Friday, Oct. 23, 2026
Speaker Series
9:00 A.M. - 3:15 P.M.
Nebraska East Union – Great Plains Room
| 9:00 - 9:05 A.M. | Dr. Miechelle McKelvey (SECD Chair) Welcome & Introductions |
| 9:05 - 9:15 A.M. | Dr. Kristy Weissling History of Barkley |
| 9:15 - 10:15 A.M. | Dr. Kelly Farquharson (‘12 Ph.D.) Professor, Director of the Children’s Literacy and Speech Sound (CLaSS) Lab College of Communication & Information, Florida State University |
| 10:15 - 10:30 A.M. | Break |
| 10:30 - 11:30 A.M. | Dr. Alaina Bassett (’12 B.S., ’15 M.S., ’16 Au.D., ’18 Ph.D.) Assistant Professor Department of Communication Disorders, Cal State LA |
| 11:30 A.M. - 1:00 P.M. | Lunch |
| 1:00 - 2:00 P.M. | Mickey Rowe Autistic and legally blind author, actor and speaker Founding Artistic Director of National Disability Theatre |
| 2:00 - 2:15 P.M. | Break |
| 2:15 - 3:15 P.M. | Dr. Matt McNiff (’04 M.Ed., ’15 Ph.D.) Behavior Consultant Nebraska Educational Service Unit 5 |
Open House
4:00 - 6:30 P.M.
Barkley Memorial Center
| 4:00 P.M. | Tours begin in the Clinic lobby located on the East side (guided and self-guided available) |
| 5:00 P.M. | Brief remarks (Barkley Clinic lobby) |
Events on Friday, Oct. 23 are open to the public.
Parking: Guests parking on East Campus MUST Park in any of the highlighted lots in the image below. Upon arriving to the Great Plains room, guests can check-in and provide their license plate number to have their car registered for the day!
Food: To receive a free meal voucher at the Speaker series, guests must first register to the event above. Upon arriving to the Great Plains room guests can check-in and receive their free meal voucher! Check out the East Campus Dining Center Menu!
Meet the Speakers
Kelly Farquharson, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
Kelly is a Professor in the School of Communication Science and Disorders at Florida State University. She directs the Children's Literacy and Speech Sound (CLaSS) Lab, which has a mission to help children with speech and language impairments achieve classroom success. Her work is funded by the National Institutes of Health, and she has over 60 peer-reviewed publications. She is an ASHA Fellow, a Board-Certified Specialist in Child Language, and Chair of ASHA's Scientific and Professional Education Board.
Alaina Bassett, Au.D., Ph.D.
Alaina earned her Au.D. and Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Upon earning her Ph.D. in 2018, she joined the Keck School of Medicine of USC as a clinical audiologist and director of the vestibular laboratory. In 2022, she joined California State University, Los Angeles, where she is an assistant professor in the Doctor of Audiology program. Her clinical and research interests focus on vestibular assessment and balance disorders.
Matt McNiff, Ph.D.
Matt is a behavior consultant with Educational Service Unit No. 5 in Beatrice, Nebraska. With over 30 years of experience, Dr. McNiff has worked with thousands of students facing behavioral challenges across all educational levels, from early childhood through high school and transitional programming. He earned his master’s and Ph.D. in special education from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, specializing in behavior disorders and autism, and currently serves as an adjunct professor at Concordia University.
Mickey Rowe
As an autistic and legally blind person, it was always made clear to Mickey the many things he was incapable of doing. But Mickey did them all anyway—and he succeeded because of, not despite, his autism. He became the first autistic actor to play the lead role in the play The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, landed the title role in the play Amadeus, co-created the theatre/philanthropy company Arts on the Waterfront, and founded the National Disability Theatre. Mickey faced untold obstacles along the way, but his story ends in triumph. Mickey inspires all people—autistic and non-autistic alike—that the things that make us different are often our biggest strengths. Mickey has been featured in the New York Times, New York Times Magazine, the TODAY show, PBS, Vogue, Playbill, NPR, CNN, Wall Street Journal, HuffPost, Forbes, on Smarter in Seconds. He has been a keynote speaker at organizations including the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, The Kennedy Center, Yale University, Columbia University, CUNY, Disability Rights Washington, The Gershwin Theatre on Broadway, and the DAC of the South Korean government, and more.