Advisory Board

ML Altobelli, owns and operates Greenery in Motion - a landscape design/build and installation business specializing in mixed flower, vegetable and shrub borders, bird and butterfly gardens and ecological maintenance all based on creating and maintaining healthy, mineral rich soils. She has applied this approach to both residential and rehabilitative settings (Oakwood Rehab and Nursing Center and Perkins School for the Blind). M.L. also has a small herd of Nigerian Dwarf milk goats and a greenhouse on the family farm. She is a founding member of the Ecological Landscaping Association and has helped to write and edit From the Ground Up: Site and Soil Preparation - part of the Guide to Healthy Landscapes series.

Margaret L. Bauman, M.D., is associate professor of neurology at the Harvard University Medical School; adjunct professor of anatomy and neurology at the Boston University School of Medicine; and associate pediatrician and assistant neurologist at the Massachusetts General Hospital. At Mass General’s Hospital for Children, and in affiliation with the Autism Research Consortium, Dr. Bauman is director of the multidisciplinary LADDERS (Learning and Developmental Disabilities Evaluation and Rehabilitation Service) clinic. She is also medical director of the Autism Treatment Network. The author of more than 75 scientific articles, and co-editor of the book, The Neurobiology of Autism, Dr. Bauman is widely recognized for her research, as well, which includes a study of brain structure in autism.

Stephen Michael Edelson, Ph.D. Edelson is Director of the Center for the Study of Autism, and Director of the Autism Research Institute in San Diego. He has previously served as a Research Associate at the Autism Research Institute; an Instructor at Willamette University; a consultant to the Lanterman Developmental Center in Pomona, California; a Visiting Professor of Psychology at Pitzer College; and a consultant to the ITX Laboratories in North Hollywood, California, where his work involved developing computer systems to help disabled children communicate and learn. As a volunteer, he is a member of the Panel of Professional Advisors to the Autism Society of America, and President of the Autism Society of Oregon. He has written and co-authored dozens of articles, and lectured on autism all over the world.

Vicki Obee-Hilty. Obee-Hilty is Executive Director of Bittersweet Farms, in Whitehouse Ohio. In operation for more than twenty years, Bittersweet is the first United States farmstead devoted solely to the care of autistic adults. During her twenty years at Bittersweet, Obee-Hilty, who holds a master’s in Rehabilitation Counseling from Springfield College, has also served as the farm’s social worker and Program Director. As Executive Director, she has focused on finding creative ways to meet the needs of adults with autism. Most recently, she has guided Bittersweet’s expansion: increasing the farm’s training and consulting services; overseeing a 2.5 million dollar renovation project, and the development of two new sites and programs; and winning a 1.3 million dollar HUD housing grant, which will provide homes for 12 autistic adults.

Barbara D. Jackins. Ms. Jackins practices law in Belmont, Massachusetts, where she concentrates on estate planning, Medicaid planning, government benefits, guardianship, and trust administration. She has served on the (Massachusetts) Governor’s Commission on Mental Retardation: Task Force on Public-Private Partnerships. She currently sits on the board of Directors of the NWW Committee for Community Living, Inc., in Newton, Massachusetts, a non-profit agency that provides community housing to people with developmental disabilities. A graduate of Jackson College (Tufts University), and Suffolk Law School, Jackins is the co-author of the book, Special Needs Trust Administration Manual: A Guide for Trustees, and include Legal Planning for Special Needs in Massachusetts: A Family Guide to SSI Guardianship and Estate Planning. She is the mother of an adult son with developmental disabilities.

Jeffrey S. Larson. Larson is an attorney with The Nature Conservancy, an international conservation organization. He has also worked at the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management, where he served as Staff Attorney for five years, and concentrated in land acquisition. Before that he was in private practice with an environmental law firm in Boston. He received his B.A. from Hamilton College, and a J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law.

Jeffrey Levin-Scherz, MD MBA FACP, is an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health, where he teaches a course on managing the costs of healthcare while improving the effectiveness of patient care. An avid bicyclist, Dr. Levin-Scherz recently completed a two week bike trip in the mountains of Vietnam and Laos. He is a strong advocate of the importance of exercise for the autistic population.

Michael Rozyne. Rozyne is founder and Managing Director of Red Tomato, a Canton, Massachusetts not-for-profit marketing organization, which serves the public by strengthening small family farms and public access to farm fresh produce, with a strong emphasis on ecologically-grown fruits and vegetables. In 1985, he co-founded and served as director of marketing for Equal Exchange, a fair trade cooperative business that trades directly with small farmer coffee cooperatives in Latin America. Before that, Rozyne was head buyer and marketing manager for Estabrook Farm in Yarmouth, Maine, a diversified vegetable and greenhouse operation.

Christine Lewis Shane, Ph.D. is a faculty member at Fitchburg State College, and a human services and special education consultant for public and private organizations in the United States and Canada. She has designed and implemented major human service program initiatives on both state and national levels with such organizations as the National Institute of Mental Health, the Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services (formerly the Department of Mental Retardation), and the Massachusetts Department of Special Education. Dr. Shane specializes in the evaluation and implementation of programs for children and adults with disabilities, and currently provides management consultation and training to schools and non-profit agencies. She has published in the areas of anti-discrimination law and disability, and is currently working with the Arc of Massachusetts to assist individuals with disabilities and their families to plan for their futures. She is the Chairperson of the State Advisory Counsel for the Department of Developmental Services.

Ruth Christ Sullivan, Ph.D. An internationally known expert on autism, Dr. Sullivan is the founder of the Autism Services Center in Huntington, West Virginia, which offers comprehensive services to 285 clients, and runs 13 group homes. She was the first president of the Autism Society of America; a founder of NARPAA, the National Association of Residential Providers for Adults with Autism; and chief autism lobbyist for Public Law 94-142, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA. A consultant on the movie “Rain Man,” she recently retired from her position as Executive director of the Autism Services Center in Huntington, West Virginia, in which she remains actively involved as president of its Board. She is the mother of seven, including an autistic son.