We help children who have  X & Y Variations / Dyslexia / Developmental Dyspraxia

Board of Directors
. . . and other members of The Focus Foundation team

Stephanie Donahue, J.D., Board President and Treasurer

Stephanie Donahue brings to The Focus Foundation a wealth of experience in family law. The co-founder of The Donahue Law Firm, located in Annapolis, Maryland, Ms. Donahue earned her undergraduate degree at the Ohio State University and is a 1986 graduate of the George Mason University School of Law. A skilled negotiator and courtroom litigator, she is a member of the Pennsylvania and Maryland bar associations. Ms. Donahue is a strong advocate for the needs of families in crisis. The Focus Foundation's board and the children and families it serves benefit from Ms. Donahue's legal expertise as well as her personal experience as a mother of four.

Francine Mitchell, MS, RPT, Board Vice President

Trained in pediatrics, Francine Mitchell is a physical therapist with more than 25 years of service on the national and local boards of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA). She has worked in a variety of venues including hospitals, school settings and private homes providing therapies to children with both rare and common neurogenetic disorders. Ms. Mitchell brings to the Foundation years of experience with the legislative aspect of improving care for developmental disorders. Her diverse experience in the medical and public sector are valuable to the Foundation's goal of increasing awareness about the disorders it serves.

Linda Loftus, Ed.S, Board Secretary

As the program coordinator for the second largest infants and toddler early intervention program in Maryland, Linda Loftus has more than 25 years of experience working with young children who have complex developmental disorders. She is familiar with the funding aspects of infants and toddler programs throughout the country and brings knowledge about the variety of services provided to young children with developmental disabilities.

Carole Samango-Sprouse, Ed.D., Executive Director and Chief Science Officer

Dr. Carole Samango-Sprouse has been working with very young disabled children since 1982. She received her doctorate in 1987 from The George Washington University, where she specialized in the neurodevelopmental assessment of children with complex medical conditions. Dr. Samango-Sprouse is trained in neuromotor and neurocognitive development, neurobehavioral skills and oral motor assessment for children with an emphasis on young children with genetic disorders. She is experienced in neurodevelopmental training (NDT), assessment of pre-term infant behavior (APIB) and the Brazelton Neonatal Assessment Scale (BNABS). Dr. Samango-Sprouse studied neurobehavioral assessment at the Children's Hospital of Boston with Dr. Heidilaise Als, a developmental psychologist and renown Harvard University scholar.

Dr. Samango-Sprouse has published more than 60 articles about the neurocognitive capabilities of atypical children. She studies the relationship between the brain and behavior and its impact on school performance in children with sex chromosome variations (SCV), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), neurogenetic disorders including neurofibromatosis-type1 (NF-1), and developmental dyspraxia, among other conditions.

Presently, Dr. Samango-Sprouse is the director of the Neurodevelopmental Diagnostic Center for Young Children, located near Annapolis, Maryland. In addition, she is an associate clinical professor of pediatrics at The George Washington University and is on staff at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. Dr. Samango-Sprouse evaluates patients from all over the world who have complex diseases such as autism spectrum disorder and sex chromosome variations in order to develop comprehensive and intensive intervention programs that are syndrome-specific. These programs recognize the complex interaction and intimate connection between the brain, cognition, behavior, learning and medical diagnosis.

Dr. Samango-Sprouse believes that a family-centered approach is essential to optimizing a child's intellectual growth and developing appropriate intervention strategies in the home, school and community. "Parents must be empowered with information about their child's medical condition, and how that condition will impact their child's learning and intellectual performance," she says. "When parents are armed with the right skills, they can advocate for a syndrome-specific educational program in order to optimize their child's educational program and development."

As an educator, Dr. Samango-Sprouse has trained pediatric residents at Children's National Medical Center since 1982. Her instruction focuses on the behavioral phenotypes and neurodevelopmental performance of children with various genetic disorders. Relatedly, Dr. Samango-Sprouse conducts workshops nationwide for educational and ancillary health professionals about optimizing children's development by recognizing the relationship between behavior, the brain and performance.

Throughout her career, Dr. Samango-Sprouse has served on numerous advocacy foundations and boards for health and professional organizations. She presently serves on the steering committee of the Autism Genetic Resource Exchange (AGRE), an organization that fosters neurobiological research about children with autism. AGRE is the largest genetic repository in the world of DNA material from families with autistic children.

Teresa Sadeghin, MS Ed., Program Manager

Teresa Sadeghin has been working with young children since 1970, when she became an educator in Prince George's County, Maryland. After receiving her masters in curriculum development from Bowie State University, Mrs. Sadeghin served on the county's science curriculum committee for 17 years, wrote curriculum for the Science Math and Technology Integrated Matrix Package to implement and integrate performance-based science tasks, and wrote Internet and applied technology extensions for those tasks. Mrs. Sadeghin was a team writer for the Invention-Innovation-Inquiry Project, which was funded by the National Science Foundation through the International Technology Educators Association. She is certified in Facilitative Leadership Training and Event Planning.

Following her retirement from education in 2000, Mrs. Sadeghin continued working with young people as the Newspapers in Education director at the Sentinel Newspapers. She created, compiled, edited and provided graphics for four weekly newspaper pages targeted at students in order to promote literacy.

In addition to the administrative work she does for The Focus Foundation, Mrs. Sadeghin assists Dr. Samango-Sprouse at the Neurodevelopmental Diagnostic Center for Young Children, for which she coordinates studies, administers informed consents, serves as a liaison to patients and parents, and organizes specialty programs. Mrs. Sadeghin works closely with families to implement Dr. Samango-Sprouse's targeted treatments.

Rebecca Rosenson, B.S., Research Assistant

Rebecca Rosenson is a graduate of East Carolina University. During her senior year she studied abroad in India, where she assisted the non-governmental organization Tong-Len in providing humanitarian aid. While working as a marketing intern with Boys & Girls Clubs of Pitt County, N.C., Ms. Rosenson realized how much she enjoys working with children. She joined The Focus Foundation in August 2009.

Kathryn Haskell, B.S., R.N., Registered Nurse

Kathryn Haskell has more than 30 years of nursing experience with children who have complex developmental disabilities. She has worked in hospital, public school, public health and home-based settings and has developed numerous protocols, such as for childhood immunizations and medical procedures within the public school setting. Her expertise at managing detailed medical projects with large cohorts of disabled children is an essential component to the Foundation fulfilling its mission statement and increasing national awareness of dyslexia, developmental dyspraxia and sex chromosome disorders.