Essential Functions Task Force

Kevin M. McNamara, M.A., CCC-SLP, is clinical director emeritus in the Department of Communication Disorders at Southern Connecticut State University. Across his career, he has supported children and adults with a wide variety of communication needs, served as a clinical educator and director, and engaged in research and presented on the topic of clinical education. He served on the 2016 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Ad Hoc Committee on Supervision Training, and more recently as Chair of the CAPCSD Clinical Educator Resources Committee. He was named an ASHA Fellow in 2019 due, in part, to his work in advancing best practices in clinical education and supervision.  

Jean-Franco Rivera Pérez, PhD, CCC-SLP (he/him/his) is an Assistant Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Texas Christian University. His academic interest and areas of expertise include bilingual acquisition and vocabulary. His area of research includes the use technology in therapy to promote access, opportunities, and advancement for linguistically oppressed communities to address the present clinician-child mismatch and racial/ethnic gap. Additional areas of research include topics on social justice.