Biographies
Educational Advisory Committee
Our goals are to provide evidence based training to ensure best practice intervention for the province. We rely heavily on the expertise of our Educational Advisory Committee (EAC) to provide curriculum updates, guidance and direction to our organization to ensure we deliver high quality programs. The members of this committee are found below with their biographies.
Dr. Paul McDonnell
Paul
M. McDonnell, Ph.D., is a Professor Emeritus in the Department of
Psychology at the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB. and is a
Fellow of the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA). He has spent
over 30 years teaching and conducting research in infant and child
development. Dr. McDonnell is also a clinical child psychologist with a
private practice in Fredericton. In the past 10 years, he has taken a
special interest in both assessment and intervention with children who
have various forms of Autistic Spectrum Disorders. Dr. McDonnell is a
member of number of national and international associations including
the Association of Behavior Analysis and the Ontario Association of
Behavior Analysis. He is also a member of the Canadian Autism
Intervention Research Network (CAIRN). This group is developing a
coordinated agenda for research into early intervention for autistic
spectrum disorders. Currently he chairs the UNB Autism Steering
Committee and has been an instructor in UNB’s Autism Intervention
Training Program since it began in May 2004. Dr. McDonnell also serves
on the Curriculum Advisory Committee for the Autism Intervention
Training Program.
Dr. Barbara D’Entremont
Barbara
D’Entremont is a Professor in the Psychology Department at
UNB. Barbara taught previously at the University of Manitoba and
currently teaches courses in developmental and clinical child psychology
at UNB. She has research interests in various aspects of development
and interventions with children with autism. She is also a licensed
psychologist within the Province of New Brunswick.
Dr. Tara Kennedy
Tara
Kennedy, MD, PhD, FRCPC, is a Developmental Pediatrician who recently
moved from Toronto to take up a position as Clinical Leader of Pediatric
Autism Rehabilitation Services at the Stan Cassidy Centre for
Rehabilitation in Fredericton, New Brunswick. She has a Master’s of
Education degree from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education,
and recently completed a PhD program in Medical Education through the
Institute of Medical Science and the Wilson Centre, Faculty of Medicine,
University of Toronto, with a focus on clinical training and
supervision of medical trainees. She is actively involved in educational
programs in the field of Child Development for medical trainees,
physicians, and other health care professionals across North America.
Dr. Jessica Brian
Jessica Brian is a Psychologist and Clinician-Investigator at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital (Bloorview Research Institute) and has been Co-Director at the Autism Research Unit at SickKids for ten years.
She received her Ph.D. from the clinical-developmental program at York
University in 2000 and completed intensive training in Applied Behaviour
Analysis during a full-year internship at the Princeton Child
Development Institute in New Jersey. Dr. Brian’s primary interests
in Autism research include understanding basic mechanisms of attention,
very early identification and early intervention. She has been heavily
involved in the Canadian arm of the international “Baby Sibs Research
Consortium” (PI: L. Zwaigenbaum & S. Bryson; Autism Speaks) for the
past ten years, including collaboration in the development of an
assessment tool developed by our group specifically for the
identification of early ASD signs in infants and toddlers (Autism
Observation Scale for Infants; Bryson et al.). Dr. Brian is currently
co-leading a randomized controlled trial (with Susan Bryson; Autism
Speaks Canada) to establish the effectiveness of their very early
intervention program designed for infants and toddlers at high risk for
Autism.
Curriculum Advisor – Autism Intervention Training Programs
Dre. Sylvie Donais
Sylvie
Donais received her Ph.D. in psychology of education at the University
of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM), in 1997. After an internship with Dr.
Lovaas at the University of California in Los Angeles, she trains and
supervises parents and staff to apply Intensive Behavioral Intervention
with young children with autism. She works in partnership with
Readaptation Centers to offer assessment and behavioral treatment for
children, teenagers and adults with a pervasive developmental disorders
and/or intellectual disabilities. She teaches as a lecturer at
University of Montreal in Quebec and at the University of New Brunswick.
She is a member of the International Association of Behavior Analysis
and she is the vice-president of the Quebec Association of Behavior
Analysis. Finally, she is a psychologist in private practice at the
Clinique d’approche béhaviorale en autisme, in Montreal.
For a complete list of UNB College of Extended Learning professional development certificates, programs and workshops, please click here.
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