My work is based on the strong belief in the benefit
of meaningful contextually based instruction for individuals
with autism.
My work with autistic
children and individuals dates back to the mid 80's when I trained
and worked at Bittersweet Farms Autistic Community in Whitehouse,
Ohio. Later, I taught adolescents with autism in the Montgomery
County, Maryland Public School System where I developed and
implemented a program for non-verbal children using state of
the art communication technology.
In 1995, I was awarded
a doctoral degree in curriculum and instruction and family counseling
in the area of Autism for my research in natural language strategies
for preschoolers with autism using a parent training model.
I was appointed to the National Academy of Sciences Committe
on Educational Interventions for Children with Autism.
My current research
focuses on how children with severe communication impairments
and autism learn language, which models of instruction are most
effective and how to take this information from research to
practice.
