Steven E. Gutstein, Ph.D.

Dr. Gutstein is the President of the FARR Board of Directors. and is currently acting as Executive Director of the foundation. He has spent nearly 30 years as a psychologist and is co-founder of the Connections Center in Houston, TX. Dr. Gutstein founded the FARR Foundation in 2004, and is a tireless advocate for improving the Quality of Life for people with autism.

Peter Tanguay, Ph.D.

Dr. Tanguay is the Spafford Ackerly Endowed Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Louisville. He is the author of many articles in leading journals on the subject of autism, and has presented lectures and workshops in the United States, Europe, and Japan. Dr. Tanguay's recent publications include an invited ten year review of Pervasive Developmental Disorder in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. In 1998 he won the Rieger Award of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, as author of the most significant paper published by a child psychiatrist in the journal. He was an expert consultant on the film Rain Man which starred Dustin Hoffman.

Katherine “Kat” Lee

The mother of a child with autism, Ms. Lee earned a BA from Baylor University in Broadcast Communications, is a former TV/Radio reporter and morning show host as well as a promotions director. She has also earned certifications as an autism specialist.

 

Richard Brydon, MA, CCC

Speech Pathologist

Mr. Brydon is a speech pathologist/audiologist and is an expert in autism.  He has worked in the San Mateo County Office of Education for the past 10 years providing Speech Pathology services to pupils with special needs, 80% of whom are on the autism spectrum. He is a frequent presenter about autism at conferences around the world.

Samuel D. Bernstein, J.D.

Mr. Bernstein is the current secretary/treasurer of FARR and has been licensed to practice law since 1990 in Texas and Washington states and has a solo practice focused in the areas of Small Business law and transactions, real estate transactions, and Wills, Probate and Estate Planning. He has formed numerous companies and advises for-profit and non-profit companies on organizational and operational matters. He has served as an officer and board member of several neighborhood and civic organizations in Houston, Texas since 1994, most notably as Secretary and Board Member of the Neartown Association in Houston, Texas from 1997 - 2001

Stephen Shore

Mr. Shore is the current vice president of FARR and was diagnosed with autism as a child, He is now completing his doctoral degree in special education at Boston University with a focus on helping people on the autism spectrum develop their capacities to the fullest extent possible.  In addition to working with children and talking about life on the autism spectrum, Stephen presents and consults internationally on adult issues pertinent to education, relationships, employment, advocacy, and disclosure as discussed in his book “Beyond the Wall: Personal Experiences with Autism and Asperger Syndrome”, the recently released “Ask and Tell: Self-advocacy and Disclosure for People on the Autism Spectrum”, and numerous other writings. Stephen also serves on the board of the Autism Society of America and the Asperger’s Association of New England.

Fletcher Gibson  

Mr. Gibson is a community activist in the Houston area and has served on the boards of the Juvenile Diabetes Association of America and the American Diabetes Association.

Linda Andron

Ms. Andron is a licensed clinical social worker, Adjunct Lecturer in Psychiatry and Bio-Behavioral Sciences and Clinical Instructor at the University of California at Los Angeles. She is the director of the UCLA Family Support Community Program and the Clinical Director of the Center for Asperger's Assessment and Intervention at the HELP Group. She has worked with over 500 families of children with High Functioning Autism and Asperger Syndrome and is a member of the Professional Advisory Board of the Autism Society of Los Angeles. She has written many articles and chapters on developmental disabilities.

Kevin Berman, MD

Dr. Berman is a psychogeriatrician.  He is on staff at Riverview Hospital, a tertiary care psychiatric hospital and is the manager of the Acute Assessment and Treatment Unit. He serves as consultant to the Vancouver Mental Health Services where he provides geriatric outpatient consultation. He serves on the faculty of the University of British Columbia, School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry. He is the father of a child with autism.

Libby Scherrer

Ms. Scherrer is a mental health professional who has worked with children with autism for many years. She has pioneered a treatment program for autism in Australia, developing the first autism clinic of its kind in Northbridge.

Peter Mundy, Ph.D.

Dr. Mundy is professor of psychology at University of Miami and the director of the University’s Center for Autism and Related Disabilities, director of the Marino Autism Research Institute (MARI), Director of the Child & Developmental Psychology Division, Department of Psychology, at University of Miami. He has authored and co-authored seminal scientific works in the diagnosis, treatment, and components of autism.

A former patient of Dr. Steve Gutstein, Michael is the youngest member of our board. He was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome at age 13, but Michael has still managed to overcome his disability and achieved his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication at Florida Atlantic University in 2004. He hopes to one day be either a sports announcer or to follow in the footsteps of Dr. Gutstein as a psychologist, but for now, he works at Whole Foods in Houston, and has for the past 15 months

Barbara Kirby, OASIS

Ms. Kirby is the founder and co-owner of the award-winning OASIS (Online Asperger Syndrome Information and Support) webpage located at www.aspergersyndrome.org or, www.udel.edu/bkirby/asperger/.  She started the first e-mail support list for families of children with AS and HFA and currently moderates several OASIS message board and chat room forums. A founding member and former vice president of ASC-US., Inc., she has been involved in helping to provide information and support to the AS community since her son was diagnosed in 1994. She lives in Newark, Delaware, with her husband, Jim ("Kirby"), her three sons, Joshua, Benjamin, and Nicholas, and their Labradoodle, Obie.