Matthew “Matt” Savage is an American autistic savant musician graduate of Manhattan School of Music and Berklee College of Music, Matt balances his professional music career with teaching. He teaches at Bunker Hill Community College in Boston, as well as several community music schools in eastern Massachusetts. Matt gives masterclasses and workshops domestically and internationally (in English and Spanish) as well as private piano lessons. He’s played with some of the biggest names in jazz, including Chick Corea, the Ellington All Stars, Chaka Khan, Wdc/ynton Marsalis, Bobby Watson, Clark Terry, Jimmy Heath, Jason Moran, Arturo O’Farrill, John Pizzarelli, Joshua Redman, Terri Lyne Carrington, Jon Faddis, Jerry Bergonzi and Donny McCaslin among others. Along the way, he’s recorded twelve albums as leader and one as collaborator. He is a Bösendorfer piano artist. A respected composer, Matt has composed and recorded the score for a full-length documentary film, Sound of Redemption: The Frank Morgan Story. The movie, which premiered in 2014, chronicles the life of jazz alto saxophonist Frank Morgan. Savage has toured worldwide and had many national media appearances including performances at The Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, Birdland, the Blue Note, Bohemian Caverns, Town Hall, Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, Scullers, the Jazz Standard, the Pantages Theatre, the Iridium, the Berklee BeanTown Jazz Festival, the Monterey Jazz Festival, Heineken Jazzaldia (Spain), the Costa Rica International Jazz Festival, the International VSA Arts Festival, the Jacksonville Jazz Festival, the Ottawa International Jazz Festival, the New Orleans Jazz Festival, Japan, Curacao, Aruba and for the president of Singapore. Read More…

Dr. Renee Watling, a reputed paediatric occupational therapist in Washington State has lectured and published extensively on the topics of sensory processing, sensory-based occupational therapy intervention, challenging behaviour and services for children with autism. She is the lead author of the American Occupational Therapy Association Practice Guideline for Children and Adolescents with Challenges in Sensory Processing and Sensory Integration and co-editor of the third and fourth editions of Autism: A Comprehensive Occupational Therapy Approach. She is a Fellow of the American Occupational Therapy Association and is a visiting Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Puget Sound.

Bill Wong is an occupational therapist licensed in California from the United States since 2012, as he currently practices in the skilled nursing facilities setting. He was born in Hong Kong and immigrated to the United States with his family in 1996. He received his masters and clinical doctorate degrees in occupational therapy from University of Southern California. Bill was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome in 2010 when he was completing his occupational therapy training. Bill was the first occupational therapy student or practitioner to have more than one TEDx talks, as he presented at TEDxGrandForks in 2015 and TEDxYouth@AlamitosBay in 2017. Bill is an also active member of the occupational therapy profession, as he currently serves as one of California’s representatives at the Representative Assembly in American Occupational Therapy Association. Bill’s primary specialties in occupational therapy are autism and social media. Bill’s future aspiration is to be an instructor in an occupational therapy or occupational therapy assistant program in the United States

Varun Warrier is a postdoctoral researcher at the Autism Research Centre, Cambridge. He works with Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, on the genetics of autism, and traits related to autism. His previous work has focussed on the genetics of empathy, emotion recognition, and an interest in systems.

Deb Keen is Professor of Autism at Griffith University and is a member of the Griffith University Autism Centre of Excellence and the Griffith Institute for Educational Research. She has served both Griffith University and the Australian Catholic University as Deputy Dean Research. She has worked with individuals who have autism and other developmental disorders throughout her career as a psychologist, educator, administrator and researcher. Her research involves development and evaluation of educational, communication and behavioural interventions and the uptake of evidence supported practices by parents and professionals. Professor Keen has over 50 peer-reviewed journal publications, books and book chapters. She is a member of the editorial board of 4 international journals, serves as a reviewer for the ARC and NHMRC and has held numerous large competitive research grants.

Wenn Lawson – Psychologist, lecturer and author, Dr. Wenn has worked in the field of autism for over 25 years. At the age of 2, he was misdiagnosed as intellectually disabled at school and at 17, with schizophrenia and was in and out of mental health institutions. Eventually at the age of 42, he was diagnosed with autism spectrum condition, ADHD, dyspraxia and learning difficulties. His workshops and training in Australia and internationally, focus on autism in association with ageing, gender differences, gender variance and learning and living. Dr. Wenn is a Teaching Fellow with Birmingham University assisting with their online Masters course in autism. He resides on the Autism Open Access board, the ICAN Main board and South West Board Victoria, Australia. He is a participant and advisor for Autism CRC, Australia, and has written numerous books and papers on ASD. Dr. Wenn is also the parent of four children, one of whom is an adult on the spectrum, and grandparent to three girls two of whom are autistic.

