Meet the Workshop Speakers
Meet the speakers for the Abilities Expo Houston 2024 Workshops! They bring years of experience and knowledge to the workshops they will share with you. Many are recognized regionally and nationally for their ongoing work with the disability community. All Abilities Expo speakers have apparent and non-apparent disabilities, work in the disability field, or are the sibling or parent of a person with disabilities.
Matthew Castelluccio
Vice President, Community Support, United Spinal Association
Matthew Castelluccio is the VP of United Spinal's Community Support Programs. He leads the six-person team of information specialists in the collection and dissemination of extensive on-line and printed materials and the provision of curated, personal guidance on a wide array of topic areas related to living successfully with SCI/D. Aside from his duties as Director, Matt is the founder and Chapter President of the Hudson Valley Chapter of United Spinal Association. Matt suffered a spinal cord injury from a motorcycle accident in 2003. Subsequently, Matt has pursued a career in disability advocacy and community program development, including as an Adaptive Sports Coordinator developing recreational program opportunities in New York State and as a Director of Independent Living Services for a New York-based Center for Independent Living. He is a certified ADA coordinator and is active in competitive sports including wheelchair rugby, handcycling, waterskiing and wheelchair softball. He is a devoted husband and father of twin sons. He personally recognizes the benefits of community-based programs to create environments that foster resource sharing and peer support. Matt received a Bachelor of Science with a major in Psychology minor in Business Management from Ramapo College in Mahwah, NJ
Workshop: Wheelchair Rugby from a Players Perspective
Social Media
Vanessa Goodson, MBA
Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts – Texas ABLE Program
Vanessa Goodson has worked for the Texas Comptroller's Office for 3 years and currently serves as the Outreach Specialist for the state's new Texas ABLE Program. She earned a master's degree in Business from Grantham University. She has 7 years of service with the State of Texas including serving as Business Specialist for the Office of the Governor. Previously, she managed several large-scale Central Texas businesses and served six years in the United States Air Force.
Social Media:
Workshop: Texas ABLE: A Savings Plan for Individuals with Disabilities
Russell Klein, CAPS
Director of Education and Community Partnerships, 101 Mobility of Houston
Russell Klein, Director of Education and Community Partnerships at 101 Mobility of Houston Metro, is a Certified Aging in Place Specialist (CAPS) who delivers lectures across Greater Houston on environmental modifications. He is a board member of the Houston Gerontological Society (HGS) and the Houston Area Continuity of Care (HACOC) organization, bringing skills in communications, event management, graphic design, and performing arts. With 15 years of municipal policy and public engagement experience, Russell was invited to Houston in late 2017 to aid in post-Harvey community recovery. Transitioning to 101 Mobility in 2019 as their public liaison, he has established a sizable reputation within senior care and disability advocacy circles. 101 Mobility of Houston Metro, a women-owned, locally-operated company, specializes in home and office modifications, dedicated to assisting Houstonians with physical disabilities and seniors seeking to age in place.
Social Media:
• Facebook
• YouTube
CEU Session: Best Practices in Home Modification for People with Disabilities
Workshop: Investing in Safety: Key Home Modifications Enabling Accessibility and Fall Prevention
Rachel Krishnan, AIA
Project Manager - Architecture, Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA)
Rachel Y. Krishnan, AIA, joined PVA Architecture in 2018. Mrs. Krishnan has over twenty-five years of architectural design and construction experience with project scope ranging from private homes to large defense, government, and healthcare contracts. Five years of experience in healthcare design brought accessibility needs to the forefront of her work. With her knowledge of accessible design guidelines, Mrs. Krishnan provides technical assistance to those who are planning home renovations specifically focused on improving accessibility. She also advocates to maximize accessibility for healthcare projects serving veterans throughout the United States. Mrs. Krishnan is a licensed architect in South Carolina, with NCARB certification. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Design and a Master of Architecture from Clemson University.
Social Media:
Workshop: Accessible Home Design: Kitchens & Bathrooms!
