MAGAL Fall 2026 Conference - Disability, Parenting & Child Custody: Advancing Fair and Effective Investigations and Evaluations (12 Nov 2026)

Thu, 12 Nov 2026 13:30:00 GMT

Massachusetts Association of Guardians ad Litem, Inc. presents:

Disability, Parenting & Child Custody: Advancing Fair and Effective Investigations and Evaluations

Keynote Speaker
Margaret Price, JD

With perspectives and insights from:
Daniel Heffernan, JD
Maura Sullivan, MPA

With a roundtable discussion including:
Hon. Brian Salisbury
Hon. Kathleen Field (ret.)
Vanda Khadem, JD
Steven Shapse, PhD
Talia Simonds, JD

Thursday, November 12, 2026
8:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.

at
The Conference Center at Waltham Woods
860 Winter St, Waltham, MA 02451
And also available virtually via Zoom

Many children have physical, mental, developmental, educational, or other special needs that have a significant impact on their daily lives and those of their families, including children with multiple special needs. When the parents of the special-needs child live apart, custody issues can be particularly complex. Court-involved parents may disagree vehemently about the nature and extent of a child's special needs, or whether the child in fact has a special need. They may differ about the proper course of treatment, or how best to educate the child. Perhaps one parent believes the special-needs child requires a full-time parental caretaker, and the other does not. One parent may allege that the other parent is incapable of meeting the child's special needs. Or, separated parents may dispute how to address the needs of a non-disabled sibling.

As a Category E/F GAL, PC, lawyer, or mental health professional, how can you ensure that your investigations, evaluations, and reports concerning families with a disabled child maintain the requisite comprehensiveness, fairness, respectfulness, and freedom from bias, and that your recommendations are viable in light of the family's particular circumstances? The goal of this conference is to present you with best practices that will improve outcomes for court-involved families where one or more children is disabled.

Our keynote speaker, Margaret Price, JD, will discuss the impact of a child's disability on the family unit and the special considerations that pertain when parents of disabled children bring their custody disputes to court. Our panel of judges, guardians ad litem, and a parenting coordinator will discuss how they view a child's special needs as a material consideration in custody and parenting time disputes, and how best to present the needs of the disabled child to the court. Our panel of parents with special-needs children will discuss their experiences navigating custody issues in the Probate and Family Court.

Learning Objectives:

Identify disabilities that may be relevant in family court cases
Identify bias in the investigation and evaluation of the special-needs child
Identify methods to obtain critical information about a child's special needs
Describe hidden challenges when a child has an undiagnosed special need
Define the special-needs child's short and long-term treatments, therapies, and other interventions
Describe the impact of a child's special needs on the family unit
Describe the impact of high-conflict custody disputes on the disabled child
Identify the parent's ability to meet the child's special needs
Describe the role of parental respite in caring for a child with special needs
Describe how to formulate effective and safe custody/parenting time recommendations for a child with special needs
Identify how to assist Probate Court judges and court personnel in identifying and addressing the care of children with complex special needs

Conference Schedule

*Exact times are subject to change slightly prior to the conference. A final conference agenda will be provided prior to the conference.

Time	Session
8:30 – 8:45	Welcome remarks and introduction Dante Spetter, PhD, President Linda Ouellette, JD, Education Committee Chairperson
8:45 – 10:15	Keynote presentation by Margaret Price, JD
10:15 – 10:45	Break
10:45 – 12:30	Continued keynote presentation by Attorney Price
12:30 – 1:30	Lunch (provided for in-person attendees)
1:30 – 2:00	Q & A with Attorney Price
2:00 – 3:00	Insights and Perspectives from Parents of Children with Disabilities: Daniel Heffernan, JD Maura Sullivan, MPA
3:00 – 3:15	Break
3:15 – 4:30	A panel discussion with members of the Judiciary, Guardians Ad Litem, and a Parenting Coordinator: Hon. Kathleen Field (ret.) Hon. Brian Salisbury Vanda Khadem, JD (Category F GAL) Steven Shapse, PhD (Category E GAL) Talia Simonds, JD (Parenting Coordinator) Moderated by Linda Ouellette, JD
4:30 – 4:45	Q&A and Wrap up

Keynote Speaker

Margaret Price, JD

Dr. Margaret 'Pegi' Price is a full Professor and is the Academic Program Director for the Master of Public Administration and the Master of Law and Business degree programs. She has been teaching full-time at National University since 2013. She has held teaching and department head positions at several colleges and universities in the Midwest. She received a National Teacher of the Year award in 1992. She earned her Juris Doctor degree at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where she was a Senior Editor on the Law Review and inducted into Phi Delta Phi, the legal honors society. She earned the first perfect score in the history of the University of Florida in the Law Review annual writing competition. She completed her B.A. in History at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida, where she received multiple academic honors. Dr. Price practiced law for more than 25 years, in a civil trial practice and as a prosecutor. She has served as an expert witness or consultant in more than 75 lawsuits involving special needs.

