Social Thinking® Coaches
Nancy Clements, M.A., CCC-SLP, Social Thinking® and Communications Program Manager
Nancy joined the Stern Center in 2004. Nancy has pioneered the development of an in-depth social thinking program based on the ILAUGH model of Social Thinking® and Social Thinking Vocabulary (Winner), including developmentally based groups, coaching and consultations off-site, and a 3-credit graduate course in partnership with Saint Michaels College. She created Camp Compass, a unique total immersion social thinking summer experience, that continues to be offered through the Stern Center during the summer. After completing the Clinical Mentorship at the Center for Social Thinking in 2008, the Advanced Clinical Internship through Michelle Winner in 2009, Nancy was invited to and is now part of the Social Thinking Training Collaborative for the Northeast. Nancy provides consultation and presentations across the United States.
Julie Erdelyi, M.A., Autism Specialist
Julie provides evaluations, consultation and instruction. She has a Bachelor's degree in elementary education from the University of Vermont and a Master's degree in special education - developmental disabilities from the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She has extensive experience as a Special Educator and Autism Specialist designing and implementing academic instruction, proactive behavior intervention plans, and social thinking instruction for elementary school students who have Autism Spectrum Disorders. She has presented at local and national conferences and recently was published in the Autism Asperger's Digest Magazine.
Mary Cotton, M.A, CCC-SLP, Speech Language Pathologist
Mary provides speech/language evaluations and instruction for preschoolers, school age children and adolescents. She received her Bachelor's degree from the College of Wooster and her Master's degree from Case Western Reserve, both in Communication Science Disorders. Mary's professional interests include early childhood language and literacy development, speech and oral language disorders in school age children, and social thinking.
Nancy Cotton, Ph.D. , Clinical Developmental Psychologist
Nancy is a clinical-developmental psychologist who has practiced in Vermont since 1995, when she moved from Massachusetts. She received her doctoral degree from Tufts University followed by Harvard Medical School internships and fellowships in child and adult psychiatry. Nancy was a faculty member and principal supervisor in Harvard Medical School psychiatry resident training programs. She has a thirty year career in conducting evaluations, developing and implementing school and community-based programs for children with complex profiles, and working with individual children and their families in her private practice. Nancy completed the Social Thinking mentorship in California with Michelle Winner in 2008. She has long-term interest in helping youth and adults actualize their potential across the bio-psycho-social-educational dimensions of development. She provides social and life coaching to individuals and groups of students and their parents.
Katie Willard, M.S., CCC-SLP, Instructor
Katie completed her B.S. in Elementary Education and her M.S. in Speech-Language Pathology at the University of Vermont. She was a trainee in the Vermont Rural Autism Project as a graduate student. Katie worked in the public school setting with students pre-K thru high school until 2007, and has been exploring the Social Thinking® theory and practice since 2000. In 2006, she completed the mentorship program at The Center for Social Thinking founded by Michelle Garcia Winner in San Jose, CA. In 2007, Katie began a private practice to focus on servicing those with social-cognitive challenges, implementing assessments, social thinking groups and individual treatment for persons of all ages, materials development, and trainings for families, educational and vocational staff. In 2010, she completed the Advanced Certified Clinical Internship at the Social Thinking Clinics in San Jose, California. Katie joined the Stern Center in 2010 as a member of the Social Thinking® and Communication Services team.