Board of Directors Biography

President

Marc J. Tassé, Ph.D. is the Director of the Ohio State University (OSU) Nisonger Center, a University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD). He is also a Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at OSU.  Dr. Tassé’s experience includes 20 years of experience in conducting research and providing clinical services in the field of intellectual disability (formerly known as mental retardation) and related developmental disabilities. Dr. Tassé has conducted over 100 trainings, workshops, and presentations related to intellectual disability. His publication record includes more than 70 articles in peer-reviewed journals, chapters, and books in the area of intellectual and developmental disabilities. He is a co-author of the AAIDD (2002 and 2010) Terminology and Classification Manual and AAIDD User’s Guide (Schalock et al., 2007) as well as Chair of the AAIDD task force working on the development of the Diagnostic Adaptive Behavior Scale. He has also co-authored several published standardized assessment instruments in the field of intellectual and developmental disabilities, including the assessment of adaptive behavior, assessment of problem behavior, and measurement of support needs.  Dr. Tassé is a Fellow of the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and recipient of the AAIDD Service Award (2007 & 2009). Dr. Tassé has consulted and testified in several capital cases involving intellectual disabilities determination.

 James R. Thompson, PhD

President-Elect

James R. Thompson, PhD,. has over 30 years of experience in the field of developmental disabilities as a direct support professional, special educator, rehabilitation counselor, teacher educator, and researcher. He has authored or co-authored over 70 books, book chapters, monographs, and articles in professional journals, and has directed multiple federal and state funded research and model demonstration projects. His research focus for the past 10 years has been on support needs assessment and planning. He is the lead author of AAIDD’s Supports Intensity Scale (SIS), the first assessment tool to provide a standardized measure of the support needs of adults with developmental disabilities. The SIS has been translated and published in 13 languages, and is being used throughout the United States and world.

Amy Hewitt, PhD

Vice President

Ms. Hewitt has an extensive background and work history in the field of intellectual and developmental disabilities and has worked in various positions over the past 28 years to improve community inclusion and quality of  for children and adults with disabilities and their families. She is the Director of the Research and Training Center on Community Living at the University of Minnesota, Institute on Community Integration and the Training Director for the MN LEND and UCEDD programs. She directs several federal and state research, evaluation and demonstration projects in the area of community services for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

 Ms. Hewitt is a national leader in the area of workforce development and community supports to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.  She was a founder of the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals and has been instrumental in the development of the NADSP national credentialing and accreditation program. Current projects include the College of Direct Support  a national training curriculum development project that currently delivers training to 280,000+ direct support professionals each day throughout the United States and has delivered over 4 million completed hour of training to these Direct Support Professionals; CMS National Resource Center on Direct Support Workers, a national technical assistance center designed to provide states with technical support on issues related to direct support workforce challenges. Research and Training Center on Community Living the only NIDRR national research center on intellectual and developmental disabilities where she is involved in several research studies regarding consumer direction, active support, direct support training and employment services. MN LEND an interdisciplinary training program for pre and post-doctoral students across 11 disciplines in neurodevelopmental disabilities and autism spectrum disorders.

Ms. Hewitt has authored and co-authored many curriculum, journal articles and manuscripts.  A book she co-authored entitled, Staff Recruitment, Retention and Training  published by Brookes publishing.  She is a managing editor of Frontline Initiative a national newsletter for DSPs; a contributing editor for LINKS a newsletter of ANCOR and guest editor of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities a journal of the AAIDD.  She is currently a Board member for the Arc Greater Twin Cities, one of the nations largest advocacy – only Arcs.

Patti N. Martin

Secretary- Treasurer

Patti Martin is the Executive Director of the Montgomery 310 in Montgomery, Alabama.  The Montgomery 310 is a planning and service coordination brokerage non-profit entity for persons with Intellectual Disability who are Medicaid Waiver recipients.  She also currently works part time for the Council on Quality and Leadership, CQL, as a Lead Reviewer.   Through CQL, she has reviewed intellectual disabilities organizations in Ireland and ten states in the U.S.    Since her start in the Intellectual Disabilities support business in 1974in Tennessee, she has worked as a Teacher, Activities of Daily Living Specialist, Program Director, Quality Enhancement Director, Supported Work Program Executive Director, Principal, Early Intervention Supervisor, Behavior Specialist and Qualified Professional.   The work locales include both facility and community based programs.

