Laura Marshak Ph.D and Fran Prezant M.Ed., CCC-SLP
Authors, Speakers, and Researchers on Disability and Family Balance
Our books, research and presentations have been dedicated to helping families of children and adults with disabilities reach optimal levels of quality of life. We believe that the needs of all members of the family are important.
BOOKS
Together, as well as individually, we have authored six books for parents and professionals. In addition, we wrote a children's book which is one of the very few to have career role models for young children with disabilities as well as others.
To learn more about each book, please click on the images below.
PRESENTATIONS & WORKSHOPS
We have presented internationally as well as nationally to a wide range of groups.
Our presentations have ranged from speaking at the World Congress on Down syndrome in Chennai, India to Family Network conferences in Florida and Virginia. Our audiences have been comprised of other professionals as well as families.
Our favorite keynotes, presentations and workshops have been those that we have developed for disability-related organizations. This is because we are able to be creative about our approaches based on groups' unique requests.
Our work is adaptable to meet the needs of organizations focused on diverse conditions. These include but are not limited to:
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Autism
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Cerebral Palsy
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Down syndrome
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Cystic fibrosis
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Phelan-McDermid Syndrome
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Food allergies
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Cri du Chat syndrome
Most often, we speak to parent groups raising children and adults with many different neurobiological, behavioral and/or physical disabilities. You will find, however, that our talks also include a breadth of topics.
These have even included making museums accessible for persons with disabilities (at the Guggenheim Museum and the Metropolitan ) as well as changing disability-related stereotypes in the media and the classroom.
Please click the button below to see a list of some our previous presentations and workshops.
About Fran Prezant
Fran Pollock Prezant, M.Ed., CCC-SLP is a disability consultant, speaker and author currently teaching i Department of Communication Disorders at Sacred Heart University and formerly at Montclair State University in New Jersey. She was Director of Research and Evaluation and a senior VP at the National Center for Disability Services in New York, as well as faculty and former Director of the Parent Information Project at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Trained as a speech and language pathologist, she also has expertise as a parent trainer, program director, university instructor, researcher, grant writer/administrator, and author in the disability arena. In addition, she has research interests in disability representation in children's books and films. She is an advisory member of New York based ReelAbilities, the largest disability film festival in North America.
To download Fran's CV, click on the paperclip to the right.
About Laura Marshak
Dr. Laura Marshak's background includes more than 30 years as a professor at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She is now a Professor Emeritus . As a licensed psychologist, she has an active private practice, North Hills Psychological Services P.C. Her specialty has been working with couples and single parents raising children with disabilities, as well as issues related to adaptation to disability. She also provides services to others with a wide range of issues including depression, anxiety, bereavement and trauma.
Her most recent publication is a study of more than 300 fathers of children with Down syndrome about the personal impacts on their own lives.
She is the professional advisor to Friendship Circle of Pittsburgh, an inclusion group with more than 400 members.
To download Dr. Marshak's CV, click on the paperclip to the right.
Contact Us
We look forward to hearing from you and are always interested in discussing new opportunities to speak, write or collaborate on projects.
Laura Marshak can be reached at:
Fran Prezant can be reached at: