PLD Presentations & Publications
PLD Design Team & Coaches
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Team Principal Investigator - Research & Evaluation Director - Leadership Development Co-Director - Family Involvement
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PLD Design Team & Coaches
The PLD Project is made possibly through a joint effort by a number of collaborating organizations and dynamic, motivated individuals who are experts in their fields.
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Ms. Lalinde is Director of Training at the
University of Miami Department of Pediatrics, Mailman Center for
Child Development. Ms. Lalinde was the co-founder of Parent-to-Parent
of Miami and served as President from 1986 to 1992 and Honorary
Advisor from 1996 to the present. Ms. Lalinde is well-known on
the local, state, and national level for her advocacy work on
behalf of children with disabilities and their families. The City
of Miami honored her with the Advocate for Children with Disabilities
Award in May, 2003. Ms. Lalinde is currently pursuing her Ph.D.
in Special Education and was recently invited to participate with
Harvard Faculty in delivering their Arts & Practice Leadership
program. |
| Ms. Garcia is Executive Director of Parent to Parent of Miami and has been a longtime advocate for the rights of children with disabilities and their families. Ms. Garcia’s passion and leadership at the local, state and national level was recognized by the Children’s Services Council which awarded her the 2002 Champion for Children Community Service Award. Ms. Garcia has successfully managed major local grants awarded to Parent to Parent of Miami, including the Community Parent Resource Center Grant from the U. S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), and is responsible for coordinating support for the PLD Project provided by The Children’s Trust and the Miami-Dade County Early Intervention Program. Read an article by the Miami Herald about Parent to Parent that quotes Ms. Garcia and Ms. De Moya (This is a .pdf file, you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader to open this file.) |
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| Ms. Mora supervises project staff at Parent to Parent of Miami and serves as a liaison between Parent to Parent of Miami and hospital-based staff on issues related to the informational and support needs of families who have children with disabilities. She has three young children with special needs and is actively involved in their school. She seeks to improve services offered through the Early Intervention Program and increase awareness in early detection and treatment of developmental delays. Read an Interview with Ms. Mora in the Sun-Sentinel (This is a .pdf file, you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader to open this file.) |
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Dr. Mesler is a Post-Doctoral Associate at
the University of Miami and teaches special education courses
both at the University of Miami and Nova Southeastern University.
Dr. Mesler has been a special and general education teacher as
well as the coordinator for disabled student services at the university
level. Dr. Mesler’s focus of interest is learning disabilities
and children with physical disabilities. She is a parent of an
adolescent with spina bifida and has been involved in parent advocacy
on the state and national level for many years. |
| Mr. Kohnstamm taught at-risk high school students in Arizona before obtaining a Research Associate position in the Department of Teaching and Learning at the University of Miami. Mr. Kohnstamm has been involved in a number of projects funded by the Florida Department of Education and directed by Dr. Elbaum, including the Florida Alternate Assessment Report Project and the ESE Program Evaluation Project. He has conducted focus group interviews with parents, teachers, and students across the state of Florida. Mr. Kohnstamm is responsible for managing the administrative and logistical aspects of the PLD project. |
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Ms. Miller is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in special
education at the University of Miami. Prior to enrolling in the
doctoral program she was a special education teacher and administrator
of special education and pupil service programs in Pennsylvania.
She has been involved in the Council of Exceptional Children for
the last 11 years, holding various state level positions. Most
recently, Ms. Miller served as the President of PACASE, a subdivision
of CEC for administrators of special education. |
| Ms. Hernandez was one of the founding members of Parent to Parent of Miami. Her main concern has been creating supports and information to Spanish speaking families. In 1989 Iliana left her banking career to start a new professional path supporting and educating families of children with disabilities. Throughout these years she worked for Parent to Parent of Miami and for the University of Miami Center on Aging and Developmental Disabilities, and for the last 11 years she has been working at FDLRS South, responsible for the Parent Services function. Ms. Hernandez has also served in several local, state and national boards. |
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Toni Hill is best known in the Army community as a Volunteer,
a Community Advocate for children with disabilities and an active
participant in promoting partnerships with local school districts
in pursuit of excellence in education for all military children.
She is an Army wife and mother of two children, one with severe
multiple disabilities.
Professionally, she holds a BS and a MBA; has been a financial analyst, a trainer, a facilitator and a college-level educator. Toni is certified as a Parent Trainer, has been instrumental in initiating and promoting quality of life family programming and programming for children with disabilities. Ms. Hill is currently a member of the Board of the Military Child Education Coalition (MCEC) and the Chairman of the Sub-Committee on Special Education. She is a past member of the National Advisory Board for the MCEC, past board member for STOMP, is currently a trainer for the Transition Counselors Institute and a researcher for the Special Education Leaders Institute of MCEC which she co- founded. She sits on the Department of Defense Task Force on Exceptional Family Member issues. |
| Dr. Bessell is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning at the University of Miami. She has been active in the area of advocacy for families with children with individual differences. Dr. Bessell chose to pursue her Ph.D. in special education and reading after her 12-year-old son, Jonathan lost his battle with lymphoma. As a result, her main goal is to improve the quality of life for children with individual differences, particularly health issues, by providing appropriate and quality educational experiences. Her research emphasizes the importance of collaborative communication among professionals, teaching teachers effective educational strategies to facilitate the learning and social needs of children, particularly those with special needs, and program evaluation. |
For more information
on the PLD Project or collaborating organizations,
please see our About PLD page.
Do you have
a question about resources or concerns for
your child with special needs? Ask our Peer
Resource Specialist
For
general information about the PLD Project, please e-mail
James Kohnstamm at:
jkohnstamm@miami.edu
For
any issues related to the website or any general comments, suggestions,
or for assistance, please contact Amy Brennan at abrennan@med.miami.edu
Created
by: Amy
Brennan
Last Updated:
July 14, 2005
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