TAP Team Biographies
Pamela S. Buchanan, M.S., CAPE - Director of Programs
Pamela Buchanan, MA, CAPE is a Lecturer in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Education at the University of Texas at Austin. Ms Buchanan received her undergraduate degree in Kinesiology & Health Education and graduate degree in Adapted Physical Education from Sam Houston State University in Texas and holds a national certification in adapted physical education (CAPE). She has worked as an elementary physical education teacher and an adapted physical education specialist in both school and residential settings. She has been a speaker and presenter for than 500 schools, regional education service centers, and national conferences. Ms. Buchanan has worked as an educational consultant with more than 375 school districts, and agencies such as Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, United Cerebral Palsy of Texas, and 16 of the 20 Region Education Service Centers in Texas. She served as a consultant to the Texas Education Agency in the development of Texas Education Agency's web site regarding frequently asked questions in adapted physical education. The University Of Texas, Dean of Students' Volunteer and Service Learning Program, presented the Outstanding Faculty Volunteer and Outstanding Student Volunteer Organization award to Ms. Buchanan and her students who provide Sensory and Motor Integration training to children with autism and their families.
Jody L. Jensen, Ph.D., Professor - Director of Research
Jody L. Jensen, PhD is a Professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Health and a member of the Institute of Neuroscience at the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Jensen received her doctorate at the University of Maryland, College Park in 1989 specializing in developmental biomechanics. From her doctoral work she moved on to a post-doctoral fellowship with Dr. Esther Thelen in Psychology at Indiana University. There she studied the development of perception-action abilities in infants. An expert on children’s motor skill development and children and exercise, Jensen’s research is focused on the acquisition of skill and changes in movement competence from infancy through older adulthood. Currently, her research emphasizes the role of sensorimotor integration and movement experience in modifying cognition in special populations with a special emphasis in autism. Jensen co-founded and is the Director of Research for the University of Texas Autism Project (UTAP). UTAP is a research and community outreach program focusing on services, knowledge, and best practices related to living, and working, with families touched by autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Dr. Jensen’s work in basic science has been funded the National Science Foundation supporting studies on age-related changes in neuromotor control. Dr. Jensen is the 2008 recipient of the Ruth B.Glassow Award given by the North American Association of Sport and Physical Education. A national recognition, the Ruth B. Glassow Biomechanics Honor Award is given to a member of the Biomechanics Academy for significant contributions to applied biomechanical research, and transmission of knowledge to the practitioner.
Mary Hilton, Program Coordinator
Because of Mary Hilton’s dedication to families with ASD, TAP has been able to offer 28 overnight events serving 502 families. TAP offers other events, but this is one of our most popular. Mary has dedicated more that 1800 hours to TAP’s programs, conferences, summer camps, professional development and planning over the last four years. It is not uncommon for Mary to manage and care for 17 children with ASD and 20 University of Texas student mentors in a single weekend. Mary donates ALL of the time she spends with TAP. This AISD teacher gives TAP her weekends, and time from her family in order to provide overnight events for our non-profit. She arrives at 9am on Saturdays to make sure the facility is appropriately prepared for your child, and stays until 2pm Sunday. She is the first one there, and the last to leave. She works tirelessly to get food and resources donated to TAP in order to keep our fees as low as possible. Mary does the shopping, delivers the food, fights off parking tickets for parents dropping off their kids, provides orientation for the UT mentors, empties garbage cans, cleans up after ill children, writes a summation of all events that occur during the event, manages meds and meltdowns. She frequently gifts TAP with financial support for children who cannot afford to pay their own fees, items for events, and those occasional UT parking tickets she gets while she is dropping off supplies.
A. Rebecca Neal, Ph.D. - Assistant Professor
Rebecca Neal received her Ph.D. in Child Clinical and Applied Developmental Psychology from the University of Miami in 2002. She completed her clinical internship in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Brown University. Rebecca stayed on at Brown after internship to complete a two-year postdoctoral fellowship at the Brown University Center for the Study of Children at Risk (CSCR). She joined the faculty at the University of Texas at Austin in January 2005.
Rebecca's research interests fall into two related domains. Her primary area of interest involves the identification of early markers of developmental delay in at-risk populations. Recent work in this area focuses on understanding the contribution of early social-communicative (.e.g, visual joint attention) and regulatory processes (e.g., infant cry) to developmental outcome (e.g., cognitive and language outcome). Rebecca maintains a second line of research in childhood autism. Recent efforts in this area used indices of physiological regulation (e.g., vagal tone) to understand social and communication deficits in children with autism and other pervasive developmental disorders. Other recent autism projects include an examination of emotion recognition abilities in high-functioning children with autism. Rebecca is currently receiving grant support from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. She has also received grant support from the National Institute of Drug Abuse.
Dr. Dilip Karnik - UTAP Medical Director
Dilip J. Karnik, MD is a practicing neurologist in Austin for 26 years. He founded the pediatric neurology sub-specialty in the Austin area. Currently he is the Medical Director for Pediatric Neurology with ‘Specially for Children as well as The Children’s Hospital of Austin. Additionally, completing his Pediatric Fellowship at the State University of New York, he served as the Chief Resident for this facility. Dr. Karnik completed his pediatric training at Rutger’s Medical School in New Jersey as well as Grant Medical College in Bombay, India. Dr. Karnik has an American Board Certification in Psychiatry and Neurology with special qualifications in child neurology. He is a Diplomat of the American Board of Pediatrics.
Dr. Karnik has chaired many medical CME conferences and is a sought-after speaker both nationally and inter-nationally. He has been selected, on numerous occasions, as Best Speaker for various events/conferences. Dr. Karnik has received teaching awards from various residency programs. Dr. Karnik is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Texas at Austin and serves as the medical director for UTAP (University of Texas' Autism Program). He heads the team of health professions in the UTAP screening clinic which provides initial screening and evaluation of children who have not yet received a diagnosis for autism.
