ASCEND’s Board

Bill Carroll (Montgomery County) (Vice President)
Deb Dunn, Esq. (Delaware County)
Hillary D. Freeman, Esq. (Philadelphia County)
Joseph Gousie, Sr. (Delaware County) (Vice President)
Dawn Hoyt (Delaware County)
Bradley C. Norford, Ph.D. (Chester County)
Maureen E. Reilly, Esq. (Delaware County) (Secretary)
Cindy Schneider (Chester County)
Michele Stein (Montgomery County)
Carol Weinman, Esq. (Montgomery County)
Jennifer Whip (Chester County) (Treasurer)
Deirdre C. Wright (Delaware County) (Founder & President)

ASCEND’s board is comprised of family members, individuals with ASD, and professionals who work in the field of autism. See bios below.

Bill Carroll has been involved with social service for over 20 years working with the Montgomery County Office of Children and Youth, where he recruits foster parents and adoptive parents for children. An active community volunteer, Bill instructs special needs programs for Upper Merion Township’s Park and Recreation Department and is a board member of the Upper Merion Township Media Communications Advisory Board. A graduate of Montgomery County Community College (MCCC), Bill is a member of the MCCC Alumni Hall of Fame. Additionally, he also holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from Temple University and is a two-time American Federation of Television and Radio Artists Emmy Award winner. Bill lives in King of Prussia, PA, with his wife and two children.

Deb Dunn, Esq., is the Outreach Director for the Center for Autism Research (CAR) at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania. In this capacity, she coordinates recruitment of research participants, plans events of interest to the autism community and the community at large, participates in autism educational events for parents and professionals, and organizes CAR’s community fundraising program. She is a professional member of the Montgomery County Autism Network and the Delaware County Autism Collaborative. Deb is a lawyer who practiced with a litigation firm in Philadelphia in the areas of employment, products liability, medical malpractice, antitrust, and insurance coverage, until her son, now a teenager, was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome. She graduated with honors from Duke University and The University of North Carolina School of Law.

Hillary D. Freeman, Esq., of Freeman Law Offices, LLC, is deeply committed to her work representing people with disabilities and their families. Having a brother with autism enables her to combine personal experience with her legal training to help families advocate for services and supports. Hillary has experience before administrative agencies, Superior Court, and District Courts in issues related to special education and higher education, Section 504, guardianship and adult services. She is a member of the American Association for Trial Attorneys, the International Dyslexia Association and Autism New Jersey. Hillary aslo serves on the Professional Advisory Board of the Learning Disabilities Association of New Jersey. She is also a member of the Elder and Disability Law Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association. Hillary holds a JD from Widener University School of Law and is licensed to practice in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Joseph Gousie, Sr., currently serves as ASCEND’s Vice President. Joe has worked in the field of intellectual and developmental disabilities for nearly 40 years. He currently serves as the director of non-traditional services for Elwyn, a nonprofit human services organization, at its Work Services office in Aston, PA. Previously, Joe was the executive director of Community Services for Autistic Adults and Children (CSAAC), the largest nonprofit in the country serving exclusively individuals with autism. Joe also spent 35 years as the executive director of agencies serving individuals with
developmental disabilities in RI and PA. He has extensive experience as a workshop presenter on both the national and local level. Joe is inspired to serve on ASCEND’s board by his personal experience of having a son and grandson diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome.

Dawn Hoyt is the mother of a six-year old boy diagnosed with PDD-NOS in 2006 and a four-year old daughter. In 2007, Dawn started Team Hoyt as a group to raise funds through the annual “Walk Now for Autism.” In addition to being one of the leading fundraising teams in each of the last three years, Team Hoyt has committed to raise an additional $100,000 over the next four years. Dawn has also organized yard sales and sold her own handcrafted t-shirts to help raise funds for the Garnet Valley support group. This group recently funded an Acting Antics program held locally in Garnet Valley so that children with ASD could participate at no expense in their local area. As a stay-at-home mom, Dawn has been an active participant in her son’s daily in-home ABA sessions. Through contacts at her children’s preschool, she also reaches out to recently diagnosed families to help them with questions regarding their efforts to learn about early intervention opportunities and resources. Prior to becoming a fulltime mom, Dawn worked as an operations supervisor for Vanguard. Dawn, her husband and their two children live in Glen Mills, PA.

