CREATIVE TEAM

Nava R. Silton, Ph.D. is a Developmental Psychologist with a B.S. from Cornell University and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Fordham University. She is a Full Professor at Marymount Manhattan College, where she teaches classes in Child Development, Cognition, Personality, Creativity, Children’s Media and has won numerous teaching, research and advising awards. She has worked at Nickelodeon, Sesame Workshop, and Mediakidz, and has consulted for Disney, Netflix, Apple, Blue’s Clues & You, 9Story Media Group and The Autism Seaver Center. She also serves as a Developmental Psychologist for Gan Aliya and Manhattan Day School. She appears regularly on Fox 5 News as a Psychological Correspondent, and has appeared on Good Day New York, Good Day Street Talk and NBC. Silton has written over 36 peer-reviewed journal articles, over 20 chapters, book reviews and encyclopedia entries and has edited seven full textbooks. Her first two books discuss innovative technologies for individuals with autism and other disabilities, her third delves into creativity, her fourth into family dynamics and romantic relationships, her fifth explores the constructs of happiness, gratitude, kindness, empathy and well-being, her sixth text discusses best parenting and child development practices for the 21st century and her seventh discusses the impact of COVID-19 on children, adolescents and adults.

Silton also created the The Realabilities Educational Comic Book Series (www.realabilities.com), which offers 18 comics (12 on disabilities and 6 on mental health disorders) and two instructional manuals for use in classrooms across the world. The disabilities-based series, which received The Reader’s Favorite Award and was a Page Turner Awardee has now been translated into Hebrew and Spanish and is currently being translated into Chinese and French, as well. Due to the popularity of The Realabilities Educational Series in the schools, Silton created Addy & Uno, The First Family Musical about Disabilities, Bullying and Kindness. Addy & Uno, which was nominated for an Off-Broadway Alliance Award, ran Off-Broadway for over 18 months at Theatre Row on 42nd Street in Manhattan (www.addyanduno.com) and is now being developed by the Jim Henson Company for TV. In addition, Silton created a Child Development and Parenting Podcast, entitled A Cup of Java with Dr. Nava. She also created Bashert, a brand-new card game which helps individuals connect and forge meaningful relationships with others. Finally, Nava recently penned three feature screenplays, Pure, The Prof and Jackpot.  All three screenplays have already achieved significant recognition (Finalist, Semifinalist and Quarterfinalist designations) in over a dozen screenplay contests. Most recently, Silton was identified as one of the Top 50 screenwriters on the ISA Fellowship slate. Silton is married to Dr. Ariel Brandwein and has five children; three boys and two little girls.

For more about Nava Silton and here work, Click Here

REAL ABILITIES Series Artwork

Research Team

Through the years, the following students have contributed and continue to contribute invaluably to the research success of Realabilities: 

Jessica Altchiler, Amanda Anzovino, Senada Arucevic, Lauren Ashbrook, Michael Corning, Alicia Ferris, Roberta Frossard, Rachel Hout, Emily Hotez, Vanessa Norkus, A. Kristina Keyser, Patrick Riley, Michael Rojas, Rebecca Ruchlin, Jennifer Santamaria, Danielle Schlough, Kelly Tarbell, Avery Toland, and Carol Wagner.