Mrs. Laura Elliott, Senior Editor

Laura Elliott graduated from Ball State University with a B.A. in Speech and Language Pathology/ Audiology, then later received a M. S. in Communicative Disorders at San Diego State University. Both degrees were awarded with academic distinction. She also completed her Certificate of Clinical Competency with the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA). After several years working as a speech and language pathologist in the public school system and private practice, Mrs. Elliott became interested in the speech and language problems of autistic children. Laura completed her first training working in the field of autism at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in 1992 with the TEACCH program. She later trained for two years with the Children's Institute for Autism/ Department of Education, San Diego, CA. Since that time Laura has been a trainer with the TEACCH program in California and North Carolina for several years, instructing educators to work with the autistic population. She currently works in Wilmington, NC, as a resource specialist for a full inclusion program at the middle school level.

Mrs. Elliott has been awarded the title of "Teacher of the Year" in two school districts in California and North Carolina. She was "Special Educator of the Year" for San Diego County, nominated by the Special Educator Administrators' Association. Laura has had the opportunity to speak for many organizations about the mainstreaming of autistic students and developing autism programs in a variety of special education settings. Organizations have included, Multicultural Convention (San Diego, CA), California Association of Resource Specialists (CARS), TEACCH Winter/ Spring Inservices (Chapel Hill, NC), and special education classes at the University of San Diego, University of California-San Diego, Cal State- San Marcos, University of North Carolina - Wilmington, and MiraCosta College. Mrs. Elliott has also conducted inservices for many public school districts in California, North Carolina, and Virginia.

In addition to her passion for working with autistic students in a professional setting, Mrs. Elliott also has a personal attachment to autism. Her nephew Daniel, pictured with her at right, is a 19-year-old young man with autism. This web site is lovingly dedicated to Daniel and his family.

Marsha McKee, Creative Director

Marsha McKee was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1950. She lived in Maryland, Ohio, Kentucky and moved to southern California in 1964. She attended Hollins College (now Hollins University), near Roanoke, Virginia, majoring in Art History. She spent a year abroad in Paris, studying at the Sorbonne and in the museums of Europe. She received her B.A. in 1972.

After graduation, Marsha worked in the Management Consulting Department at Arthur Anderson & Company in Los Angeles, California for a year and a half, doing graphic presentations and developing a library for that department.

Upon returning from an extended trip to Europe in 1974, Marsha went to work for the Easy Reader, a weekly newspaper in Hermosa Beach, California. She was Art Director there for four years, managing all aspects of the design and production: editorial layout, type specing, as well as ad placement, production and design. In 1978 she took a position at Wm. Fridrich Design, helping with the conception of South Bay Magazine. She has been Creative Director and head designer at his firm for 20 years. She and Wm. were married in 1983. They moved to Wilmington, North Carolina in 1995.

Special thanks to Jeffery P. Keeter

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