Skip to main content

About Us

Who We Are


A photo of Julie Burkhart

Julie Burkhart

Administrative Professional

Julie Burkhart is an administrative professional with over 20 years’ experience in education. She assists the Outreach Center for Deafness and Blindness with projects including fiscal, document accessibility and webinars. Prior to her work at OCALI, she worked at elementary schools, an Educational Service Center, and a State Support Team. She enjoys playing games, hiking, and traveling. She has two granddaughters, one who has albinism and is visually impaired.

A photo of Christine Croyle

Christine Croyle

Program Director

Christine Croyle, Ed.D., CCC-SLP provides leadership for the Outreach Center for Deafness and Blindness at OCALI as they work to build the capacity of professionals who serve learners who are Deaf/Hard of hearing or Blind/Visually impaired and support for their families. Christine has served as a school administrator, speech language pathologist, statewide evaluation team member for both The Ohio School for the Deaf and The Ohio State School for the Blind, and as an educational interpreter. She has presented at state, national, and international conferences on topics including leading inclusive models of education, instructional strategies, and designing spaces with accessibility in mind. Access is her passion.

Contact Information:

Phone: 614-401-2804

Email: christine_croyle@ocali.org

A photo of Shannon Cuniak

Shannon Cuniak

Teacher of the Visually Impaired Consultant

Shannon D. Cuniak, M.Ed., is a Teacher of the Visually Impaired (TVI) and a Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist (COMS) in Canonsburg, PA. Formerly an Outreach Specialist at the Ohio State School for the Blind (OSSB), Cuniak currently works at The Intermediate Unit 1 in Washington County, PA as a TVI/COMS in multiple districts. Cuniak is an adjunct faculty instructor with both The Ohio State University and the University of Pittsburgh’s programs in visual impairments teaching courses in the area of braille and O&M. She has presented in a variety of settings on topics including Functional Vision Assessments, Blindness 101 and multiple teacher in-services. She received the Citation of Excellence for Direct Service Award in Orientation and Mobility from the Association for the Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER).

A photo of Maggie Dewan

Maggie Dewan

Educational Audiologist

Maggie Dewan, Au.D. is an educational audiologist serving several school districts in the greater Columbus area. She received her doctorate in Audiology at Wayne State University in 2021. Her dual undergraduate degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders and Psychology is from Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame. Dr. Maggie is passionate about providing support to students with hearing loss to ensure they are granted an equal opportunity to learn through direct access to classroom instruction. Dr. Maggie is thrilled to be joining the OCALI team to provide insight for hearing devices offered by OCALI.

A photo of Angelica Gagliardi

Angelica Gagliardi

Outreach Specialist

Angelica Gagliardi, M. Ed., provides outreach services with The Outreach Center for Deafness and Blindness. She was a Teacher of the Deaf for ten years serving students in residential programs, day school programs, and mainstream programs throughout her career. Angelica has a passion for literacy, which was the focus of her graduate degree, and is a Master Teacher for the Fairview Learning Program. She works as adjunct faculty at Kent State University helping our soon-to-be educators develop high expectations for Deaf and Hard of Hearing learners by using research-based strategies to provide full access to grade-level standards.

Contact Information:

Phone: 614-210-3974

Email: angelica_gagliardi@ocali.org

A photo of Heather Herbster

Heather Herbster

Outreach Specialist

Heather Herbster, Ph.D., has a background in supporting the needs of students, families, and educators using outreach supports. She is a licensed Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist with experience in the areas of lifespan transitions, signed language modalities, and higher education instruction. She has had the opportunity to build partnerships utilizing both state and national initiatives focused on improving student outcomes with research interests that include the examination of evaluative practices for children with vision and/or hearing loss.

Contact Information:

Phone: 614-401-2895

Email: heather_herbster@ocali.org

A photo of Michelle Motil

Michelle Motil

Family Support Liaison

Michelle obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Adolescent to Young Adult Education with a concentration in English writing from Heidelberg University. Michelle is a motivational speaker. In 2014, she was the keynote speaker for the BEST Assistive Technology Family Conference. As the Outreach Center’s current Family Support Liaison she provides information, supports, resources, and connections to families and learners who are deaf, hard of hearing, or blind. Michelle has personal experience with deafness and blindness, since she has two cochlear implants and is fully blind. She is passionate and enthusiastic about providing equity and access to all students.

Contact Information:

Phone: 614-401-2889

Email: michelle_motil@ocali.org

Abbey Weaver

Abbey Weaver M.Ed.

ASL Teacher Consultant

Abbey Weaver is currently working at a large school district in Ohio. In 2022, she started teaching American Sign Language in the high school (STEM) environment to 9th - 12th grade students. The school has a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) focus and recently added American Sign Language as one of the foreign languages.

In addition, she does consultation with The Outreach Center for Deafness and Blindness and other organizations. Many individuals may recall her from her time at Southern Ohio Educational Service Center/Hopewell Center Region 14 where she worked in a variety of roles with students that were Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Abbey worked in the southern Ohio region for 19 years. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Deaf Education from Kent State University. In addition, she has a master’s degree in reading from Xavier University.

A photo of Greg Wilson

Greg Wilson

AT Consultant

Greg Wilson, M.A., CCC/A holds a Master of Audiology and a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Education degrees (speech/language pathology). He is a licensed Audiologist and is a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist. His focus and true interest lie in the areas of assistive technology, augmentative communication, and universal design for learning. Greg retired in May 2013 as a Coordinator with Ohio’s State Support Team Region 11 (SST-11). Greg provides assistance in the AT lending library specifically with the FM systems. He also participates in other special projects.

Contact Information:

Phone: 614-410-0380

Email: greg_wilson@ocali.org