Arun Pillai is a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist based in Brisbane, Australia. After completing his medical studies in India (Govt Medical College Thiruvananthapuram 2002), he trained as a Child and Adolescent psychiatrist in Australia (Mindful – Centre for Training and Research in Developmental Health, Melbourne, Victoria 2013). Dr Pillai is currently the Clinical Lead in Child and Youth Mental Health at WMHHS (West Moreton Hospital and Health Service) in Queensland, Australia. Along with his clinical work, he is a valued teacher to medical students, registrars and allied health professionals in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Arun has a special interest in developmental disorders, complex trauma and infant mental health. He believes in an integrated and holistic approach towards understanding and managing emotional difficulties in children and their families.

In 2011 Jacqueline was appointed as the inaugural Chair of Autism to lead the Autism Centre of Excellence (ACE) at Griffith University, Brisbane Australia. Prior to 2011 she worked in other states of Australia in schools for children with autism as a teacher, speech language therapist, principal and senior administrator. As a consultant in autism she has held several short-term fractional appointments at universities teaching autism studies and leading/managing research projects including being responsible for the development and delivery of content in the Australian Autism Education and Training Consortium (AAETC) Positive Partnerships program. In her current position Jacqui leads a program of research into autism and a graduate program of autism studies. The main focus of the research program at ACE is autism, learning, behaviour and education. Jacqui leads a large longitudinal research project which is part of the national Living with Autism CRC and several research consultancies such as one current project with the Queensland Department of Education to develop an on-line tool which can be used by teachers and parents to manage problem behaviours. Jacqueline has conducted many workshops and conference presentations on autism nationally and internationally for professionals and parents. Jacqui has published widely in autism and co-authored a book for parents, Understanding Autism. The Essential Guide for Parents with Professor Katrina Williams, second edition 2018. Read More…

Dr. Roshni Anirudhan, Professor & Head, Department of Kaumarabhrithya (Pediatrics), Government Ayurveda College Hospital for Women and Children, Thiruvananthapuram is a Post- Graduate from Government Ayurveda College, Thiruvananthapuram and a PhD scholar in childhood autism from Kerala University. She has 16 years of clinical experience in managing ASD and related cognitive and behavioural disorders. She is also working on research projects on autism in collaboration with the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Biotechnology and Centre for Disability Studies respectively. She was also part of the ‘Snehadhara’ project, funded by Trivandrum district Panchayat for providing Ayurvedic treatment and complementary therapies to children with developmental disorders.

Merry Barua, Director, Action for Autism, National Centre for Autism, is an activist, educator, author and trainer who pioneered the autism movement in India and South Asia. She started the first autism specialist school, initiated the first teacher training course, started the journal Autism Network, facilitated the start of services across South Asia, and helped catalyse legislative changes that include autism. Merry builds awareness, sensitizes, counsels and advocates for autistic diversity, and the dignity and rights of persons with autism as equal citizens of the country. Merry is a campaigner against the commonly-held, simplistic, perception of persons with autism as violent and aggressive individuals, a perception that marginalises the autistic experience as opposed to the neurotypical. She serves on various governmental and non-governmental committees. Merry is an Ashoka Fellow and has received national and international recognition for her work. Merry is parent to Neeraj, her son with autism. Read More…

Shereen Idiculla, is a Speech and Language Therapist who has been working for over 14 years with children with special needs. She finished her Bachelors and Masters from the All India Institute of Speech and Hearing in Mysore, worked in Singapore for over 2 years and then started work in Bangalore in 2009. She has worked with Head Start Montessori School, F.A.M.E India and is now the Clinical Director of PlayStreet Specially Abled Educare Trust and KidStreet Preschool in Bangalore. Shereen is a Hanen Certified Speech and Language Therapist for the More Than Words® and It Takes Two To Talk® Programs and has been trained on Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS), the PROMPT Technique, Brain Gym and Sensory Integration (from the University of California). She is a certified Oral Placement Therapist and is currently the only therapist in India who has completed her Level 3 certification training in Oral Placement Therapy. She has created an AAC program called the PlayTalk Program that is used with the AAC software, PlayTalk, developed by PlayStreet. She has also helped in the development of an online tool called Goal Track to track and measure the progress of clients in various areas of development, making it easier to create assessment reports, individualized education plans and progress reports for any client. Shereen started working on the Oral Placement Therapy (OPT) Program with children in 2010 and has seen a lot of success in helping children with oral sensory and motor issues get through their food sensitivities, move from being non-verbal to producing sounds, and be able to develop appropriate feeding skills. In combination with the Hanen approaches and using PlayTalk (AAC) to enhance communication, Shereen has been able to see a lot of difference in the children she has worked with. She encourages parent empowerment and conducts trainings both at her centre as well as online to help parents who are not in Bangalore too. She has already conducted over 7 Hanen Trainings and over 7 online training and treatment programs for parents on Oral Sensory and Motor Stimulation. Read More…

Dr. Prathibha Karanth is the Founder Director and Managing Trustee of The Communication DEALL Trust. She is a Speech Language Pathologist with over 40 years of experience in several national institutions in India. She has had a long standing interest in language disorders, both in children and adults. She has worked extensively in the areas of adult aphasias, acquired dyslexia, learning disability, specific language impairment and communication in autism/pervasive developmental disorders. Her work covers the clinical aspects as well as research and training. The development and the continuous fine tuning of the Com-DEALL program and model is the result of her vast and varied clinical experience and research interests. Dr. Karanth has written 3 books, over 70 peer reviewed scientific papers and has presented over 250 papers at various seminars and conferences around the world

A.K. Kundra, an Educationist and Social Entrepreneur is the President at the Autism Ashram & Autism Friendly Village, Shamirpet, which is Asia’s largest home for autistic children and adults. He also set up the community for families with autism – The Autism Guardians Village. His interest lies in how autism fares among various ethnic groups in India, health and ageing issues amidst autistic individuals, aggressive behaviour like self-injury and sexuality in relation with autism. He has authored several articles on practical autism in various media. At present he is busy setting up an Autism Ashram in Turlock, California USA. He is married to Ms. Jyotshna and is blessed with three daughters.

Sarbani Mallick, Founder Director & Managing Trustee of Bubbles Centre for Autism, began her journey of discovery in the field of Special Education in 1997 after a chance volunteering opportunity at a special school close to where she lived. She has been a passionate worker in the field of Autism since the past 21 years. This passion has led to her comprehensive grasp over the subject, and has led to the creation of the Bubbles Centre for Autism. She started “ Pragati Towards Livelihood” a Vocational skill training centre aimed at expanding horizons for adults with Autism/ ASD. This centre focuses on preparing skill equipped individuals towards a range of real world employment opportunities.She is constantly striving to create inclusive community-based opportunities that provide the beneficiaries a satisfying and fulfilling adult life.She is the member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of Sree Chitra Tirunal institute of Medical sciences and Technology, Trivandrum. She works with families and different non-governmental organizations in Bangalore, Mumbai, Kolkata and Trivandrum.She is a strong advocate of Social Role valorization theory and has taken it as a crusade to create valued roles among individuals who are vulnerable, and a world where “everyone has a place and that place is honored”. Read More…

Shalini Saraswathi is an adventure enthusiast, blade runner, marathoner, public speaker, and Deputy General Manager at Firstsource Solutions. In 2012, Shalini was returning from a vacation in Cambodia – pregnant, fresh from the celebrations of her fourth anniversary, and on the brink of a promotion – when a fever changed her life. What began as a mild illness turned out to be Rickettsial with morts, a rare bacterial infection. In the months that followed, she lost her baby, survived multiple organ failure, and slipped into a coma. Four days later, she awoke to unresponsive limbs. Shalini went on to lose all four of her limbs, becoming a quadruple amputee. The next few months were spent in the journey of selfrediscovery, learning to redefine the rhythms and routines of everyday life. Her determination and neversay-die attitude brought her to athletics. What began as just another means to maintain fitness and general health soon turned into a passion. Shalini, supported and trained by Coach BP Aiyyappa, soon started participating in marathons. In 2017, she completed the TCS 10K marathon with a timing of 1 hour and 35 minutes. She continues to train, always committed to the goals of betterment and growth. Besides running and her full-time corporate job, Shalini is an avid blogger. In the last few years, she has addressed audiences at a host of corporates including Walmart, Biocon, TESCO, Metlife and RR Donnelly. She was recently awarded the “Iconic Woman Award” by the Ladies’ Wing of the IMC Chamber of Commerce and the “Rashtriya Swayam Siddha Samman” by the JSPL Group. On top of it all, she also advocates for the inclusion of Persons with Disability (PwDs) on various platforms. She is an Ambassador for Adventures Beyond Barriers Foundation, a non-profit promoting inclusion of PwDs through the platform of adventure sports, and is involved with Saviour of Soul, an NGO that works with rehabilitation of sex workers and their children as well as Gender-Based Violence. On days off, she likes to dance, sing, and laugh up a riot in the company of family and friends. Read More…

