Lynn Koegel, Clinical Director of Autism Services in the UC Santa Barbara Koegel Autism Center, will be one of the featured members of a free Positive Parenting Panel to be held Thursday, September 26 at 6:30 pm at the Parish Hall at El Montecito Presbyterian Church, 1455 East Valley Road, Montecito. The event will be an opportunity to hear from a wide range of professional educators and parents on significant topics for all ages, with a question-and-answer session to follow.

In addition to Dr. Koegel, the panel will include: Mike Dobreski, M. Ed, (moderator):  Executive Educational Consultants; Sonia Diaz-Ebadi, MA, MFTI; Juan Gallardo, school psychologist, Santa Barbara Unified School District; Veronica Gallardo, kindergarten teacher, Santa Barbara Unified School District; Judy Osterhage, Ph.D. candidate at Fielding Institute and an early childhood specialist at SB City College; Pam Suess, speech and language pathologist and learning disabilities specialist; and Dr. Jordan Witt, clinical psychologist.

Lynn Koegel is the Clinical Director of Autism Services in the UCSB Koegel Autism Center and the Director of the Eli & Edythe L. Broad Center for Asperger’s Research. She has been active in the development of programs to improve communication in children with autism, including the development of first words, grammatical structures, pragmatics, and social conversation. In addition to her published books and articles in the area of communication and language development, she has developed and published procedures and field manuals in the area of self-management and functional analysis that are used in school districts and by parents throughout the United States, as well as translated in other major languages. Dr. Koegel is the author of Overcoming Autism and, most recently, Growing Up on the Spectrum with parent, Claire LaZebnik.

The Koegel Autism Research and Training Center, overseen by Drs. Robert and Lynn Koegel, is dedicated to improving the lives and prognoses of children with autism, as well as the lives of their families. It has been recognized by the National Academy of Sciences – and ranked among the country’s top 12 such facilities – for its innovative research and teaching methods in a variety of areas, including parent education, language development, and teacher education. It offers a state-of-the-art behavioral approach to autistic children. The Koegel Autism Center is part of The Gevirtz School at UC Santa Barbara.

To learn more about the panel, call (805) 969-3566 for additional information; childcare available with required advance reservation.