degree in business administration. Before having children,
I worked for many years as a cost analyst for the Boeing Corporation. .
When our daughter,
Caroline, was born I started working part-time and we were blessed to have my Mom take care of her on the days I worked. We had planned on continuing that when our second child was born but God had other
ideas.
Our son Sam was born with Down Syndrome and congenital heart disease. During
Sam’s first three years of life he had 3 major heart operations and more minor surgeries than I can remember. Needless to say, I didn’t end up going back to my part-time job as planned. I began my next career as stay-at-home mom.
My husband and I both spent many hours at the computer trying to find the best possible way to educate Sam. When Sam was 4 months old, we took him for the first time to see Bob Doman at the National Association
of Child Development (NACD). NACD has since provided us with advice on child
development for everything from crawling, walking and talking to reading, writing and arithmetic for the past 8 years.
Contrary to NACD advice, we decided to try Sam in public school. I hadn’t
really considered homeschooling either of our children. I went to public school
so that’s what I was used to. The schools in our area have a very good
reputation so we felt very comfortable with that decision.
Sam did okay in kindergarten. He would go in the morning and I would do
his NACD program exercises with him in the afternoon. First grade was a different
story. It quickly became very clear to us that all day school was an environment
he wasn’t going to be able to learn in. NACD continued to gently suggest
homeschooling and after 3 months in the 1st grade we decided to do just that.
I’ve now been homeschooling Sam for just over a year. In that year,
he has gone from reading at a kindergarten level to a 2nd grade level. In
math, Sam is doing addition and subtraction. His handwriting is also steadily
improving. He also enjoys his other subjects especially science . One day a week, Sam participates in classes at a local homeschool co-op with typically developing children
without needing an aide. My husband and I both believe, advice from NACD and
homeschooling have worked together to help Sam achieve these successes.
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Molly Nesham
Molly Nesham, Center Director at Mathnasium of St. Peters, graduated from General Motors Institute, which
is now Kettering University , with a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering. Molly has used her creativity
and math skills in a variety of applications. She helped develop an Unattended Assembly Cell at Allen-Bradley and a robot
that makes Nerf footballs. Molly has also designed computer programs for quality control of products ranging from medical
image scanners to Oscar Mayer Lunchables.
After 10 years in industry, Molly began teaching math and
science for Grades 7-12 at private schools. She then home-schooled her four children. The two oldest are now in college.
For more than three years, Molly also has mentored and coached teams in the FIRST Lego League.
"I inherited a love of problem solving and math from my mother, a physicist at NASA for more than 47 years, and I want
to pass it on. The Mathnasium method is a great way to ignite young minds."
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Kim Perry
Kim Perry is a loving mother of four who has been home schooling for more
than seven years. She is currently working
toward her associates' degree in theology at the Centre for the Ministering Arts.
Kim also
serves on the board of the H.E.L.P.S. Home
School group of North St. Louis County. In her free time, she acts as an advisor on a committee for the St. Louis Special
School District . The committee is made of representatives from the private, home school and parochial schools in St.
Louis County.
Kim’s recent failures and then successes with a Gluten-Free, Casein-Free
Diet make her a valued resourse for other home school moms.
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Margaret Porch
Margaret Porch is a home school mom of four children ranging in age from 22 to 14. Her oldest is presently in seminary
in Louisville, KY; her second two are attending Lindenwood University University full time; and her youngest, now in 9th grade,
is still being homeschooled. All of her children have learning struggles - from dyslexia to sensory problems to ADD
/ ADHD to just bull-headedness - leading her to study extensively on ADD / ADHD and dyslexia. She has a degree in Physical
Therapy, is trained in PACE (Processing and Cognitive Enhancement) and Interactive Metronome, and currently works part
time for Dr. Matthew Worth, using the latest technologies to bring children up to their full potential. She is also
putting together a book called "Brain Games" which provides multiple in-home activities to help children with learning
struggles.
Margaret and her husband, Michael, are the leaders of the St. Charles County Christian Home Educators.
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Ken Schmidt, B.S.
Founder and
Director of Restored Hope Remedial Services
Ken Schmidt, a learning disabilities specialist from the Kansas City area, first spent thirty years teaching in public
and private schools. He worked also in school administration for eight years. Ten years ago, Ken founded Restored Hope Remedial
Services, a learning center for children with learning disabilities. He has been working with children with disabilities,
researching and applying state of the art techniques and therapies to remedy the types of problems he had encountered in his
daily classroom teaching. Ken currently offers extensive testing to home school families at unusually low costs. This allows
families to determine exactly what their child’s areas of weakness are.
http://www.restored-hope.org
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Mary
Sullivan, O.T.
Mary
Sullivan is a fun mom of two who does occupational therapy groups in her home. One group, which is called Ready to Write,
features handwriting training for school-aged children. The other group, which is called Ready to Run, features sports and
fitness training to school-age children with disabilities. Mary Sullivan
graduated from Eastern Kentucky University with a Bachelor of Science in Occupational Therapy and first worked in an adult
and pediatric hospital setting in Kentucky for 4 years. She then worked at St. Louis Children's Hospital for 17 years delivering
therapy services in the neonatal and pediatric intensive care unit, the rehabilitation unit, the neurology floor, the
burn floor, the cardiac floor and the psychiatric floor. Mary is certified in Sensory Integration and Praxis Tests, and Listening
Therapy. She has done extensive outpatient therapy with children. She attends various continuing education workshops and local
study groups to further her skills. In the 2000, Mary has now began her occupational therapy private practice featuring individual
testing, handwriting, fine motor, gross motor, and sensory self-regulation training.
mary.sullivan@worldnet.att.net
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Patty Yager Patty Yager has been
a home school mom for 14 years. She has six kids - five of whom have been adopted from Central America and Eastern Europe.
Through her failures, struggles and desperate prayers, God has shown her solutions to some of the problems home schoolers
face in their day. Patty currently has a ministry of helping other home schoolers pick out the curriculums that are best for
them and find professionals, books and ideas that will help them solve their problems. She also helps moms develop specific
strategies for the management of their day - including allowing other families to come into her home on school days for team
teaching or observation. www.diannecraft.org
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David Day, MA, CCC-SLP
David obtained his Masters degree in Speech
Pathology in 1978 from SIUE. He worked as a Speech Language Pathologist for Special School District of St. Louis County
from 1978 through 2007, evaluating and treating children in grades kindergarten through high school. He is currently
a Speech Language Pathologist with the Miriam Learning Center. Dave is also a consultant in training for Relationship
Development Intervention (RDI), a social intervention treatment for children who are on the Autism spectrum.
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