EBCALA: Know Your Legal Rights

Introduction to Law Day
Mary Holland, Esq.

Know Your Parental Rights with DSM5 ASD Changes
Kate Weisman, Jodi Bouer, Esq., Mitchel Perlman, PhD and Steven Kossor

Know Your Family Law Rights
Lisa Colin, Esq., and Kim Mack Rosenberg, Esq.

Know Your Vaccine Exemption Rights
Alan Phillips, Esq.

Know Your Medicaid Rights
Steven Kossor

Know Your Life Planning Rights for an ASD Family Member
Michael Sanders and Lisa Rudley

Know Your Insurance Rights:  Anatomy of an Autism Claim 101
Jodi Bouer, Esq. and Yvonne McNamee

Know Your First Amendment Rights: An Inside Look at Andy Wakefield's Defamation Case
Dan Olmsted

9:00-10:00 am

Know Your Special Ed Rights: IDEA Overview & Preparing for Advocacy
Tim Adams, Esq. and Lynne Arnold

Know Your Special Ed Rights: Evaluations
Tim Adams, Esq. and Lynne Arnold

Know Your Special Ed Rights: Understanding School District and Independent Assessments
Mitchel Perlman, PhD

Know Your Special Ed Rights: IEP Strategy
Tim Adams, Esq. and Lynne Arnold

Advanced Special Education Topics
Tim Adams, Esq.

Bios:

Timothy A. Adams, Esq.
Tim received his Bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Irvine and his Juris Doctorate degree from Pepperdine University School of Law. He has served as an adjunct professor and Associate Director of the Special Education Advocacy Clinic, Pepperdine University School of Law. He is actively involved in educating parents through presentations to disability rights organizations and parent support groups including speaker at Autism One, the National Autism Association, National Epilepsy Foundation Annual Conference, Families for Early Autism Treatment (FEAT) and Talk About Curing Autism (TACA). He has also trained Orange County Superior Court Judges regarding special education law in a presentation entitled "Ensuring the Best Interests of Children in Family Court Matters." He has been interviewed and quoted in publications including the Daily Journal, the Orange County Register and the nationally published magazine Parenting. He is Adams & Associates’ Principal.

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Lynne Arnold
Lynne is the mother of a 13-year-old son recovering from autism and an 11-year-old daughter. Through conference presentations, writings and mentoring, Lynne helps parents to understand their child's rights to appropriate interventions and education. She is the editor of Autism: Asserting Your Child’s Rights to a Special Education. Lynne has presented at many national and local autism conferences including Autism One, National Autism Association Conference, Families for Effective Autism Treatment (FEAT), Autism Society of America, Talk About Curing Autism (TACA) and other autism groups. Since 2004 she has been a coordinator and volunteer for Talk About Curing Autism of Visalia and Fresno, California. Lynne is also a member of the Elizabeth Birt Center for Autism Law & Advocacy steering committee. Most recently, Lynne wrote "IEP Strategy: Scoring a Win for Your Child" for Autism File magazine.

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Jodi Bouer, Esq.
Jodi is the principal in her own practice that focuses on helping ASD individuals and their providers obtain insurance coverage for therapies. She has extensive insurance law experience as former counsel at an insurance company and at major law firms. She has taught insurance law at Seton Hall Law School. She helps clients understand how insurers assess coverage obligations and how to present their claims most effectively with their policies. Her firm helps clients prepare and submit claims and appeals, negotiate settlements, and obtain court orders requiring insurers to honor their coverage obligations.

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Lisa Colin, Esq.
Lisa, a partner in Martin & Colin PC located in White Plains, New York, sits on the Board of Directors for EBCALA and the Board of Directors for the Westchester Law Guardian Association. She is a co-founding member of Autism Action New York and an active member of Autism Action Network. She organized an EBCALA CLE event at Pace Law School, NY and has played a pivotal role in the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program Justice Project. Along with her husband and business partner, she was a former radio host at a local New York station.

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Louis Conte
Louis is the father of triplet boys, two with autism. He is the Director of the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Justice Project and a founding advocate member of EBCALA. He serves on the board of the Autism Action Network. Mr. Conte has advocated extensively in New York for autism health insurance reform, vaccination choice and improved educational services for people with autism. In his professional life, Mr. Conte is an Assistant Commissioner in the Westchester County Department of Probation where he has administered investigation and supervision programs that focus on sex offenders and domestic violence perpetrators. He is proud to have been part of a team that established the nation’s first Sex Offense Court.

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Mary Holland, Esq.
Mary is Research Scholar and Director of the Graduate Legal Skills Program at New York University School of Law. She is a founding board member of EBCALA and currently serves as managing director. Educated at Harvard and Columbia Universities, Mary has been an advocate in the public and private sectors. Prior to joining NYU, she worked for six years at major U.S. law firms, with three years based in Moscow, Russia. Before that, she directed the European Program of the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights (now Human Rights First). After graduating law school, she clerked for a federal district court judge in New York City. She researches and writes on legal issues related to autism and vaccines and is a co-editor of the book Vaccine Epidemic.

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Kim Mack Rosenberg, Esq.
Kim is a litigator at a major New York City-based law firm, where her practice focuses on products liability, class actions, insurance coverage and general civil litigation.  In 2009 she was recognized by the Legal Aid Society for her pro bono service.  In addition to being a on the board of EBCALA and the Center for Personal Rights, Kim is the President of the National Autism Association NY Metro Chapter.  She is also a contributing editor of Vaccine Epidemic.

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Mitchel D. Perlman, Ph.D
Mitchel focuses on the assessment and treatment of children and adolescents who have specialized needs and/or who are involved in chaotic-intense-traumatic-critical situations. Known for the comprehensiveness of his investigatory assessments (psychodiagnostic, psychoeducational, neurocognitive), Dr. Perlman is often called on to be the impartial independent examiner in juvenile, family, civil and special education proceedings. He lends his expertise and keen insights to children/teens who have stepped away from the mainstream and/or who have gotten themselves in over their heads – emotionally, legally or in relation to others. He is involved in assessing some of the most fascinating individuals, and he has a knack for detecting and/or explaining things that have often gone unnoticed or that have been misunderstood. For example, in many children who had been diagnosed with autism and mental retardation, Dr. Perlman has found near-gifted to gifted intelligence and has been instrumental in guiding parents to the resources to unlock it.