Founding Parents
H. Michelle Dunham
JSA Executive Director
Founding Parent
Michelle and her husband, Mark, are the founding parents of Jacksonville School for Autism (JSA).
Michelle developed the JSA model to give her son, Nicholas, the best opportunity to learn. After experiencing educational programs through both the private and public sector, Michelle wanted to combine aspects of Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) therapy, speech and language therapy, motor skills training, sensory integration therapy and play and socialization with peers.
As a Florida native, Michelle received a B.S. degree in Finance from the University of Florida. She began her career with NationsBank/Bank of America as a sales analyst and then became a Commercial Banking Vice-President. During her tenure in the banking industry, Michelle was appointed to Public Relations V.P. where she began her involvement with community based charities.
Michelle left banking to start a career with Johnson & Johnson in 1992 as an office-based sales representative with Janssen Pharmaceutical, Inc. In a career that spans 13 years, she held many positions in CNS Sales Management and National Sales Operations. Early in her career, she was exposed to adults and children with special needs through one of her positions as a CNS sales representative selling medications to physicians treating patients with various mental and developmental disabilities like autism. Her personal fight with autism would come years later with the diagnosis of her son in February of 2000.
In April of 2005, Michelle met with a small group of parents to initiate discussions about starting a school for children with Autism. In August of that year, Michelle and her husband Mark, along with another dedicated family, Terri and Eric Schuldt, started JSA. In her role, she is responsible for financial oversight, fundraising done by the school including organizing and coordinating the annual Golf Tournament and overall school administration. Michelle has over 15 years of fundraising experience through her volunteer efforts with The Junior League, The American Cancer Society and various board positions.
Terri Schuldt
OTR, JSA Co-founder
Terri and her husband Eric are founding parents of the Jacksonville School for Autism (JSA).
In creating JSA, Terri envisioned a place for children to grow into their potential and become socially connected individuals. Like any other children, JSA students are each unique and have various learning styles. Because each child will learn best if the curriculum is truly individualized, the model at JSA is one where parents make critical choices regarding their own child's educational programming.
As an Occupational Therapist who specializes in pediatrics, Terri hopes to help others understand the fine line that exists between children's sensory and behavioral challenges. Terri believes, and has seen, that teachers of children with autism must tap into the most appropriate sensory channels for each child. This is where we will find the best educational methods.
Terri received her B.A. in Occupational Therapy from The Medical University of South Carolina in 1993. She has worked in acute care, rehabilitation, outpatient clinics and the public school settings. Additionally, she has taken extensive coursework in remediation of sensory systems and fine motor training. After her daughter was diagnosed with autism, she attended many trainings sessions on ABA/Verbal Behavior, Greenspan DIR (floortime model), RDI and other coursework specifically focused on autism spectrum disorders.