Dr. Price is the author of the law book, The Special Needs Child and Divorce: A Practical Guide to Evaluating and Handling Cases (2009) Publisher, American Bar Association and the second edition, published in 2022. She wrote the book, Divorce and the Special Needs Child: A Guide for Parents (2010) Jessica Kingsley Publishers, London. She is the author of additional books on autism and special needs, as well as two legal thriller novels. She has written more than 1,900 published articles over the years as a freelance writer on the subjects of law, taxes, business, finance, medicine, and special needs, in addition to the scholarly articles she writes as part of her academic career.

Organizations and members of the autism community throughout the United States and other countries contact her frequently to serve as a keynote speaker and commencement speaker, participate in national webinars, and give interviews for magazines, television, and radio. She has been a speaker at autism forums at medical schools and presented at numerous national autism conferences and the World Autism Congress in South Africa. Dr. Price is an autism therapist, trained in the Judevine method. Dr. Price is a member of the Missouri Bar and Mensa.

Judicial Panelists

Hon. Kathleen Field (Ret.) was appointed to the bench in 2010 as an Associate Justice of the Probate and Family Court. She sat primarily in Middlesex and Bristol Counties before her retirement. In 2016, she was appointed and served as First Justice of the Bristol Division of the Probate and Family Court until her retirement from the bench in 2025. Prior to taking the bench, Judge Field practiced for twenty-five years with the law firm of Gay, Gay & Field, P.C.

Judge Field served as a member of the Judicial Nomination Commission from 2003-2005, the Commission on Judicial Conduct as a Member (2016-2023) and Chair (2023-2025), the SJC Judicial Performance Evaluation Committee, and as a J2J Mentor- Judicial Peer Mentor, (2013-2025). She has been a frequent lecturer at educational programs for attorneys at the Massachusetts Bar Association, MCLE, and for judges at the Flaschner Institute, and she was a member of the Education Committee of the Probate and Family Court (2012-2023).

Hon. Brian Salisbury was appointed as an Associate Justice of the Probate & Family Court in 2025. He currently sits in Middlesex County. Prior to his appointment to the bench, he was a partner with Doherty, Dugan, Cannon, Raymond, & Weil, P.C., where his practice included all aspects of divorce and family law litigation, probate and fiduciary litigation, serving in fiduciary roles, and serving as a Special Master, Discovery Master, Category F Guardian ad Litem investigator in domestic matters, a Category V Parent Coordinator, and a Category D Guardian ad Litem in probate/fiduciary matters. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a Juris Doctor from Suffolk University Law School.

Panelists

Daniel Heffernan, JD is a partner with the law firm of Kotin, Crabtree & Strong, where he concentrates his practice in the areas of special education, civil rights, personal injury, medical malpractice, and children's torts. He represents children with special needs and their families, people injured in accidents, and those who have had their civil rights violated. Mr. Heffernan has extensive trial experience and has litigated numerous complex cases throughout the Commonwealth and across the country. He has served on the faculty of Harvard Law School's Trial Advocacy Program, instructing law students in trial preparation and trial techniques.

From 1995 to the present, he has served on the board of directors of the Federation for Children with Special Needs and was board president from 1995 to 2007. In 2024, Mr. Heffernan was given The John O'Hara Award for exceptional service to the disability community. In 2023, he was honored as one of "The Giants Along the Way" for being part of the trailblazing giants who helped build the Federation for Children with Special Needs. In 2014, he received the 2014 President's Award from the Federation for Children with Special Needs. In 2002, he and his wife, Julie, received the Dr. Allen C. Crocker Award for Excellence from the Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress. He writes and lectures frequently on special education law and advocacy and is one of the official commentators for the Massachusetts Special Education Reporter.