Sonny Mullen
Director of Outreach, Help Hope Live
Sonny Mullen is from the Philadelphia area and spent the first part of her career in New York City working in television. She joined Help Hope Live in 2016, first working in the Finance Department and is now proudly the Director of Outreach, helping to build the Outreach department to bring Help Hope Live's mission to a wider audience. With a personal connection to Help Hope Live's mission, Sonny is happy to use her experiences to connect and speak with individuals in the disability community all over the country, with the goal of helping them safely fundraise for their medical and related expenses.
Website/Social Media:
Workshop: Discover How to Pay for Everything You See Today
Heather R. Price, OTR/L, ATP/SMS
Central South Regional Manager, Stealth Products
Heather R. Price, OTR/L, ATP/SMS, is a Regional Manager at Stealth Products. She also provides clinical education to therapists and DME providers under the Quantum Rehab education team. Previously, in clinical practice, Heather gained experience in wheelchair seating, positioning, and mobility at two nationally ranked rehab hospitals, TIRR Memorial Hermann in Houston and Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago. At TIRR, Heather was an Occupational Therapist on the inpatient spinal cord injury team. She gained extensive experience in custom wheelchair prescription, training, and seating and positioning. As the Wheelchair Skills and Management Specialist at SRALab, Heather helped develop a new program for inpatient clients of all ages with a variety of diagnoses. The program featured extensive wheelchair trials, evaluations, and instruction on advanced wheelchair skills.
Workshop: Wheelchair Seating Solutions for Kids
Andre Sam
Disability/Special Needs Planner, Disability & Special Needs Project
Andre Sam is a comprehensive Disability and Special Needs Planner with the Disability & Special Needs Project. Upon earning a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Arizona, Andre began a career in comprehensive disability and special needs planning. Andre has been in the industry for 12 years now working with individuals and families with special needs and disabilities and spends time providing complimentary educational presentations to conferences, organizations and support groups who have loved ones that are part of this wonderful disability/special needs community.
Workshop: Disability & Special Needs Planning Made Easy
Linda M. Schultz, PhD, CRRN
Linda M. Schultz, PhD, CRRN is a leader and provider of rehabilitation nursing for 40 years, most recently developing Activity Based Rehabilitation strategies. She has directed programs at an international level, including the Christopher Reeve Recovery Project at Washington University in St. Louis. She is certified by the Association of Rehabilitation Registered Nurses. Dr. Schultz writes the interactive Ask a Nurse blog, an evidence-based community forum, conducts monthly international webinars hosting discussions and questions from individuals with paralysis, and has created emergency pocket cards concerning the topics of sepsis and autonomic dysreflexia, in coordination with the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Foundation. As a researcher, Dr. Schultz focuses on the concepts of promoting bladder and bowel continence and skin integrity. She has completed a national analysis of urinary continence in the elderly population utilizing NIH data. The results of these findings have been used to establish protocols by the AHCPR.
Workshop: The Art of Complex Caregiving
Mark Wellman
Adventure Athlete, Motivational Speaker
Linda M. Schultz, PhD, CRRN is a leader and provider of rehabilitation nursing for 40 years, most recently developing Activity Based Rehabilitation strategies. She has directed programs at an international level, including the Christopher Reeve Recovery Project at Washington University in St. Louis. She is certified by the Association of Rehabilitation Registered Nurses. Dr. Schultz writes the interactive Ask a Nurse blog, an evidence-based community forum, conducts monthly international webinars hosting discussions and questions from individuals with paralysis, and has created emergency pocket cards concerning the topics of sepsis and autonomic dysreflexia, in coordination with the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Foundation. As a researcher, Dr. Schultz focuses on the concepts of promoting bladder and bowel continence and skin integrity. She has completed a national analysis of urinary continence in the elderly population utilizing NIH data. The results of these findings have been used to establish protocols by the AHCPR.
Workshop: The Art of Complex Caregiving
Pre-Register for Abilities Expo Today...It's Free!