Dr. Heather MacKenzie, a speech-language pathologist and educator by profession, has spent the past fifteen years of her 30-year career understanding the enigma of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). She has developed a Learning Preferences and Strengths model designed to determine each child's learning preferences and strengths and then ‘harness' them to improve the child's learning and development. Heather established a preschool program for children with ASD based on this model.