Special Needs Expert Witnesses in New York

This expert received his B.S in Psychology and his M.S. in Special Education and Mental Retardation, and a PhD in Special Education from Yeshiva University in 1980. In 2006 he was awarded a position as a Fulbright Senior Specialist and in 2007 was granted the NYU Distinguished Teaching Award. His research includes: special education instructional programming, shaping special education policy, preparation of teachers in special education, and integration of general and special education practices. He has contributed to numerous published works on teaching and special education, and has taught several special education centered study abroad courses.

This highly-qualified expert has more than 25 years of experience as a life care planner and a nurse case manager. She received a diploma in nursing from Mount Vernon Hospital School of Nursing before earning her BS from Oklahoma City University and her MPH from the University of Oklahoma. This expert is licensed as a registered nurse in New York and is certified as a nurse life care planner, disability management specialist, case manager, and rehabilitation counselor. She has drafted life care plans and medical projections since 1986 and is a member of several professional societies including the American Association of Nurse Life Care Planners and the International Association of Rehabilitation Professionals. She has formerly served as a rehabilitation nurse consultant and supervisor of case management for American Rehabilitation Consultants, a rehabilitation specialist and medical case manager for Intracorp, a disability nurse manager of occupational managed care for Aetna Insurance, and a senior nurse for worker's compensation and a nurse case manager for Zurich Services Corporation. Currently, this expert is the president of a life care planning firm in New York, where she provides services for individuals of all ages with spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, orthopedic injuries, and trauma.

As a Residence Case Manager for a major Cerebral Palsy corporation, this expert supervised staff at two residential locations and managed the cases for up to 12 consumers, preparing all program documentation for consumers based on Residential Habilitation Plans and Office for People With Developmental Disabilities regulations Currently, and since January 2010, this expert is a Director at United Cerebral Palsy, wherein she is the administrator of a 22-bed Intermediate Care Facility for the Developmentally Disabled. She supervises a staff of 75, which includes direct care workers, management, clinical, physicians, and nursing staff. She is responsible for the training of all staff, she develops policies and procedures for all systems, and she is also in charge of all Incident Management.

This expert’s involvement in school transportation began behind the wheel of a bus in the 1970s. In 1985 he served as Supervisor of a New York State Education Department Regional Safety Center and was involved in projects such as developing School Bus Driver Instructor and classroom student safety curricula. He returned to Syracuse University in 1989 and earned a Masters in Adult Education. After graduating he started two school travel safety non-profit organizations, The Pupil Transportation Safety Institute and then Safety Rules! where he currently works. He has served on numerous national task forces, committees, and advisory boards directing the future of school transportation for Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, National Association for Pupil Transportation, Transportation Research Board, School Bus Fleet, School Transportation News, Transporting Students with Disabilities Conference, and the Federal Head Start Bureau. This expert has presented at the National Safety Council Congress, the National Association for Pupil Transportation Conference, STN Western States Conference, the Mid-America Conference, National Head Start Association, Southeastern States Pupil Transportation Conference, Northeastern Pupil Transportation Safety Institute, Association for School Business Officials International, the All-Canada Conference, and numerous state conferences. He has developed manuals, training programs, and consulting services serving several states and some of the largest fleets in the country.