Vanda Khadem, JD is an attorney in private practice at Khadem Law Office in Dover, Massachusetts. She has been in private practice for over 25 years. She specializes in all aspects of family law as a litigator, mediator, Parent Coordinator, and Guardian Ad Litem involving neurodivergent/special needs children. In addition, she also represents families of children in special education matters. Vanda's special education practice includes a unique concentration on autistic children. She presents at numerous legal conferences on issues involving neurodivergent/special needs children in divorce and other family law matters. She has served as a member of the Massachusetts Autism Commission Subcommittee on Employment. Vanda has been featured in New England Chronicle News and WUMB FM Radio's Commonwealth Journal, WBUR, and Exceptional Parent Magazine. She received the 2009 Distinguished Citizens Award presented by the Arc of Massachusetts for her contributions to persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She was the 2016 House of Possibilities Champion of Special Children Award Recipient.

Steven N. Shapse, Ph.D. is a Licensed Psychologist in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He has over 30 years of experience in the field of psychology as both a clinician and teacher, including over twenty years as a forensic expert, psychometrist and child custody evaluator. He regularly presents at state and national associations and often teaches at the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology. He is a Senior Supervisor at the Justice Resource Institute Trauma Center and a principal founder and Past-President of the Massachusetts Association of Guardians ad Litem.

Talia Simonds is the managing attorney of Simonds Family Law & Mediation, PLLC. Since entering the New England School of Law in 2004, Ms. Simonds has dedicated herself to developing legal expertise in the issues facing families as they navigate divorce, modification, or parenting children with partners they never married. In addition to advocating for clients in the courtroom, Ms. Simonds is a certified mediator, parent coordinator, and guardian ad litem. She uses her experience as both a litigator and a neutral to help clients set strategy, weigh options, and bring their matter to closure.

Ms. Simonds is committed to the advancement of family law and service to the Probate and Family Court. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Massachusetts Association of Guardians ad Litem (MAGAL) and Massachusetts Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC), and she also serves on the Family Law Section Council for the Massachusetts Bar Association. She was invited by Chief Justice Casey to teach at the 2022 mandatory training for Guardians ad Litem on the Category F Fee Generating List. She volunteers both as Lawyer of the Day in the Suffolk Probate and Family Court, and as an attorney representing children for the ARC Program in Suffolk, Middlesex and Essex counties. Ms. Simonds is a member of the Greater Boston Family Law Inn of Court, American Bar Association Section of Family Law, and Massachusetts Council on Family Mediation. Immediately prior to forming Simonds Family Law & Mediation, PLLC, Ms. Simonds worked in small domestic relations law firms in Wellesley, Massachusetts and Winthrop, Massachusetts where she handled all manner of family law cases from intake to resolution by settlement, mediation, or trial.

Maura Sullivan, MPA is the chief executive officer of The Arc of Massachusetts and the director of Operation House Call, a nationally recognized training program and partnership between The Arc and all major medical schools in Massachusetts. Maura is the first parent of children with disabilities to lead The Arc since its founding 70 years ago.

Moderator

Linda A. Ouellette, JD is a principal with Ouellette Family Law LLC in Framingham, Massachusetts. Attorney Ouellette has forty-two years of experience, forty of which have been focused almost exclusively in family law and probate litigation. She is well known for her formidable trial skills, particularly in cases involving complex financial matters and custody issues. Attorney Ouellette has served as a panelist for numerous seminars offered by state and local bar associations and has been a guest lecturer on family law topics at numerous law schools in the Boston area. She previously served on the Boston Bar Association's Family Law Steering Committee. She has been a frequent lecturer for MCLE and is a member and previous co-chair of its Family Law Curriculum Committee. Attorney Ouellette is on the Board of Directors of MAGAL, currently serving as the Chair of the Education Committee.

Registration Cost

Early Bird Registration (until October 26, 2026): $300 for MAGAL members; $350 for non-members

Late Registration (after October 26, 2026): $325 for MAGAL members; $375 for non-members

New Member Rate: $400, includes registration to the conference plus 1-year MAGAL membership

CE Credits

CE Credits have been requested through Massachusetts Psychological Association (MPA) for psychologists
6.5 CE Credits have been requested for Category V - Parenting Coordinators.
7.0 CE credits have been requested for independent clinical social workers, mental health counselors, marriage and family therapists
7.0 CE Credits have been requested for CPCS/CAFL.

Those who prefer to mail a check may do so by sending one to:
MAGAL Inc. PO Box 304, Franklin, MA 02038.

MAGAL upcoming events

MAGAL Fall 2026 Conference - Disability, Parenting & Child Custody: Advancing Fair and Effective Investigations and Evaluations (12 Nov 2026)