Vaidya M. Prasad, an expert in Salakyatanthra, is an Ayurveda physician of the classical Kerala style. He is the Principal and Professor of Salakyatanthra, Ashtamgam Ayurveda Vidyapeedham at Palakkad district in Kerala. A rank holder both in his Graduate and Post Graduate studies, he is currently into researching and developing an effective protocol for the management of autism. Under his leadership, a novel method called SuPrA (Sunethri Protocol for Autism) was developed, the details of which was published in the World Ayurveda Congress 2010, Bangalore. A paper on this topic was also presented at the Swadeshi Science Congress in 2011 at Kollam. He is also a managing trustee of the Sunethri Foundation, a registered trust working for the research and propagation of Ayurvedia theory and practice and a trustee of the Vaidyabhooshanam K.Raghavan Thirumulpad Foundation for Ayurvedic Studies. He received training in the basic principles and philosophy of Ayurveda under PADMABHUSHAN Vaidyabhooshanam K. Raghavan, and in clinical Ayurveda under PADMASREE DR.K.RAJAGOPAL. As trained by his guru, he is practicing and propagating Ayurveda which is simple, cost effective and life-style oriented. He has presented nearly 100 papers at different national and international seminars, CME programs and workshops and has to his credit more than 100 lectures in different CMEs. A regular resource person at the awareness camps and health education programs, Vaidya Prasad is actively engaged in propagating the concepts of healthy positive living. Read More…

Gita Srikanth, past president of ABA India, is a Board Certified Behaviour Analyst (“BCBA”) heading an ABA (“Applied Behaviour Analysis”) centre for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder. She started her professional career as a Chartered Accountant and Company Secretary. Finding that numbers are not half as interesting as people are, motivated her to change career paths. She began the centre catering to only 10 children with autism armed with great intentions and little knowledge, she went to on pursue her masters in ABA from Ball State University, USA and qualified as a BCBA– currently 1 of 24 professionals in India. Her centre now provides one on one intervention to 25 individuals with autism and she actively supervises Registered Behaviour Technicians and aspiring BCBAs both within and outside the centre. She is passionate about training and conducts training workshops across India with the aim of teaching behaviour principles across the board – to parents,teachers, support staff, educators and medical professionals. As an applied researcher, Gita also presents her work at conferences both nationally and internationally.

Anjana K. Thampy completed her Bachelors in Psychology from Ethiraj College for Women, and then pursued her Masters in Counselling Psychology, from the Madras School of Social Work in Chennai, India. Having grown up around dogs, both her own and others’, she experienced first-hand how special the bond between animals and humans is. Certain that she wanted to explore it more, both personally and professionally, she decided to pursue Animal Assisted Psychotherapy (AAP/AAT). Considering that the chances were then limited in India, she spent 18 months, after completing her post-graduation, training to be an Animal Assisted Therapist, under the direct supervision of Dr. Linda Chassman, founder and executive director of Animal Assisted Therapy Programs of Colorado (AATPC), in USA. During her time in Denver, Anjana worked alongside horses, goats, rats, rabbits, cats and dogs, and helped various clients work through a range of different mental health issues, like anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, attachment concerns, and mood disorders. Anjana believes in creating a safe, and accepting environment, with the client at the center, so that they may explore and delve deep into their issues in a comfortable manner, without feeling judged. She does this in partnership with her therapy animals; Arya the cat, and Omana the dog. She is currently working on getting her other rescue dog Lily, ready for the field. Anjana enjoys every single minute spent with her little menagerie of animals at home, and when she is not busy with them, she likes to read fantasy fiction, listen to music, take to her guitar and strum a few tunes, or surround herself with as much nature and trees as she can. Read More…

