Valerie Herskowitz
Company: Dimensions Therapy Center; Davie, Florida
Company Description: Dimensions Therapy Center has provided state-of-the-art therapy services to the special needs children and adults in south Florida for the past 23 years. The owner, Valerie Herskowitz, a speech therapist and also a mother of a thirteen-year old autistic son, is also a international lecturer and writer.
Nomination Category: Stevie Awards for Women Entrepreneur Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Lifetime Achievement Award
Nomination Title: Valerie Herskowitz, a community leader
Tell the story about what the nominated entrepreneur has achieved during her career (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to other entrepreneurs or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:
Valerie Herskowitz’s career as a speech pathologist has spanned the past 26 years.Since 1981, as owner of Dimensions Therapy Center, she has been providing private therapy services to the families in the South Florida area. She is on the adjunct faculty at Nova Southeastern University.
Ms. Herskowitz is the President of the National Autism Registry. This non-profit organization was started to help families cope with the stresses of parenting a child with autism. This organization offers all services to its members free of charge. Ms. Herskowitz is also a board member of the Broward County Chapter of the Autism Society of America. Ms. Herskowitz established special gymnastic classes and roller skating activities for children with autism. Between Sept 2003 and June 2004, Ms. Herskowitz organized special outings for special needs children and their families such as bowling, the movies and trips to the zoo. Costs for these events were underwritten by Dimensions Therapy Center.
Ms. Herskowitz's interest in special needs is not just professional: Her youngest son, Blake, was diagnosed with autism in 1993 when he was two years old. Her journey to discover successful istrategies for him has led her to the development of several innovative techniques, which she now uses with many of the children that she works with.
One area that has been of great interest to Ms. Herskowitz has been the use of computer technology with autistic individuals. She has utilized and developed a multitude of software programs in her practice for many years. Many children and adults with autism seem to be able to learn many skills via the computer. As we embark on a journey into this millennium, computer literacy will be essential for these individuals. Because of her interest, Ms. Herskowitz has been a regular contributor to the ADVOCATE, the Autism of America’s bimonthly publication. Her reviews focus on software and computer systems that are appropriate for those with autism. She has also been published in ADVANCE, the weekly magazine for speech pathologists and audiologists. At this time, Ms. Herskowitz is considered to be the premier authority on the use of computer-based intervention with special needs individuals.
In January of 2003, Ms Herskowitz was invited to present a 2-day seminar by the Hong Kong Board of Education. Though having lectured in many US cities, Ms Herskowitz hadn't ever left her son, Blake for longer than 3-4 days. Often, he accompanied her when she traveled for workshops. This trip, however, required a minimum of 8 days and taking her son was not an option. Preparation would be extensive, but the decision was made to go to Hong Kong in November 2003. The trip and seminar were very successful, and Blake did well at home with his caretaker.
Learning to combine a successful career while parenting a child with special needs requires very special skills. Ms. Herskowitz has been able to accomplish this task and over the pat 6 months, has developed a lecture series to help mothers of special children learn to enrich their lives.
List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: List each link on a separate line, begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.website.com]. NOTE: You may submit supporting materials for your nomination offline, but only judges who request them will see them:
Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography of the nominated entrepreneur:
Valerie Herskowitz has been the owner of Dimensions Therapy Center since 1981. She is a supervisor for Nova S.E. University and mother of two, including an autistic son.
Previously, Ms. Herskowitz spent 3 years with the Dade County Public Schools, where she was responsible for designing a speech program for one of the county’s first special education pre-school classes.Ms. Herskowitz graduated with honors from the University of Miami with her Master’s degree in 1978. During her post-graduate program, she was an intern at the Mailman Center For Child Development located at the University of Miami’s School of Medicine.