Joyce Saltman is a full-time professor of Special Education at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, and is a Gestalt Therapist with a private practice in Cheshire. She chose to receive her doctoral degree in Higher and Adult Education from Columbia University because she loved the color of their doctoral gown. It was no small feat that she was able to persuade her mentor to allow her to write her dissertation on "Humor in Adult Learning." She also holds four graduate degrees in Special Education and Counseling.
  
Joyce's innovative teaching style had led to the development of a graduate course in "The Enhancement of Learning through Humor," as well as a summer institute called "Healing, Education, Laughter and Play' (HELP). In her previous life, her spirit of adventure led her to appear as a stand-up comedienne for dozens of organizations and clubs, including Dangerfield's and Good Times in New York City. Unrelated to her comedic life, she is an elected member of the executive board of The International Society for Humor Studies.
  
Her experiences in the areas of education, therapy and comedy have provided an outstanding background for her research on 'The Therapeutic Value of Laughter." Since 1983, when Joyce began lecturing on "Laughter," she has been interviewed by national and international radio and TV personalities. Joyce has appeared on ABC News in New York, P.M. Magazine, the Regis Philbin Morning Show, For Kids'Sake, and an ABC Special entitled 'The Mind As Powerful Medicine".
  
Her dynamic seminars and articles, always peppered with humor, address such topics as dealing with difficult people, laughter as therapy, parenting, and relationships. In addition to articles published in popular magazines, her article on Humor and Disabilities appeared in the Disability Studies Quarterly in 1990. Her book, Sing A Celebration, was published by Ivory Tower Press in 1988.   
  
Most recently, her story entitled "Dearest Last Born" appeared in the 1999 book "Chocolate for a Mother's Heart" compiled by Kay Alienbaygh. In addition, Joyce's article "Lighten Up for Training" was published in the Nov/Dec 1996 Connecticut Yankee for The American Society for Training & Development.
  
Intermittently referred to as the "Guru of Laughter," 'The Laughter Lady," and 'The Chubby Broad From Brooklyn," Joyce helps people lighten up wherever she goes!

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