Advisory Board

Welcome to DSCBA’s new Advisory Board of professionals who are committed to being associated with and available to the DSCBA, and whose expertise has and will continue to be utilized by our staff to assist our members. Thank you for your commitment! 

Dr. Ruth Brown, PhD

Clinical Psychologist, Assist. Prof. at Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics at Virginia Commonwealth University

Aaron Feldman

Special Needs Attorney; Founder of the Feldman Law Group

Christina Gallo, MS, OTR/L

Pediatric Occupational Therapist; Founder & Executive Director of Child’s Play Therapy Services

Natalie Hale

Founder of Special Reads for Special Needs; Author; Speaker

Brian Hockel, DDS

Dentist, Life Dental & Orthodontics

Marianne Iversen

Director of Programs & Adult Services, DSCBA; Board Member of Contra Costa Developmental Disability Council

Jen Jacob

Author; Founding Partner & Executive Director of the Down Syndrome Diagnosis Network

Denis Kenny

Employment & Labor Attorney; Founding Partner at Scherer Smith & Kenny LLP

Dennis McGuire, PhD, LCSW

Author; private practice, former Director of Psychosocial Services for the Adult Down Syndrome Center of Lutheran General Hospital, Chicago

Amanda Pharis,  BCBA, LBA, MA EdSp

Behavior Analyst; Owner & Founder of AMP Support Services LLC

Kati Skulski, MS, CCC-SLP

Speech and Language Pathologist; AAC & AT Specialist; Consultant for DSCBA

Cathleen Small

Director of Family Support and Medical Outreach for DSCBA;  Co-Chair of the California Down Syndrome Advocacy Coalition

Dr Noemi Spinazzi,  MD, FAAP

Medical Director - Down Syndrome Clinic (Charlie’s Clinic) at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland

Stephanie Thompson

Director of the National Down Syndrome Adoption Network (NDSAN), a program of the DSA of Greater Cincinnati (DSAGC)

Teresa Unnerstall

Dual Diagnosis Specialist and Consultant; Author

Heather Vukelich, MS, CCC-SLP

ASHA-Certified Speech-Language Pathologist and Feeding Specialist, Certified TalkTools instructor; @happykidstherapy

Natashe Washington, Esq.

Special Education Attorney, Law Office of Natashe Washington

Steve Wilcox, CAP, CFP, ChFC, CFS

Financial Advisor and Partner at Summit Financial, LLC