Discover SPARK

Partnering for Autism

Date Published: February 2017

Our fifth webinar, moderated by Alison Singer, MBA, features Ann Palmer of the Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities and Patricia Manning, M.D. of the Kelly O’Leary Center. In this webinar, our speakers discuss different approaches to partnering in the autism community. Each speaker brings a different perspective about how developing relationships from within the community enhance program outcomes. This webinar is 45 minutes long.

Who is Alison Singer?

Alison Singer, MBA is the president of the Autism Science Foundation and the mother of a child with autism. Singer has served on the national Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) and is also currently serving on the executive board of the Yale Child Study Center, on the external advisory board of the Marcus Autism Center at Emory University, and on the external advisory board of the CDC’s Center for Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities. Alison chairs the International Society for Autism Research public relations committee and is a member of the IMFAR program committee and community advisory committee. She graduated from Yale University with a B.A. in Economics and has an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Who is Anne Palmer?

Ann Palmer is a parent of a 33 year old son with autism, an author and presenter. She has worked with autism families for close to 30 years. She was the Parent Support Coordinator at the UNC TEACCH Program and the Director of Advocacy and Chapters at the Autism Society of North Carolina. Ann is currently a faculty member at the Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities (CIDD) at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. She is the author of three books published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Ann presents internationally on topics related to autism, developmental disabilities and parenting.

Who is Patricia Manning?

Patricia Manning, M.D. attended Austin College, in Sherman, Texas for her undergraduate work, and earned her medical degree at the University Of Cincinnati College Of Medicine, where she earned the distinct honor of graduating first in her medical school class.  She continued in Cincinnati for her pediatric residency at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC), and her subsequent fellowship in Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, where her interest in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) was fostered.  Upon completing her fellowship, and with support from a local family, Dr. Manning founded The Kelly O’Leary Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders (TKOC), a multidisciplinary diagnostic, treatment and research program for children with ASD.  TKOC is comprised of approximately 50 faculty and staff members, and actively serves over 3000 patients with ASD.  Dr. Manning is currently the Co-Director of the Division of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, as well as the Associate Chief of Staff for Ambulatory Services at CCHMC. She has been the Principal Investigator for the Autism Speaks-Autism Treatment Network since 2009, and is Co-Investigator for the CCHMC SPARK site.  Dr. Manning is very interested in improving access to timely diagnosis and treatment for children with ASD, and has overseen access improvement projects that now permit children under 3 to be seen and diagnosed within 40 days of referral.

Webinar Documents