Professional Development Instructors

Jennifer Barrett-Zitkus, M.Ed., is the Illinois medical diagnostic network coordinator for Lutheran General Children's Hospital. In this role, she directs technical assistance to Child and Family Connections 2 in Lake County and provides trainings, support, and quality assurance in early intervention to providers, parents, and service coordinators. Her private practice, Early Intervention Direction, provides developmental evaluations, consultation, and support to families and agencies. In her more than 20 years in the field, she has researched best practices in early intervention for medically fragile infants and toddlers and their families. She is credentialed as a developmental therapist/evaluator and assessment specialist in Illinois and has served on the governing board for the American Association of Home-Based Early Interventionists. Jennifer served as co-chair of the Service Delivery and Transition committee of the Governor's Taskforce, which was responsible for providing a comprehensive review of the Illinois Early Intervention System and to develop recommendations and an action plan.

Courses
W654 Providing Early Intervention: Running (and Expanding) Your Business
W681 Medical Diagnostics in Early Intervention
W682 The Coaching Model: Collaboration and Competence in Early Intervention

Sherri Cawn, M.A., CCC-SLP, clinical director of Cawn-Krantz and Associates, Developmental Therapies of suburban Chicago, has 40 years of clinical pediatric experience specializing in the assessment and treatment of infants, toddlers, and school-age children. She is a leading practitioner of the DIR/Floortime model in speech and language development and trains other professionals on the concept. Sherri is the author of a self-study DVD on DIR/Floortime for the American Speech and Hearing Association and is co-author on Language Disorders in the Diagnostic Manual for Infancy and Early Childhood. She is a senior faculty member of the DIR Summer Institute and sits on the advisory board of the Interdisciplinary Council on Developmental and Learning Disorders.

Courses
W674 Floortime: A Developmental Intervention Strategy (Part One)
W674-2 Floortime: A Developmental Intervention Strategy (Part Two)
W674 Floortime: A Developmental Intervention Strategy (Part One)

Pat Chamberlain, M.S., consults with school districts and agencies on educational opportunities for culturally and linguistically diverse young children with and without special needs and their families. She teaches courses related to special education and early childhood at the University of Illinois–Chicago and Erikson. She also has served as a bilingual teacher, a professional development specialist at the Illinois Resource Center, a bilingual special education supervisor, and a director of early learners programs. She currently is a member of the board of directors for Two Rivers Headstart and of the Linguistic and Cultural Diversity Committee of the Illinois Early Learning Council.

Courses
W669 Cross Cultural and Linguistic Differences in the Definition of Disability
W670 Effective Assessment Practices for Dual Language Learners
W671 Dual Language Development and Disorders
W672 Developing Assets vs. Remediating Deficits

Debrah Clark, M.A., CFLE, has over 14 years experience serving the needs of families, children, social service practitioners, and administrators. Under her direction, Joliet Township High School's Infant Childcare Program was awarded the Children's Champion Award through Voices for Illinois Children and National City Bank, and an award for child abuse prevention from the Department of Children and Family Services and Prevent Child Abuse Illinois. Her efforts to keep the Joliet Township Infant Childcare Center relevant and based in best practices has resulted in a teen parent graduation rate of 77 percent. Clark has presented locally and nationally on teen parenting, infant grief, communication skills, and law-based education for youth.
Courses
W677 Parent-Focused Childcare

Tina Dorow, M.S.W., M.S., LCSW, has worked with children and families for more than 15 years, specializing in relationship-based work with families who experienced challenges due to abuse and neglect, developmental disabilities, and/or mental illness. She is currently a faculty member of the Illinois Child Parent Psychotherapy Learning Collaborative and maintains a private practice working with families involved in the Early Intervention and child welfare systems.

Courses
W667 Helping Young Children and Families in the Face of Trauma and Loss

Patricia García, Ph.D., is an English Language Learner Assessment Development Associate for the Urban Education Institute at the University of Chicago. She has a decade of experience in child development and education. Her research experiences and interests include childhood bilingualism, language development, cross-cultural child development studies, emergent literacy practices, language socialization, the educational attainment of minority students, and family influences on education.

Courses
W668 Bilingualism & Social Development

Jennifer Kemp, M.S., CCLS, DT, CPST, is an adjunct faculty member at Erikson and the manager of Erikson’s infant studies certificate program. She holds a master's degree in child development, as well as certifications as a child life specialist and credentialed developmental therapist and evaluator. Her 20 years of experience working with children and their families have shaped particular interests in the areas of prematurity, developmental delay, grief and bereavement, and early care and education. She especially enjoys working with children and families surrounding the impact of chronic illness and medical complexity on child development and the family system.

Courses
W675 Professionalizing the Provider-Caregiver Partnership

Jennifer Rosinia, Ph.D., OTR/L, has more than 25 years of experience in pediatric occupational therapy. A specialist in serving the needs of children birth to age three and their families, she also has extensive experience working with school-aged children and young adults. An Erikson alumna, she holds a master's degree in early childhood education and a doctorate in child development. Her expertise is in neuroscience with a particular interest in sensory processing, the role of emotions, and the impact of relationships on the developing child. She enjoys a national reputation as a speaker and consultant. She is president of Kid Links Unlimited, Inc., a company whose mission is to link theory to practice, parents with professionals, and kids with their optimal potential.

Courses
W678 Movement 101
W542 Jumping for Joy: The Relationship Between Movement and Emotions
W592 A Stable Base: How Motor Skills Influence Academic Skill Acquisition and Performance
W679 An Educational Kinesiology Approach
W680 Incorporating Movement