Brad Norford, Ph.D., is the director of Norford Psychological Associates in Bryn Mawr, PA, a private practice specializing in therapy and consultation for children, adolescents and parents. Brad earned his degree in clinical psychology at the University of South Carolina. He has a considerable background in treating children on the autism spectrum as well as those with the full-range of other psychological issues. Brad previously worked as a psychologist in community mental health settings, in residential treatment with the Devereux Foundation, and in large outpatient practices. For the past decade, he has been active in advocating with state legislators for healthcare reform and other mental health causes. Brad grew up in Bucks County and now resides in Chester County with his wife and three children.

Maureen (“Mo”) Reilly* is the mother of a ten-year old boy with high functioning autism, and an eight-year old daughter who does not have autism. In the eight years since her son was first diagnosed, Mo has been an active member of a variety of organizations that serve the autism community both locally and nationally. Currently, she serves on the parent advisory board for the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare’s Bureau of Autism Services. Mo is employed as senior employment counsel for SunGard Data Systems. She earned her law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law and also has a Ph.D. in industrial/organizational psychology from George Mason University. Mo lives in Media, PA, with her husband and two children.

Cindy Schneider founded Acting Antics Art Center, based in Chester County, in 2007 to provide music and theater programming for youngsters of all ages and ability levels. Cindy’s book, Acting Antics: A Theatrical Approach to Teaching Social Understanding to Kids and Teens with Asperger Syndrome, is published by Jessica Kingsley. Cindy has trained professionals throughout North America in the Acting Antics techniques and serves on the board of the International Association of Theatre and Autism. Cindy was a special educator and consultant for Chester County IU for 27 years, specializing in autism spectrum disorders. As a thespian and children’s community theater director, she began to develop acting workshops for students diagnosed with social deficits in 2002. Cindy earned her bachelor of science degree from West Chester University and her master’s degree from Immaculata University. In addition, she was awarded autism certification by Penn State and communication specialist certification by Temple University.

Michele Stein has an adult son with Asperger Syndrome. She is the owner/operator of CMK – Creating More Knowledge. CMK creates products that support individuals with special needs and their families. Michele has over 20 years of management experience in the health insurance industry and currently works for a local health insurer. She is scheduled to receive her Masters in Counseling Psychology in May 2014 with a concentration in Industrial/Organizational Counseling and Consulting. Michele lives with her son in Montgomery County.

Carol S. Weinman, Esq., has spent 20 years as a domestic relations lawyer and trial attorney. She has advocated for clients in juvenile, adult, family and dependency courts. Recently, Carol shifted her focus to being a life coach and mediator for parents of children with Asperger Syndrome (AS) and women going through divorce. Carol has authored and edited educational reference books on special education law, employment law, and higher education law, and is well versed on the law in the area of special needs and available accommodations. She has instructed classes at Temple University and served as a Philadelphia prosecutor. Carol earned her law degree and a bachelor’s degree in communications from Temple University. She became an authority on Asperger Syndrome after conducting extensive research in her effort to successfully diagnose a family member and from months of teaching applied behavioral analysis techniques to a child with Aspergers. She grew up in Philadelphia and lives in Fort Washington, PA, with her twin boys.

Jennifer Whip is the mother of a 16-year-old son with Asperger Syndrome and a “neurotypical” 14-year old son and lives in Wayne, PA. Jennifer is vice president of customer management at Fannie Mae in Philadelphia. In this role, she is responsible for managing business relationships with over 500 lending institutions in the Eastern Region. Jennifer brings expertise in grant making, contract negotiation, product development and finance to the board and currently holds the position of treasurer on the executive board for ASCEND. Jennifer is also on the board of directors for the mortgage company affiliate of Neighborhood Housing Services of New York. She has an MBA from Villanova University and has a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Colorado. Jennifer lives in Wayne, PA, with her husband and two children.

Deirdre Cummins Wright* co-founded ASCEND in 2001 after a family member was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome. Deirdre is a provider recruiter and quality manager for the PA Department of Public Welfare’s Bureau of Autism Services (BAS). Previously, she was the special projects manager for the Penn Autism Network (PAN) at the University of Pennsylvania where she coordinated five annual conferences focused on issues related to adults with autism. She has also consulted for many clients as an event planner, writer and publicist. Her projects have included: coordinating a statewide autism training conference; project management for an online autism training for direct support staff workers; and facilitating a series of workshops related to Social Security benefits and employment. Deirdre attended Tompkins-Cortland Community College (Dryden, NY) and Ealing College (London, England) and received an associate’s degree in marketing and communications.

* Mo and Deirdre serve as members of the Advisory Board to the Pennsylvania Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities Research and Epidemiology (CADDRE), at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Nursing. PA CADDRE is one of six Centers funded by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to study the prevalence and etiology of ASD.

Learn More About Asperger Syndrome