Ms. Dhanya Ravi was born with a rare genetic disease called Osteogenesis Imperfecta (brittle bone disease) and has suffered more than hundreds of fractures in her body right since she was an infant. This, however has not deterred her from becoming the inspiration for thousands of others She does not let any of this come in the way of the constant smile on her face. From a freelance content writer to inspiring numerous others as a motivational speaker and riding the internet wave as a digital marketer and explainer video script. She is unstoppable with her energy and passion. She is also actively involved in a Trivandrum based charitable organization ‘Amrithavarshini Charitable Society’ which supports people with Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI). She was honored with the ‘Brave Bangle Award 2012’ for the extra ordinary women by film brew (Kochi, Kerala). and ‘Annual Inspired Indian Foundation (IIF) Award 2014’ for initiating activities for social causes (Raj Bhavan, Bengaluru, Karnataka). Celebrate she does, with her contagious smile and her boundless enthusiasm, she continues to inspire many to lead a life of joy and gratitude.

Swaminathan is a parent of a 16 year old budding artist, Adi, who happens to be on the autism spectrum. Adi was diagonised in 2004. This was a turning point as autism slowly became a passion. In an attempt to understand his child better, and help his wife who works non stop with him, he started reading about autism in all his spare time. He says it is still a learning curve and that he is not even halfway through. He is an AGM with State Bank of India and his employers have been very supportive and ensured against any transfers out of Delhi/NCR, which has helped in the progress and the prognosis of his child. Another key role was his sons school, Scottish High International, Gurgaon which practices integration in the true sense of the word but the lions share of his sons progress, according to Swaminathan goes to his wife, who quit her job and is with Adi 24X7. He is presently on a two year sabbatical, mainly for the 10th board exam through NIOS. Luckily the gambit paid off and Adi cleared 10th with 85%. We are now preparing for 12th with a pipe dream of entering a good art college for BFA

Smrithy Rajesh is the parent of a child with autism. She started working as a co-therapist for her son and is a qualified Special Educator certified by the Karnataka Parents’ Association for Mentally Retarded Citizens (KPAMRC). When she saw remarkable progress in her child with the techniques she used, she created a YouTube channel and blog to share her ideas and thoughts with other parents. She works as a Special Educator at Bubbles Centre for Autism, Bangalore. Smrithy has presented her experiences at various forums including the International Conference at Mumbai, National Conference at Jaipur and parent working groups in Hyderabad and Bangalore. She helps and motivates parents across the globe and guides them on steps to be taken at various stages of their child’s development. To her credit, Smrithy has researched Augmentative Alternative Communication (AAC) techniques and pioneered the customised use of Avaz India. She built communication skills using Avaz for her child, who is non-verbal. Smrithy believes that physical exercise should be an integral part of every intervention programme and has helped her son ace Roller Skating, where he showed considerable interest. Her son, Advaith, won the State Level Gold Medal in Roller Skating for two consecutive years, 2017 and 2018 and was a Silver medallist at the Special Olympic Bharath Karnataka in 2017. She worked on her son’s skills in Jewellery making and today he has his own jewellery collection entitled ‘Addu’s Little Creations’. Smrithy’s efforts as a parent was recently acknowledged by One Special Place who gave her a Special Award in recognition of her dedication as a mother. Read More…

Sheeba Arnold received her Bachelor’s degree from Cochin University of Science Technology, Master’s degree from New Jersey Institute of Technology, and Doctoral degree from Stonybrook University, all in Biomedical Engineering. She is currently a core member of the MRI-Team at the Martinos Imaging Center at McGovern Institute for Brain Research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a neuroimaging data scientist at the Alan and Lorraine Bressler Clinical and Research Program for Autism Spectrum Disorders, Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital. As a biomedical researcher by training with over 650 citations, her goal is to apply enhanced/optimized MRI acquisition methods and data analysis techniques for the development of biomarkers, and towards translational neuroimaging.

Jitendra Sharma is a neuroscientist with appointments at MIT, Massachusetts General Hospital and the Broad Institute in Cambridge, MA. During his doctoral work at IIT and AIIMS, New Delhi, he developed sensors for brain pressure measurement in new born babies and an artificial arm prosthesis for below elbow amputees. After a short stint in Department of Electronics, Government of India, where he oversaw development of a linear accelerator for cancer therapy he moved to MIT to perform basic research in neuroscience. During his postdoctoral training he studied brain plasticity by rewiring visual and auditory circuits of ferrets to show the influence of environmental inputs in shaping developing brain circuits. Most recently, his is studying the relationship of genes, circuits and behavior to uncover brain mechanisms of autism. His work has appeared in top scientific journals including Nature, Science, Nature Neuroscience and Neuron..

