THE TRAINERS

Diane Eldridge, RN, COTA is a registered nurse and received her Associate’s Degree in Occupational Therapy from Madison Area Technical College. She also has a B.S. in Communications from South Carolina State College. Diane worked in Prince William County Schools as a COTA with children from Pre-K to high school for 14 years incorporating Handwriting Without Tears® techniques. Her extensive experience using the Handwriting Without Tears® curriculum also includes 15 years pediatric experience providing private tutoring sessions to successfully help children of all ability levels with their writing readiness, printing and cursive handwriting skills in their homes, as well as various educational settings. In January 2000 Diane started her career with Handwriting Without Tears®, now known as Learning Without Tears, as a national presenter and represents the company at numerous national and local trade shows.

Address: Massachusetts

Todd Misura has over 25 years of experience working with children. Todd was formerly a tenured 4th grade teacher and is currently a licensed Occupational Therapist in Maryland and Washington, DC. Since 2003, he has worked with LWT as one of their National Workshop Presenters. In this role, Todd has taught thousands of parents, teachers, administrators and therapists across the US and internationally how to use the Handwriting Without Tears® and Keyboarding Without Tears programs. Todd has written articles published in nationally distributed periodicals such as the Costco Connection, been interviewed on national news shows and appeared in many local newspaper interviews (including the Washington Post) and television segments (NBC, ABC and Fox News). He is the owner of Write Here Right Now, Inc., which is an Occupational Therapist practice that primarily focuses in the evaluation and remediation of children's handwriting, keyboarding and written production problems. He practices at local private schools and from his home office in Potomac, MD.

Email: todd.misura@lwtears.com Address: Maryland

Dr. Denise Donica completed her Doctor of Health Science and Master of Health Science in occupational therapy at the University of Indianapolis in 2007 and 2005 respectively. She also holds a bachelors degree in psychology/criminal justice and occupational therapy from Indiana University. Dr. Donica is an Associate Professor and Chair for the Department of Occupational Therapy at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. Dr. Donica’s focus of clinical practice has been with the pediatric population through school systems, outpatient practice, and telehealth. She has been using the Handwriting Without Tears® curriculum over 15 years and a National Workshop Presenter for over 12 years. She has conducted and published research related to student success, handwriting skills, and keyboarding skills. She has also presented nationally and internationally on handwriting and keyboarding-related research.

Email: denise.donica@lwtears.com Address: North Carolina

Valerie received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Wake Forest University and a Master of Science degree in Occupational Therapy from Washington University in St. Louis. She has worked as a pediatric occupational therapist since 2004 with children of all ages in multiple settings including schools, clinics, daycares, and homes. Valerie is passionate about helping children of all abilities develop the skills necessary to be successful at school and in daily life. She especially enjoys motivating and empowering teachers and parents to help their students become successful with handwriting and keyboarding skills, which she has done as a National Workshop Presenter for Learning Without Tears since 2011. She also works as a lead occupational therapist for a regional therapy company in South Carolina. Valerie lives in the Greenville, SC area with her husband and 2 children where they enjoy hiking, traveling, and church activities.

Address: South Carolina

Lindsay Amey received her Masters of Science in Occupational Therapy from the University of Western Ontario in 2005. From 2005-2018, she worked as a school health therapist with Closing the Gap Healthcare Group in Collingwood, ON. In 2006, she received her training and certification in the LWT Pre-K through Grade 5 curriculum as well as in the administration of the Print Tool Assessment. Lindsay has had great success using the Learning Without Tears curriculum in consultation with schools, school boards and families as well as working one-to-one with children aged 3-21 yrs. She was thrilled to join the LWT team as a Canadian National Presenter in 2010. Realizing her passion for teaching and inspiring adult learners, Lindsay joined the faculty at Georgian College, as part of the OTA/PTA program in 2016. In her spare time, Lindsay enjoys hiking, travelling, mountain biking and downhill skiing. She feeds her passion coaching Special Olympics skiing and building wheelchairs as a volunteer for Team Canada Healing Hands’ International seating clinics.

Address: ON, Canada

Dr. Suzanne Asherson is a pediatric occupational therapist with a Clinical Doctorate and Masters from the University of Southern California. She co-wrote the chapter “Evidence-Based Practice and Accountability” in the Guidelines for Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy in the California Public Schools published by the California Department of Education and is SIPT certified (Sensory Integration and Praxis Tests). Suzanne has been prominently featured in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times and appears in on-air news segments around the country regarding handwriting in today’s world. Suzanne spent eight years at the Beverly Hills Unified School District practicing as a school based OT, has been a National Presenter for Learning Without Tears since 2008 and currently has a private pediatric OT practice in Beverly Hills and the surrounding neighborhoods.

Email: suzanne.asherson@lwtears.com Address: California

Kami Bible is an occupational therapist with a B.S. in Occupational Therapy and a Master of Business Administration. She has been an occupational therapist for almost 20 years and has worked as an occupational therapist in the schools in multiple states and various service delivery models, including online school-based therapy. Kami has used the Handwriting Without Tears curriculum with success and loves sharing her stories with other therapists. Kami is a seasoned presenter nationally and at state occupational therapy conferences. She has written two manuals on the use of technology in a school-based program as well as presenting on strategies to strengthen your school-based program. Kami is excited to share her passion about Handwriting Without Tears as a workshop presenter!

Address: Kansas

Christina Bretz is an Occupational Therapist from Lexington, Ky. She has extensive pediatric experience providing services to children in school settings, early intervention, home health care and private tutoring. Christina established an annual summer handwriting camp utilizing the Handwriting Without Tears® program. Christina began working for Learning Without Tears in 2002 and currently works as a Program Specialist and National Presenter. Additionally, she balances her time with tutoring children who are experiencing difficulties with handwriting and pursuing her doctorate in Occupational Therapy.

Address: Kentucky

Katrina Capola has over 18 years of experience in the field of education, which spans from teaching in a traditional classroom setting to online virtual instruction. After having implemented the company’s multisensory lessons and seeing firsthand the positive impact it had on her students, she is thrilled to have the opportunity to be part of the LWT team. During her career, Katrina has been a classroom teacher for Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd & 3rd grades, as well as a reading and math interventionist, providing targeted instruction to diverse learners, utilizing the Response-to-Intervention framework. She has mentored student teachers and worked as a lead teacher, providing coaching on differentiation, tiered instruction, guided reading, Number Talks, integrating vocabulary into math instruction and classroom management. Katrina spent 9 years teaching in a blended-learning school setting and conducted national webinars to share her knowledge and expertise on best practices in virtual instruction.
In addition to presenting for LWT, Katrina is a Professional Learning Consultant for NWEA, a non-for-profit, which developed the MAP Growth Assessment. She is honored to be a part of an organization that tests over 10 million students every year across the globe, in grades K-12. Katrina also takes great pride in her work supporting students with special needs throughout the Chicagoland area. Katrina is a proud graduate of Michigan State University, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education. She also received a Master of Arts Degree in Special Education from Concordia University. Katrina holds a professional teaching license in the states of Illinois and Michigan, as well as a Learning Behavior Specialist Endorsement (LBS1). During her free time, she enjoys gardening, crafting, writing, snowboarding and spending time with family and friends.

Address: Illinois