Meet the Staff

	Callie Stezar - Director Callie Stezar is the director of Take2 Camp and this summer will make her fourth as a Take2 employee. She has worked extensively with social skills interventions administrator and consultant. During academic months, Callie works at Ivymount's Model Asperger Program and is completing coursework for her BCBA and college writing service. In 2013, she collaborated with Monica Werner, Lynn Cannon & Amy Couch to develop and run an Ivymount Outreach program that delivers both the Unstuck and On Target intervention to children with ASD, and a behavior training program to parents. Before her work at Ivymount, she was a parent educator for the DC Public Schools' Autism Team (DCPS Parent Training Program).
	Monica Adler Werner - Co-Founder Ms. Werner co-founded Take2 Camp. Based on its success, she went on to help establish the Model Asperger Program at the Ivymount School in Rockville, Maryland, where she now serves as Director. In that capacity, she has spearheaded the development of a social learning curriculum that emphasizes problem solving, self advocacy and self regulation while keeping students on track academically. She also collaborates with Children’s National Medical Center’s Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders to develop curricula that support the development of executive functions. She is a coauthor of Unstuck and On Target (Brookes, 2011), a curriculum to enhance cognitive flexibility and problem solving in students with Asperger Syndrome. She is also the coauthor on several papers and posters about working with children with Asperger Syndrome/High Functioning Autism. Monica has an undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and her Masters degree from Johns Hopkins, and she recently completed coursework for her BCBA.
	Lisa Greenman - Co-Founder Ms. Greenman's son, now age 19, inspired the creation of Take2 eleven years ago. Ms. Greenman is a lawyer specializing in mental health and developmental disability issues that arise in criminal cases. She was recently appointed to serve on the National Mental Health Advisory Council of the National Institute of Mental Health and also serves on the board of the Ivymount School. Ms. Greenman received a JD from New York University School of Law and a BA from Yale College.
	Lynn Cannon Lynn Cannon, special educator and administrator was a member of the small group that in 2004 conceived of and developed the Take2. She took charge of developing the camp curriculum and served as Take 2’s lead teacher until responsibilities at Ivymount took over her summers. Lynn has taught at The Lab School of Washington, and the Model Asperger Program at Ivymount School. Until recently, Lynn was Education Coordinator for the Ivymount School Model Asperger Program. Lynn is the social learning coordinator at Ivymount School for the Model Asperger Program, Multiple Learning Needs Program and The Maddux School. Co-founder Monica Werner and Lynn (along with 3 other authors) recently published a curriculum, Unstuck and On Target (Brookes Publishing), designed to promote cognitive flexibility and goal-directed behavior in children with Asperger Syndrome. This curriculum has been piloted at MAP and an IRB peer reviewed process has assessed the efficacy of the intervention.

Take2 is a summer camp for highly verbal and intelligent children with social learning disorders. Our campers' diagnoses include Aspergers Syndrome, High Functioning Autism, PDD-NOS, Non-verbal learning disability, and Pragmatic Language Disorder. They may have secondary diagnoses such as Tourettes Syndrome, ADHD, or a mood/anxiety disorder. Because of their difficulty with reciprocal interaction, self-control, and group participation, these children have trouble succeeding in mainstream camps or classrooms. Although intellectually capable, and sometimes exceptionally bright, their inability to understand and respond appropriately to peers and others results in social isolation and behavior problems.

The Take2 curriculum teaches social skills and self-regulation, and was developed in collaboration with mental health experts and teachers specializing in social learning and autism spectrum disorders. The program includes a strong occupational therapy/sensory integration component, and employs social cognition and self-regulation teaching strategies drawn from current research in the area. A key and distinguishing feature of the program is its integration of these methods throughout the days activities. A continuum of learning and practice is promoted through daily homework assignments and a weekly seminar for parents.

The daily program at Take2 is highly structured and predictable. It is also a lot of fun. Although there is some didactic teaching, most of the day's work is carried out through carefully designed and highly scaffolded play. Children are taught to attend to the salient details of social relations through imagination, role play, creative expression. Middle schoolers are taught through planning and executing excursions in the community and improvisation. The structure of social interaction is taught by examining its building blocks, the fundamentals of verbal and non-verbal communication. So as not to lose any opportunity for coaching the children in the skills they are learning, free time and lunch are fully staffed segments of the camp day.

The Take2 behavior program is individualized for each child, and desired behaviors are rewarded throughout the day. An additional reward system recognizes and reinforces teamwork and actions that benefit the group as a whole. Take2 rejects punitive and confrontational approaches to modifying behavior. The camp environment is warm, nurturing and supportive.

Take2 is proud of its highly professional and multi-disciplinary staff. There is one adult for every two children.

Take2 aspires to be a model program with an innovative curriculum that can be replicated or adapted by others interested in promoting social learning. We will continue to modify and expand our curriculum, and plan to open a teacher training institute to promote the integration of social learning into both general and special education classrooms.