She received her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees from the University of Memphis in Education.  She has served as both the State and Regional Chair of AAIDD. She was a charter Board member of the Applied Behavior Analysis Association of Alabama; a Grants Specialist by the national Grant Writer Association, a Certified Public Manager, a Certified Case Manager, and a Person Centered Planning Certified Facilitator.  She co-authored the Data Based Improvement System, which was taught within the southeast region of Alabama.

Sharon C. Gomez

Past President

Sharon Gomez is the Quality Enhancement Officer for Evergreen Presbyterian Ministries, Inc.; a faith-based, not-for-profit, multi-state agency providing supports to people with developmental disabilities. She has a Bachelor’s Degree from Louisiana State University. She previously served as the Director of Evergreen Presbyterian Ministries, Inc. Southwest Louisiana Community Services Division from its inception. She also served as a Program Supervisor for Evergreen as well as a Court Monitor for the District Court of Louisiana in the matter of Gary W. et al vs. the State of Louisiana. Sharon was instrumental in introducing the concept of Person Centered Planning to Evergreen and has traveled extensively in the United States teaching people the value of this philosophy as well as the tool.

She joined the staff of The Council on Quality and Leadership (CQL) in 2002 as a Quality Enhancement Specialist. Through her work with CQL, Sharon has worked extensively with organizations throughout the United States and most recently in Ireland in developing person centered approaches to service delivery. CQL is an international not-for-profit organization dedicated to being the leader for excellence in the definition, measurement and evaluation of personal and community quality of life for people with disabilities and people with mental illness. She has authored a chapter in the AAIDD Publication entitled Contemporary Issues in Administration: Leadership and Organizational Excellence; the chapter is entitled “Factors Defining An Excellent Community Provider” and co-authored a second chapter in the same publication entitled “The Partnership of Person Centered Planning and Outcomes Measurement.” She also co-authored an article that appeared in the March, 2003 issue of Exceptional Parent Magazine entitled, “One Organization’s Multi-Dimensional Approach to Quality Enhancement. She has held numerous positions in the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities including President of the Louisiana Chapter, President of the Region V Chapter, President of the Community Services Division of the National Chapter, and a member of the Board of Directors of the National Chapter on two separate occasions. She became a Fellow in AAIDD in 2000. In 2003, she was selected as one of 34 individuals who have made the most significant contributions to enhancing quality of life for individuals with intellectual disabilities across the 20TH century in a five state area (Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, and Missouri.)

Denis W. Keyes, PhD

Member-at-Large

Dr. Denis Keyes is a Professor of Special Education in the Department of Teacher Education at the College of Charleston in South Carolina. His Bachelor of Science is from the Ohio University in Special Education.
He also holds a Master of Education in Special Education, a Master of Science and an Educational Specialist Degree in School Psychology from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. He was awarded his Doctor of Philosophy in Special Education from the University of New Mexico in May, 1992, with emphasis in intellectual developmental disabilities. His doctoral program was directed by his teacher and mentor, Professor Ruth Luckasson.

Starting out as a teacher assistant, Dr. Keyes has worked in the field of special education (primarily intellectual developmental disabilities) since 1974. He taught in classrooms for children and adults with intellectual developmental disabilities for nearly 10 years. He has been a certified special education teacher since 1979, a school psychologist since 1988, and became Nationally Certified (through the National Association of School Psychologists) in 1989. Dr. Keyes is a Fellow of the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, and a Diplomate of the American Board of Forensic Examiners. He has authored and co-authored several articles and numerous presentations dealing with issues of intellectual disabilities and criminal justice, particularly death penalty cases.

Dr. Keyes has consulted and testified for legal protection and advocacy agencies, particularly in the areas of intellectual disabilities, special education and the criminal justice system. Since 1988, he has been active in evaluating and testifying in cases involving offenders on Death Row with intellectual developmental disabilities. A 1997 article on which Dr. Keyes was lead author, was cited by the United States Supreme Court in the majority opinion for the landmark 2002 decision in Atkins v. Virginia. As such, Dr. Keyes gladly offers training presentations on the characteristics and nuances of intellectual disabilities in criminal situations (pro bono) for clinicians, law enforcement, and for members of both sides of the bar.

Loui Lord Nelson, PhD

Member-at-Large

coming up soon!

