Founder: Professional Statement

John Ortiz

John M. Ortiz, Ph.D., is the director and founder of the Asperger’s Syndrome Institute and the Institute of Applied Psychomusicology. A licensed psychologist, musician, composer, certified clinical hypnotist and international speaker and consultant he has conducted over 1,000 programs internationally on topics relating to Sound Psychology and autism spectrum disorders. Dr. Ortiz’s work serving children, adolescents and adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders originated in the late 70’s, at which time he was instrumental in helping to secure a grant for the South Florida State Hospital that facilitated the appropriation of a facility to house adolescents apart from the general, adult population. A dedicated practitioner and consummate professional Dr. Ortiz has specialized in serving families, children and adolescents since 1974.

Deeply invested in current research and promoting education he served on the senior faculty at Cambridge College’s National Institute of Teaching Excellence (1996-2004) and the editorial board of the American Counseling Association’s Journal of Counseling and Development between 1995-1998. He is an active member of various professional organizations including the American Psychological and American Music Therapy Associations.

More recently, since 1992, he has specialized in serving children, teens, and adults presenting with Asperger’s Syndrome, High Functioning Autism, Non-Verbal Learning Disorders, and related conditions. His eclectic and far reaching work with these populations involves direct clinical service, assessment and evaluation, multi-disciplinary team coordination and instruction, research, professional training and lecturing, mentoring and supervision, and consultation with schools, universities, medical and psychotherapeutic facilities, mental health agencies, parents and caregivers, and others who serve these immensely gratifying, fascinating persons.

Current research interests include:

• The application of eye-tracking convergence to understanding and meeting the educational and social challenges of persons with autism spectrum (ASD) and non-verbal (visual-spatial) learning (NLD) disorders.
• The application of chaos theory to understanding and meeting the educational and social challenges of persons with ASD and NLD.
• The implementation and application of mindfulness practices in working with ASD and NLD populations
• Transpersonal strategic frameworks as integral in serving the challenges of ASD and NLD populations
• The use of humor, and the creative arts, as social and relationship bridges and blueprints to working with ASD and NLD

A prolific author and composer, Dr. Ortiz’ products include:

Books:

• “Melody’s Choice” (scheduled for Fall, 2012).
• “The Aspie Bunny and the Rainbow Bridge” (2012)
• “The Five Umbrellas: A Strength-Based Framework for Asperger’s, High Functioning Autism, and Nonverbal Learning Disorders” (2011)
• “Asperger’s, autism, and Nonverbal Learning Disorders: Screening, Assessing and Diagnosing” (2008, 2011)
• “Asperger’s, autism, and Nonverbal Learning Disorders: Screening, Assessing and Diagnosing” – Companion CD-ROM (2011)
• “The Gifts of Asperger” (2006)
• “My Kitty Catsberger” (2006)
• “Nurturing Your Child with Music” (1999)
• “The Tao of Music: Sound Psychology” (1997)

Audio CDs:

• “The Aspie Bunny and the Rainbow Bridge” (audio version) (2012)
• “My Kitty Catsberger” (audio version) (2012)
• “The Healing Pulse” (2012)
• “Becoming Mindful” (2012)
• “Sound Meditations” (2012)
• “Turning Daydreams into Dreams” (2000)
• “It’s Sleepy Time!” (2000)
• “The Soothing Pulse” (1998)

Psycho-social interactive training game:
Exploring the Asperger DimensionTM

Email: doctorortiz@comcast.net or contact