Terri Zerfas is currently a lecturer for the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development at SMU. She teaches graduate courses in the Learning Therapy Center and the Master Reading Teacher program. She established the Southern Methodist University Diagnostic Center for Dyslexia and Related Disorders in 2004 and served as coordinator until June 2008. At Texas A & M University in Commerce, she taught pre-service teachers. For 33 years, she served Texas public school students from early childhood through twelfth grade as a speech/language pathologist, special education classroom teacher, dyslexia therapist, and educational diagnostician. She provided assessment and therapy to individuals ages three through adult in private practice for many years. She is currently a consultant and independent evaluator for students with speech and language disorders and/or Autism Spectrum Disorders. Dr. Zerfas enjoys speaking to various groups in the state as part of SMU’s outreach program.

Dr. Zerfas earned her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from Texas A & M University – Commerce in 2007. Her research interest is the social communication difficulty experienced by individuals with deficits in Theory of Mind and attention. She pursued her interest in the remediation of dyslexia through intensive training at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital and Southern Methodist University. Her interest in the assessment of learning disorders led to completion of the educational diagnostician certificate from Texas Woman’s University. Prior to that, Dr. Zerfas earned a M.S. in speech/language pathology from Texas Tech University, where she also received a B.S. in special education.

Publications

Besozzi, M., Ball, S., McGlamery, M., Henley, T., & Zerfas, T. (in press). Theory of mind and executive function in young children: Investigating the functional dependence hypothesis.

McGlamery, M., Zerfas, T., Ball, S., & Henley, T. (2008). Sex, theory of mind, and practical measures of executive function: Implications for early detection and remediation of attentional and social problems. Manuscript submitted for publication.

Zerfas, T. (2007). Theory of mind, executive function, and attention in first grade girls. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Texas A & M University-Commerce.

Hammer, E., & Zerfas, T. (1990). Adaptive Devices Analysis Matrix. Amarillo, TX: Functional Resources Enterprises.

Zerfas, T. (1983). Stim-u-lite: A light device for training low functioning multihandicapped children. Omro, WI: The Conover Company.

Paynter, E.T., & Bumpas, T. (1977). Imitative and spontaneous articulatory assessment of three year old children. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 42, 119-125.