The World Federation’s Autistic Centre in Dar es Salaam is pleased to receive two professionals in the field of Autism. They will be spending two weeks at the Centre. They are:

Kari Dunn Buron, MS
Kari Dunn Buron has been working with students with autism for over 30 years.  She has recently retired from public school but continues to teach for Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota where she developed an Autism Spectrum Disorders Certificate program for educators.  Kari is one of the founding members of the MN Autism Network, a state-wide network of ASD educational consultants. 

Kari has done volunteer work in Trinidad, West Indies since 1991, giving classes on autism to parents and helping to set up schools.  In 1995, Kari developed and continues to work as the coordinator for Camp Discovery, a camp for youth with Asperger Syndrome.  In 2003, Kari received a self-designed Fellowship that allowed her to spend a year interviewing and working internationally with a number of therapists and researchers in the area of Social Cognition, Education and Autism. 

Kari serves on the Professional Advisory Boards for the Autism Society of Minnesota and for the Autism Asperger Digest.  She is the co-author of The Incredible 5-Point Scale, the author of When My Worries Get Too Big,  A 5 Could Make Me Lose Control and A 5 is Against the Law!  Kari is also the co-editor of a new textbook due out in early 2008 for educators titled Learners on the Autism Spectrum: Preparing Highly Qualified Educators.
 
Joyce Santo, MS
Joyce Santo began her career as a speech and language clinician serving children with severe communication delays. She has worked exclusively with children with autism for the past fifteen years developing programs in both elementary and preschools. 

Joyce currently holds the position of Autism Resource Specialist in Roseville Area Schools and served as a member of the planning committee that developed the Autism Certificate Program at Hamline University where she is now an adjunct faculty member.  As the Minnesota Early Childhood Autism Network Coordinator, she was responsible for coordinating the expansion of the Minnesota State Autism Network to include early childhood educators from each region of the state.  

Joyce co-chairs the committee responsible for planning and development of the Minnesota Autism Symposium, an annual graduate level course featuring nationally known experts in the field.  She is a member of the Autism Society of Minnesota and the Minnesota Autism Network.  Joyce speaks locally and nationally on topics of interest to parents and educators of children with autism.  For the past eight years she has worked as a volunteer, developing programs for children with autism through the Autistic Society of Trinidad and Tobago.

For more information, please email health@world-federation.org