Tot-a-Doodle-Do! Panel of Experts:

Penny L. Cohen, M.A., CCC Speech and Language Pathologist
Penny received her bachelor’s degree from McGill University in Montreal, Canada and her master’s degree from San Diego State University. Over the past 22 years she has worked in many different settings from preschool centers to elementary schools, middle schools, clinics and private practice settings. In the public school system, she worked with individuals and groups, including Special Day Classes and Independent Living Skills (ILS) classrooms. The population in these classes consisted of children with special needs including cerebral palsy, learning disabilities, mentally retarded and autism ranging from mild to severe. She has also presented in-services to public school clinicians.

During Penny’s professional career, she acquired extensive experience in screening, diagnostics and treatment of speech and language disorders including oral motor disorders such as apraxia and dysarthria, articulation/phonological disorders, voice disorders, language disorders, dysfluency/stuttering as well as myofunctional disorders and accent reduction classes. In her thriving private practice, Penny specializes in treating children, adolescents and adults using music, arts and crafts, movement and creative drama techniques within her therapy sessions to stimulate and motivate her clients.
Contact info : tel : 858-623-9345 email : pcohen2@san.rr.com

Susan Diamond M.A., CCC Speech and Language Pathologist
Sue Diamond is a licensed speech and language pathologist with a private practice in the San Francisco Bay Area. She specializes in diagnosis and treatment of children with speech, language, and social delays and disorders. Sue has over twenty years experience in the field. Sue has contracted her services to hospitals and schools, and conducted workshops for training therapists, teachers, and parents. Her qualifications include a Master’s Degree in Speech Pathology and a state license from the California Board of Medical Assurance. She is also certified through the American Speech and Hearing Association (Certificate of Clinical Competence) and has a Clinical Rehabilitation Services Credential. Sue is the author of “Language Lessons In The Classroom” and co-author of “Webs For Language”. Both books have been bestsellers for over 10 years. She has also produced the professional video “Pragmatic Language:” where Sue talks candidly about social language issues for children and teens and provides strategies to help.
Contact info : tel : 510-814-0555 email : sue@diamondlanguage.com www.diamondlanguage.com

Sharon Josepho, Ph.D. Clinical Psychologist, specializing with children.
Sharon received her B.A in Psychology from the University of California, San Diego, and her M.A. and Ph.D. from Yeshiva University in New York City. She completed a one year internship at Massachusetts Mental Health Center, a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School, where she worked with inner city children and families in the Boston area. Her work with children and families continued during a one year post-doctoral position at Cedar Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Dr. Josepho's research interests have focused on the various ways people cope with stress, with special interest in how coping styles can effect mental and physical health outcomes. She has published her research in the Journal of Suicide and Life-Threatening Behaviors, and in the British Journal of Medical Psychology. After many years of private practice in La Jolla,
California, she is currently dedicating most of her time to raising her 8 year old daughter, Rachel, and her 6 year old son, Anton.

Deborah C. Pontillo, Ph.D. Clinical Psychologist, Pediatric Developmental and Behavioral Specialist
Dr. Deborah Pontillo has over 13 years of education, training, and experience in her areas of expertise. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of British Columbia. She went on to earn her Master’s and Doctorate in Psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles, one of the top educational institutions in the U.S. in the field of Clinical Psychology. She completed her internship in the School of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego. This was followed by a specialized postdoctoral training program at Children’s Hospital, San Diego. Dr. Pontillo went on to work with Children’s Hospital and has served as clinical psychologist on several
Grantfunded research and clinical programs. Dr. Pontillo has become known in the community as an expert in the field of developmental and behavioral psychology. Her research has been presented at several national conferences and has been published in peer-reviewed scientific journals.
Contact info : 858-692-4187 email : DrPontillo@sdkidsfirst.com

Danielle Shulman, OTR/L, MSOT
Danielle is a licensed Pediatric Occupational Therapist (OT) with a bachelor degree from Emory University and a Masters in Occupational Therapy from Tufts University. Danielle worked in the Boston area public school systems for several years. She treated children from diverse backgrounds and diagnoses. She currently practices in San Diego, California where she works as the sole OT at the Rancho Santa Fe and Cardiff school districts as well as running her own private practice. Diagnoses of some of her children include dysgraphia, learning disabilities, attention deficit disorder, autism, down’s syndrome and cerebral palsy.
Contact info : 858-401-2677 email : Danielle@writesteps.com www.writesteps.com

Deborah Teitelbaum, PT, MSc - Physical therapist
Debra received her B.Sc. in Physiotherapy and M.Sc. in Rehabilitation Science from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Her professional experience includes working as a physiotherapist at the Royal Victoria Hospital and the Shriners Hospital in Montreal, Quebec. She currently works at the Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary, Alberta where she has treated children birth to five years old with global developmental delays, neurological impairments, children on the autistic spectrum and a variety of syndromes, as a member of a multidisciplinary preschool team on an outpatient basis She has also provided consultation to teachers and direct treatment services to students. In 2002 and 2003, Debra co-developed with colleague a parent education course to facilitate their child’s gross motor development and in 2004, she piloted a parent education gross motor course. Debra and a colleague are now doing clinical research at the Alberta Children's hospital.