1. Howard C Shane is director of the Autism Language Program and Communication Enhancement Program at Children's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, former director of the Institute on Applied Technology, and associate professor at Harvard Medical School.
Howard Shane is internationally known for his research and development of augmented and alternative communication systems to support the communication needs of people with neuromuscular disorders, autism and other disabilities.
Howard Shane completed a doctoral fellowship in 1975 at the Mayo Clinic.
Howard Shane began his career as an assistant professor of communication sciences at the University of Vermont in Burlington, Vermont.
Howard Shane was an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School's Department of Otology and Laryngology before becoming an associate professor.
Howard Shane is a professor of communication science and disorders at MGH Institute of Health Professions.
In 1977, Howard Shane was appointed associate scientist of otolaryngology at Boston Children's Hospital.
Also in 1977, Howard Shane was appointed the director of speech pathology and audiology at the Developmental Evaluation Clinic at Children's Hospital Boston.
In 1983, Howard Shane directed a program through his Institute on Technology to create technology solutions for students at Boston College.
In 1989, Howard Shane consulted with the programmers of Microsystems Software Inc.
At the time, Howard Shane had more than 30 years experience assisting people with autism and, as a result, had developed computer software specifically designed to "boost verbal communication skills" using visual information.
The focus of the collaboration, headed by Howard Shane, was to develop a curriculum using the software and other complimentary technologies reliant on visual cuing that could serve as a model for educational programs throughout the US.
Howard Shane led a team to develop the Visual Immersion System, a visual curriculum to support the communication needs of people with disabilities.
Howard Shane questioned claims from promoters that individuals with severe disabilities, some as young as 5 or 6 years old, without formal training in reading or written language could produce messages that included "perfectly spelled sentences" and whether or not the communications were originating from the children or the adult facilitators.
Howard Shane became involved with FC further when he was called as an expert witness in a court case.
Howard Shane established simple double-blind protocols to test the validity of the message and determine authorship of the messages.
Since that first court case, Howard Shane has continued to serve as an expert witness with the results, to date, always the same.