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The Symposium registration is NOW OPEN!
Virtual: Through Zoom, you’ll have access to six (6) sessions. Please see the agenda for more information. Attendees will also have access to the information from the speakers.
B I O S
Suzanne Aaron, CRS-A/D, is an Information and Outreach Specialist for the Illinois Life Span program for Northern Illinois. She has worked and volunteered in the areas of disability advocacy and family support since 2008. She and her husband are the proud parents of a young adult with I/DD and Autism. Her passion is helping families access and understand services that are available to them so they are empowered to build an included and meaningful life with their loved one with disabilities. She is a 2018 graduate of Illinois Partners in Policymaking and has navigated disability services in the states of Illinois, Ohio, and Indiana.
Susan Agrawal, PhD, is a parent, advocate, and writer who began serving as the Director of the Family-to-Family Health (F2F) Information Center in 2024, assisting families of children and young adults with disabilities and special healthcare needs to navigate the health care and disability systems in Illinois. She has lived experience through her daughter Karuna, who had multiple disabilities and complex health issues throughout her eleven years of life. Susan is the founder of MFTD Waiver Families and spent more than a decade advocating for children in the Medically Fragile Technology Dependent Waiver. In addition, she is an independent researcher on children’s Medicaid waivers and programs, including the website Kids’ Waivers. She is a Charting the LifeCourse Ambassador and a Board Certified Special Education Advocate.
Annie Bruno, MSW, LCSW, QIDP, is the Family Advocate for Central & Southern Illinois. She holds a Master’s Degree from the University of Illinois in Social Work and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, as well as a Qualified Intellectual Disabilities Professional. Annie has over fifteen years of experience working with individuals with disabilities and their families. She has spent time as a Service Facilitator in the Home Based program and as an Independent Service Coordinator at an ISC agency. Annie has a background in consulting and is passionate about assisting families with navigating complex service systems and connecting to available resources.
Brigid McCormick is the Founder and Clinical Director of Precision ABA, a Precision Teaching learning center and practice in Naperville, Illinois. Her work is grounded in assent-based care, self-advocacy, and the belief that children thrive when the people supporting them take the time to understand what matters most to the child themselves. Before earning her Master of Arts in Applied Behavior Analysis from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, Brigid received her teaching certification in Secondary Education from Illinois State University. She is also the Founder of Educational Momentum, a school supplement program focused on executive function, academic, and social-emotional skill development. Recognizing that the quality of ABA services depends heavily on the quality of the clinicians providing them, Brigid recently founded The Institute for Clinical Excellence at Precision ABA: a professional training initiative focused on developing strong clinical judgment, instructional design, and ethical practice in behavior analysts.
Megan Mutti, MA, is the Executive Director of Family Matters Parent Training Center. She was most recently a member of the Ligas Family Advocate Team at the Arc of Illinois. Megan is a 2023 graduate of the Illinois Partners in Policymaking Program and a 2020 graduate of the LEND Program at UIC, where she participated as a Family Fellow. She is an Ambassador for the Charting the LifeCourse Nexus.
Erica Stearns serves as the statewide Home Care Family Outreach Associate for the University of Illinois Chicago’s Division of Specialized Care for Children (UIC-DSCC), where she supports families of children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN). With a childhood shaped by special healthcare needs and medical complexity, and now as the parent of two children with medically complex disabilities, Erica brings a rare depth of lived experience to her work. She has held family leadership positions, including serving as a member and chair of various Family Advisory Councils and committees. Previously, she worked as a statewide advocate with The Arc of Illinois, amplifying the voices of individuals with disabilities and their families. Erica is a cofounder of Caffeinated Caregivers, a virtual network that connects pediatric caregivers with resources, peer support, and research opportunities. Through her work, Erica is passionate about championing peer support and empowering caregivers to use their lived experiences to drive meaningful change for the CYSHCN community.
Tiffany Steinhauser was a special educator for 26 years in Central Illinois before becoming a full-time Information and Outreach Specialist and Educational Support Coach with Illinois Lifespan. She has been with The Arc of Illinois for almost 4 years. Advocacy is something that is close to her heart and has led her to spend her life teaching, advocating, and supporting parents and individuals with disabilities. As an educator of children with disabilities for many years, she found there to be a huge need for more family resources and supports. Tiffany is a Nationally Board Certified Special Education Advocate. She is also a certified Community Resource Specialist for Aging and Disability. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Special Education from Quincy University (IL) and a master’s degree in Educational Leadership from Williams Wood University (MO).
Dr. Ebonie Zielinski, DNP, RN is the Assistant Director of Research and Practice Initiatives for the Division of Specialized Care for Children (DSCC), which administers Illinois’ Title V Children and Youth with Special Healthcare Needs (CYSHCN) program. With more than 20 years of nursing experience, she leads statewide efforts to strengthen population health strategies and programs for CYSHCN and is committed to advancing equitable care for medically complex children and strengthening the workforce who supports them. This includes a statewide emergency preparedness initiative focuses on ensuring CYSHCN and their families are planned, before, during, and after emergencies.