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Building an inclusive world of play advisory council

A global expert group provides Perkins strategic advice about how to expand learning through play to include children with disabilities in 18 countries and how to build, together with local collaborators, an accessible world.

Babies and adults around circle time

For 200 years, Perkins School for the Blind has developed innovative, practical solutions to help every child learn.

Today, around the world, we enhance the quality of existing services to unlock the potential of young children with disabilities to do what matters most to them: learning, playing, and belonging.

But we do not this alone. Today, to sustainably enhance local systems and structures, we collaborate with a network of 250+ organizations in 12 countries, including parents, educators, doctors and health workers, community programs and governments.

We also convene expert advisors, a global expert group that represents our network and provides strategic advice and ideas on the work we do with children with disabilities aged birth to six.

The members of this advisory council are leaders in the disability field, and bring unique knowledge and skills to our work. With their advice and together with local collaborators, we partner in change-making to promote a more inclusive and accessible world for all children.

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Michael Stein, Co-founder and Executive Director at Harvard Law School Project on Disability. United States

Professor Michael Ashley Stein is the co-founder and Executive Director of the Harvard Law School Project on Disability, and a Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School since 2005. Considered one of the world’s leading experts on disability law and policy, Dr. Stein participated in the drafting of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; works with disabled peoples’ organizations and non-governmental organizations around the world; actively consults with governments on their disability laws and policies; advises an array of UN bodies and national human rights institutions; and has brought landmark disability rights litigation globally.

Walton Aubrey Webson, Ambassador to the United Nations for the island nation of Antigua and Barbuda.

Aubrey Webson profile photo

Dr. Aubrey Webson is the Ambassador to the United Nations for the island nation of Antigua and Barbuda. Formerly Dr. Webson was an Institutional Development Consultant for the Perkins School for the Blind since 1992, specializing in management and leadership training and policy formulation. Prior to that, Dr. Webson was with Sight Savers International and Helen Keller International, where he advised the HKI African and Caribbean development programs. From 1981-1987 he was the Chief Executive of the Caribbean Council for the Blind, and has also served as Adjunct Professor or guest lectured at Wheelock College, East Nazarene College, Boston University, Boston College, the University of South Africa, University of Vender and the Uganda College of Special Education.

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Alex Truesdell, Founder, Adaptive Design Association; MacArthur Fellow. United States

Alex Truesdell won a MacArthur fellowship for her work in adaptive design. She has helped thousands of teachers, therapists and parents create child-specific alterations to furniture, equipment and spaces that make them more usable.

Alicia Correa, Researcher at the Center for Study of Neurodevelopment at the National Institute of Pediatrics. Mexico

Dr. Alicia Correa obtained her Medical Degree from La Salle University in Mexico City. She has a
master’s degree in Neurological Rehabilitation from the Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana and
a PhD. in Biological and Medical Sciences also by the Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana.
She has been in charge of the area of diagnosis at the Center for Study of Neurodevelopment at
the National Institute of Pediatrics in Mexico City since 2014 where she works as a researcher.
She has supervised several master’s theses, published one book in the area of early diagnosis of
neurodevelopmental alterations and several articles in the same field in peer-reviewed journals,
she is reviewer for Acta Pediatrica de Mexico journal. Dr. Correa is also a consultant in neurodevelopment at the Center for Immunology, Allergy and Pediatrics at the Angeles Lomas Hospital, in Mexico City.

Ana Katušić profile photo

Anna Katušić, Assistant Professor at University of Zagreb. Croatia

Ana Katušić graduated from the Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences, the University of Zagreb, Croatia. She received her doctorate in Neuroscience at the Croatian Institute for Brain Research. She is additionally trained in the field of early neurobehavioral and neuromotor assessment. At the Scientific Center of Excellence for Basic, Clinical, and Translational Neuroscience at the School of Medicine, she leads national and international project activities related to assessing early sensory and motor functions in preterm born infants with perinatal brain injury. Now, she holds the job position of Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences, the University of Zagreb, where she founded the Research Lab for Early Motor Behavior. She publishes scientific papers in the field of developmental neuroscience and early detection and intervention presenting the results of her scientific focus on the brain-function relationship in preterm born infants.  

Ir. Sri Renani Pantjastuti, Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology. Republic of Indonesia

Ibu Ir. Sri Renani Pantjastuti profile photo

Ms. Renani has enjoyed a career of service in the Indonesian Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology as director of several departments. Her main passion is the education of children with special needs, and the positions she has held include: Director of Special Education and Special Services, Director of Secondary and Special Education Teachers, and Acting Director of Teacher and Educational Personnel of Basic and Secondary Education. While serving as Director of Special Education and Special Services, she was also an active member of the governance board of SEAMEO SEN, a regional association of government ministries. Recently, she was appointed as Acting Director of the Teaching Training Center (Balai Besar Guru Penggerak) for the West Java Province.

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