Adell Valasek-BCBA I have been in education since 1999 working with students diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and developmental disabilities. I am the supervisor of the autism program at Burlington County Special Services in Westampton, NJ. I have a teacher certification, supervisor certification, principal certification, BCBA certification. Masters of Science and Masters of Education degrees…

Sarah Rosenthal received her undergraduate degree in social work. She began working with special needs youth by running a Summer Youth Employment Program by providing special needs teens a work experience throughout the community. It was a very fulfilling job to assist these teens in developing skills to lead independence. She then went on to…

Cassandra Kelleher BCBA, LBA, has worked as an RBT and then as a BCBA for the last 6 years with PRAT.  She earned her Master’s in Psychology from the University of Phoenix and then her Graduate certificate in Applied Behavior Analysis from George Mason University.  She has worked with a wide range of individuals from…

Perry Stein and Valerie Strauss Antwon Gibson’s public high school in Northeast Washington didn’t even attempt to teach his “independent living” class virtually this spring. The gregarious 18-year-old has an intellectual disability and reads and performs math below grade level. He’s been out of the classroom since schools closed in March and now requires more help from…

By Rumi Agarwal, Ph.D. candidate,  Health Promotion & Disease Prevention,  Robert Stempel College of Public Health & Social Work Ever since schools closed for in-person learning in mid-March, my numerous chat groups on WhatsApp have been buzzing with moms asking each other: “What are the schools planning to do?” “Are you planning to send your child back in…