Elizabeth Perkins, PhD

Member-at-Large

Dr. Elizabeth Perkins is Research Assistant Professor and Health Coordinator at the Florida Center for Inclusive Communities (FCIC), at the University of South Florida’s (USF) - University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities. She has a PhD in Aging Studies and a BA (summa cum laude) in Psychology, both from USF. Dr. Perkins is also an RNMH, a registered nurse from the United Kingdom, where she trained specifically in the field of intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Her clinical experiences have been predominantly in the field of geriatric and residential care. Her current areas of interest include health aspects of aging with IDD, quality of life issues of older family caregivers of adults with IDD, and compound caregiving (when older caregivers have multiple caregiving roles).  Dr. Perkins' current activities at the Florida Center for Inclusive Communities are concentrated on improving the quality of healthcare for people with IDD, including training various disciplines of current and future healthcare professionals. She is a firm believer of the need to educate all healthcare providers regarding the needs of individuals with IDD to “make the unfamiliar become familiar” and especially with greater focus on aging health and wellness. She also authored My Health Passport, a popular health care advocacy document, which provides personalized information on how to best support the individual when they have need to visit a hospital or clinic.
Dr. Perkins is the immediate past president of AAIDD’s Gerontology Division. She was also the former co-convener of the Formal Interest Group on Developmental Disabilities for the Gerontological Society of America. At the state level, Dr. Perkins currently represents FCIC on the Florida Developmental Disabilities Council (FDDC), and is a member of the FDDC’s Health Care & Prevention Task Force. Dr. Perkins has been published in several highly regarded journals including JAMA and Academic Medicine. She is the guest co-editor for a forthcoming Special Issue on Aging and End of Life for AAIDD’s American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.  Dr. Perkins is also a co-author of the fifth edition of  "Physical Changes and Aging: A Guide for the Helping Professions", a widely respected gerontology textbook published by Springer, that was recently translated into Chinese.  Dr. Perkins relishes the opportunity to continue her service to AAIDD by serving on the Board of Directors!

Peter J. Smith, MD

Member-at-Large

Dr. Smith Peter is currently an Assistant Professor in Pediatrics at the University of Chicago. His educational roles including being the Program Director for the Fellowship in Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics and co-PI for the Illinois LEND training program. He is also an Associate in the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical ethics, with a particular focus upon the ethical issues related to individuals with IDD, and a member of the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine Admissions Committee. He is an active clinician and his administrative leadership includes being the Medical Director both for the Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School and for the Illinois Center for Rehabilitation and Education; he is also the immediate past Chief of the Medical Staff at LaRabida Children’s Hospital.

Prior to moving back to Chicago in 2002 Dr. Smith completed two fellowships at Boston Children’s Hospital, one (as a LEND fellow) in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities and one in Advocacy (with clinical work in Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics), as well as a Masters in Theology at Boston College. He previously completed his pediatric residency training in 1998 at St. Louis Children’s Hospital after completing Medical School at Duke in 1995 and obtaining his undergraduate degree in Theology at the University of Notre Dame in 1990. He was a Rotary International Ambassador to Scotland and student in the University of Edinburgh in the Faculty of Divinity in 1990-91 and has acquired a strong love for all things Scottish (and actually wears a kilt on occasion). He is eager to point out that despite the fact that he both grew up and currently lives on the North Side of Chicago, he is a life-long White Sox fan. Most important to him is that he is a father to four children and husband to one wife.

Dr. Smith joined AAIDD (nee AAMR) in 1999, and has felt since prior even to that time that the current medical care of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities is inadequate. Doctors are poorly trained in this area, with most completing many years of required training without ever having had formal education on the needs and nuances of this community. Dr. Smith believes that while this is tremendously disappointing, it is ultimately correctable, and he hopes to be part of the team that does just that.

Margaret Nygren, EdD

Executive Director and CEO

Margaret Nygren, EdD, joined AAIDD as Executive Director and CEO in 2010 after six years of service at the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD). Dr. Nygren’s previous positions include a Fellowship in the Disabled and Elderly Health Programs Group at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in Baltimore, Director of the Center on Aging and Disabilities at the Lieutenant Joseph P. Kennedy Institute in Washington, DC, and Director of Family Support Services and Director of Mental Retardation Services at Kit Clark Senior Services in Boston. Dr. Nygren earned a Doctorate of Education in Organizational Leadership from Nova Southeastern University, a MA in Clinical Psychology from West Virginia University, and a BA in Psychology from Beloit College.