Rajeev Kamath completed his Doctorate from IIT, Madras and has been a faculty member at IIT Madras and a visiting scholar at Carnegie Melon University, USA, focussing on research in Artificial Intelligence. The knowledge and understanding of “learning in human brain” has helped Rajeev to create approaches to make the special children learn using different aspects of music. With his interest in the digital arts and music, Rajeev involves himself in motivating parents and volunteers working in the field of helping persons with special needs. He is the father of a 30-year-old daughter, Prathibha Kamath, who is on the spectrum. He has been experimenting with mapping the benefits of music for adults and children with special needs. The effects of the therapy was closely monitored with 24 parameters on functional, behavioral and cognitive dimensions. The music (as a therapy) did wonders on many different faculties in Pratibha, This experience with his own daughter was extended to a number of ‘special’ children who are identified with different intellectual disabilities including Autism. e has setup a music band ‘Tarang’ under the umbrella of Yash Charitable Trust, Mumbai. Tarang aims to develop intellectually disabled children through music, and prepare them for stage performances. Team Tarang has performed in quite a few stages in Mumbai and Pune and wowed the audience with their musical talent. Read More…

Tali Berman is an autism specialist and author and has worked with hundreds of children from over 30 different countries. She authored the book – ‘Play to Grow! Over 200 games to help your special child develop fundamental social skills’. Tali is the founder of the ‘Autism Empowerment Telesummit’ initiative that has top autism experts on the panel, including Temple Grandin. She has been an ongoing contributor to the Generation Rescue Blog, Autism File Magazine and presented at the National Autism Association Conference in 2017 on autism and self-esteem. Tali currently lives with her husband and three children in Israel.

Dr Hilde Geurts, is a professor Clinical Neuropsychology at the University of Amsterdam the Netherlands and is also professor by special appointment for the autism clinic “Dr. Leo Kannerhuis”. Her scientific works encompasses the whole life span. In children and teens with autism she focused predominantly on the cognitive domain of executive functioning in order to understand how information is processed differently by those on the spectrum and how one can strengthen these functions. In adulthood, again cognition is the focus, but also comorbidity and quality of life receive her special attention. She is, among others, head of the Dutch Autism and ADHD research center , Vice-President of the International Society of Autism Researchers, and initiator of the autism stakeholder network REACH-AUT. The major aim of her work is to build bridges between academic research and clinical practice while making sure that autistic voices are hear.

Dr Daniel Fung is a child psychiatrist at the Institute of Mental Health’s Child Guidance Clinic. He is currently the Chairman Medical Board of Singapore’s Institute of Mental Health. A recipient of the Singapore Psychiatric Association Book prize, Dr Fung is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Yong Loo Lin Medical School, Duke-NUS Medical School, National University of Singapore and Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University. He is currently the Vice President of the International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions and the Immediate Past President of the Asian Society of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions. Dr Fung has been involved with working with children who have been abused since the start of his career and is active with the Singapore Children’s Society where he received their Platinum Service Award in 2017. He was the President of the Singapore Association for Mental Health (2009 to 2016), an NGO that supports mentally ill persons and their families in the community. As a Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator for various studies involving innovative clinical interventions on disruptive behaviour disorders and anxiety disorders, his research is supported by the National Medical Research Council and other funding agencies. Dr Fung has been involved in over 10 national level funded research grants. He has co-authored several peer reviewed research papers , books and book chapters. He is married to Joyce and is a fulltime father to five wonderful children. Dr Fung is also the programme director of REACH (Response, Early interventions and Assessment in Community mental Health), a community-based mental health programme in Singapore. Read More…

Steve Berggren currently works as Deputy Director and Head of clinical unit BUP-KIND at the Center for Neurodevelopmental Disorders (KIND) Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm Sweden. He has a PhD in medical science, certified psychologist and neuropsychologist and does research and clinical work in autism. He has a special interest in emotion recognition and social cognition. Dr. Berggren has together with a European consortium develop a computer software program that will assist children, age 5-10 years with Autism Spectrum Disorders to understand and express emotions through facial expressions, tone-of- voice and body “gestures. Current projects are TRANSITION – “a course with case management in the transition from adolescence to adulthood for individuals diagnosed with ADHD and/or Autism spectrum disorders (ASD)” and KONTAKTSocial skills training for children with autism spectrum conditions, both national and internationally in collaboration with Curtin University in Perth, Australia.