Our Board of Directors is a governing board responsible for ensuring that the school’s mission is carried out in a way most beneficial to the Higashi community.
The purpose of our Advisory Board of Education is to develop and expand our network in the field of autism, create opportunities for research and presentations at conferences, and to be a resource to better serve our students, their families, and the general public with respect to the field of autism education.
President and Director
Former Director & Chairman, The Education Cooperative
Former School Committee Chairman, Town of Natick
Treasurer and Director
Executive Director, Boston Higashi School
Secretary Pro Tempore (Non-Director)
Business Office Manager, Boston Higashi School
Senior Vice President, Brookline Bank
Parent of former student
CEO, James F. Farr Academy, Inc.
Vice President, Global Graphics Software Inc.
Vice President, Unisonic Products Corporation
Parent of former student
Former Educational Program Evaluator, Boston Higashi School
Assistant Director, Musashino Higashi Center for Education & Research
Former Employee, Boston Higashi School
Out-Of-District Coordinator, Hanover Public Schools
Former CFO, Cardinal Cushing Center
Board of Directors, Autism Speaks – National Division
Board of Directors, American Occupational Therapy Foundation (AOTF)
President Emeritus, Asperger/Autism Network
Member, Advisory Board, Boston Higashi School
Member, Advisory Board, Autism Society of America – National Division
Professor of Special Education at Adelphi University
Author & International consultant, presenter, and researcher on autism spectrum issues throughout the lifespan
Deputy Executive Director and
General Counsel, MA PRIM Board
Executive Manager, Musashino Higashi Gakuen School, Japan
Former Executive Manager, Boston Higashi School
Assistant Director, Musashino Higashi Center for Education & Research, Japan
Former Program Director, Boston Higashi School
Chief of Staff - Mayor’s Office
City of Austin, Texas
Former Kids Count Director, Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center
Parent of former student
Vice President, Commercial Lending, Coastal Heritage Bank
Parent of former student
Retired Director
Secretary/Clerk & Director Emeritus
Former President, Boston Higashi School Parents Association
Associate Professor of Anatomy & Laboratory Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine
Child Neurologist, Integrated Center for Child Development
Founding Director of The Lurie Center (formerly LADDERS)
Director, The Autism Research Foundation (TARF); The Autism Research Consortium (TARC); and the Autism Treatment Network (ATN) Special Area of Study: Brain Research in Autism
Executive Director/Founder, Technology for Autism Now, Inc.
NE Regional Director, U.S. Society of Augmentative & Alternative Communication Users AAC/AT Independent Contractor/Consultant
President, Board of Directors, Boston Higashi School
Member of the Corporation, Boston Higashi School
Member, Board of Directors, New Hampshire Special Needs Support Center
Former Director & Chairman, The Education Cooperative
Former School Committee Chairman, Town of Natick
Professor of Pediatrics in Genetics & Child Development,
University of Connecticut School of Medicine
Special Area of Study: Communication & Developmental Disorders
Professor of Anthropology & International Affairs
Director of George Washington University Institute of
Ethnographic Research Author, lecturer
CEO, Orthopedic Research and Education Foundation (OREF)
Executive Director, American Music Therapy Association (AMTA)
President & CEO, Advance Enterprises, LLC
Managing Director, The Forum Institute P2i Project
Former President & CEO, Autism Society of America & Publisher of Autism Advocate Journal
Member, Data & Safety Monitoring Board, National Institutes of Health
Co-Leader Kennedy-Longfellow/Lesley University Partnership
Professor Emeritus, Lesley University School of Education
Director, “Say Yes to Education”
Co-founder, “PALS” (Personal Advocacy & Lifetime Support)
Member of the Corporation, Boston Higashi School
Special Area of Study: Research Specializing in Autism,
Facilitated Communication, School Restructuring, and Inclusion
Developmental Cognitive Neurologist, The Center for Autism & Neurodevelopmental
Disorders, University of California Irvine
Former Medical Director, Child Development Program, Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth-
Hitchcock Medical Center
Special Area of Study: Developmental Pediatrics and Pediatric Neurology
Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
Author of Driven to Distraction; Spark-The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise And the Brain and Go Wild
Voted “2016 Outstanding Psychiatrist of the Year” by the Massachusetts Psychiatric Society
Adjunct Professor at National Taiwan Sports University & Reebok’s Ambassador for Active Kids
Special Area of Study: Neuropsychiatry, the Brain-Fitness Connection
Consulting Clinical Psychologist, Boston Higashi School
Former Director of Clinical Services, Boston Higashi School
Author of Autism Adulthood: Strategies and Insights for a Fulfilling Life;
Making Peace with Autism: One Family’s Story of Struggle, Discovery and
Unexpected Gifts; The Autism Mom’s Survival Guide: Creating a Balanced and Happy
Life While Raising a Child with Autism; and Dirt: A Story about Gardening, Mothering and Other Messy Business
Member of the Massachusetts Autism Commission
Board of Directors, Autism Speaks – National Division
Board of Directors, American Occupational Therapy Foundation (AOTF)
President Emeritus, Asperger/Autism Network
Member, Board of Directors, Boston Higashi School
Member, Advisory Board, Autism Society of America – National Division
Professor of Special Education at Adelphi University
Author & International consultant, presenter, and researcher on autism spectrum issues throughout the lifespan
Director, Center for Autism Research Excellence, Boston University
Professor, Department of Psychological and Brain Science, Boston University
Specialist in Language, Cognitive & Social Functioning of Autism, and Other Neuro-Developmental Disorders
Executive Director, Joanna’s Place
Assistant Professor of Developmental Pediatrics, Boston University School of Medicine
Director, Good Grief Program at Boston Medical Center
Consultant, Child Development Unit at Children’s Hospital
Author, psychotherapist, lecturer and consultant
Special Education Attorney
Former Executive Director of Maaps
