Fred P. Orelove, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Special Education and Disability Policy, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia
Dr. Orelove founded and served as director of the teacher preparation program in severe disabilities at Virginia Commonwealth University from 1981 to 2011. He also served for 20 years as Executive Director of the Partnership for People with Disabilities, Virginia's university center for excellence in developmental disabilities. Since the 1970s, Dr. Orelove has taught children and has directed numerous training and demonstration projects related to individuals with disabilities. In addition to this book, he has co-authored two books on teamwork and one on inclusive education. In his retirement, Dr. Orelove is engaged in non-profit work in Richmond, Virginia, including working for an inclusive performing arts program and volunteering with children who have been traumatized.
Dick Sobsey, Ed.D., Professor Emeritus, Educational Psychology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Dr. Sobsey has worked with children and adults with severe and multiple disabilities since 1968 as a nurse, teacher, and researcher. He taught courses on teaching students with severe disabilities and inclusive education at the University of Alberta from 1982 to 2005. He also served as Director of the J.P. Das Centre on Developmental and Learning Disabilities from 1994‐2008 and the John Dossetor Health Ethics Centre from 2006 to 2011. He is the father of an adult son with severe and multiple disabilities due to MECP2 (methyl CpG binding protein 2) duplication syndrome.
Donna L. Gilles, Ed.D., Associate Professor, Special Education and Disability Policy, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia
Dr. Gilles is the Executive Director of the Partnership for People with Disabilities (Virginia's UCEDD). She taught students with significant disabilities in Maryland public schools for 6 years while earning a Master's degree in educating students with severe disabilities. After earning her doctorate, Dr. Gilles directed a variety of teacher preparation, professional development, and technical assistance projects at the University of Maryland and the University of Florida, focusing on students with severe and multiple disabilities, autism, and sensory disabilities. She served on the Executive Board of TASH for 7 years, including 3 years as board president. Dr. Gilles currently directs the severe disabilities teacher preparation program at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Dr. Mirenda earned her doctorate in behavioral disabilities from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. For 8 years, she was a faculty member in the Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders, University of Nebraska–Lincoln. From 1992 to 1996, she provided a variety of training, research, and support services to individuals with severe disabilities through CBI Consultants, Ltd., in Vancouver, British Columbia. She is now Professor in the Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology and Special Education at the University of British Columbia. From 1998 to 2001, she was editor of the journal
Augmentative and Alternative Communication. In 2004, she was named a Fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and was awarded the Killam Teaching Prize at the University of British Columbia. In 2008, she was named a Fellow of the International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication. Dr. Mirenda is the author of numerous book chapters and research publications; she lectures widely and teaches courses on augmentative and alternative communication, inclusive education, developmental disabilities, autism, and positive behavior support. Her current research focuses on describing the developmental trajectories of young children with autism and factors that predict the outcomes of early intervention.
