Dr. Judit Gombás Ph.D, ELTE Bárczi Gusztáv Faculty of Special Needs Education, Eotvos Lorand University, Hungary
A full-time lecturer and researcher at Eötvös Loránd University Bárczi Gusztáv Faculty of Special Needs Education (Budapest, Hungary). Her doctoral research investigated free time sporting habits of Hungarian adults with blindness or visual impairment. She is the national representative of Hungary in the International Council for the Education of Individuals with Visual Impairment (ICEVI) Europe. She is a founder and former president of Sports and Leisure Association for the Visually Impaired (Látássérültek Szabadidős Sportegyesülete).
Prof. Shakila Dada, Director, Centre of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (CAAC), University of Pretoria, South Africa
A Professor at the Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (CAAC) at the University of Pretoria. She is currently the Director of the CAAC. She is a speech language therapist with extensive experience in research and teaching in the field of AAC and Early Childhood Intervention. She utilizes a zoom lens approach to implementing AAC interventions focusing on the person and the AAC system but also a zooming out to take broader, systemic issues into account. For example, the involvement of the child in the family and the role of professionals (health care professionals and teachers) and policies in selecting and implementing AAC thereby enhancing the participation and inclusion of children that require AAC.
Dr. Satendra Singh, MD, Professor of Physiology, University College of Medical Sciences, University of Delhi, India
A Professor of Physiology at the University College of Medical Sciences, University of Delhi. He is founder of Doctors with Disabilities: Agents of Change and serves as the Co-chair of the International Council for Disability Inclusion in Medical Education. As a disability justice advocate, he has successfully initiated numerous policy reforms, including the integration of disability rights as disability competencies in the new medical curriculum in India. He is an active member of the core group on disability at the National Human Rights Commission and serves as an advisor to the Court of State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, Government of NCT of Delhi. In addition to his contributions to policy and advocacy, he participated as a member of the Guideline Development Group for the World Health Organization's Wheelchair Provision Guidelines, 2023. He co-founded the Health Humanities Group at his institution and is particularly passionate about the Theatre of the Oppressed, disability ethics, and intersex studies, while also promoting cross-movement solidarity.
Krisztina Kovács, Head of Disability Center (SHÜTI) and disability coordinator at Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), Hungary
The head of the Disability Centre (SHÜTI) & previously a lecturer on visual impairment at the Faculty of Special Education of ELTE University. She has participated in a number of national and international projects like EENAT, FLUSS, Exchange Ability, BAGMIVI, or EESI-Digi. supporting students with disability in higher education. She used to serve the International Council for Education and Rehabilitation of People with Visual Impairment -Europe (ICEVI-Europe) as the secretary and the regional representative of the Central-European countries between 1995-2002 and 2013-2017.
Prof. Sarika Manhas, Department of Home Science, Human Development, University of Jammu, India
A professor in Department of Home Science & holding an additional charge of Coordinator, Disability Initiatives, University of Jammu, & Coordinator UGC-SWAYAM, University of Jammu. She was awarded Young Scientist Award by DST in 2012 for her work on Learning Disabilities & felicitated by the office of Mission Director, Women Empowerment, Social Welfare Department of J&K UT in 2022 for her contributions. Her core areas of teaching and research are Child Development, Disability Studies, Parenting, Psychometrics, and Tribal issues. She has served many National level Committees; as Chairperson for Developing position paper under State Curriculum Framework (SCF) for Art Education by NCERT (2022); Member of State Monitoring Committee for implementation of ICDS in J&K, Ministry of Women and Child Development (2008-2016); Member for National Congress on Developing a model Curriculum on Disability Studies for Higher education in Indian Universities held at New Delhi (2018).
Dr. Vassilis Argyropoulos, Associate Professor, Department of Special Education, University of Thessaly, Greece
An Associate Professor at the University of Thessaly (Greece) in the field of vision disability. He has acted as coordinator and research fellow in many national, Erasmus+ and Horizon projects relevant to special education and serves the International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairments (ICEVI) as the contact person in the Balkan Countries (http://icevi-europe.org/greece.php). He is also member of the Committee of the Disability Centre at the UTH which supports students who have disabilities and special educational needs during their studies and runs the lab “Laboratory of Access to formal and non-formal learning for individuals with sensory disabilities”. His research areas include haptic apprehension, braille literacy skills and issues of access and inclusion of individuals with visual impairments and multiple disabilities in formal and informal learning environments.
Dr. Hui-Ting Tina, Associate Professor working in the Department of Special Education at the National Taiwan Normal University.
An Associate Professor working in the Department of Special Education at the National Taiwan Normal University. She is a special educator licensee in Taiwan and a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst - Doctoral Level. Her research interests include early intervention, autism evidence-based practices, applied behavior analysis, instructions for individuals with high support needs and special education teacher training. She is the holder of National Cross-Generation Young Scholar Research Award as well as the Service Award from the Special Education Association of the Republic of China.
Prof. Mary G. Clasquin-Johnson, University of South Africa, South Africa
A Senior Lecturer in the Department of Inclusive Education at the University of South Africa, with 29 years’ experience in education. Her research interests are early intervention and inclusion for children with autism and other barriers to learning. She is also a teacher educator in learning support across the lifespan. She has worked in the field of inclusion in early childhood since 1994, as a teacher, trade unionist, policy advisor, community activist, researcher, and academician. She identifies as an autism parent-practitioner and strives to contribute towards better serving the autism community in South African, the African continent, and beyond to enhance inclusion in education and society.
Dr. Ellen L. Duchaine, Special Education within the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Texas State University, USA
Earned her Ph.D. in Exceptional Student Education from Georgia State University in Atlanta with a focus on academic and behavioral interventions for students with emotional and behavior disorders and for incarcerated youth. She served as a Senior Lecturer in the Special Education Program; Grant Coordinator & PBIS Coach implementing PBIS in youth facilities across Texas and as Director of the Teaching Residency Program for Critical Shortage Areas preparing secondary education teachers for quality instruction in high level courses in mathematics, special education, and the sciences. She worked as a paraprofessional at the Margaret Harris School in Atlanta for children with severe and profound disabilities, then taught Pre-K students with communication disorders, elementary students with severe emotional and behavioral disorders, and typical third graders before becoming a Special Education Program Coordinator in Beaufort, SC where she focused on Compliance with the US Federal Law, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS), CPI Crisis Prevention, and Teacher Development.