Embracing Autism in Preschool, Updated Second Edition

Karen Griffin Roberts holds a Bachelor of Individualized Study (BIS) in Early Childhood Development: A Study in Autism, from George Mason University. In 2007 she completed a summer intern program at the Johns Hopkins Kennedy Krieger Institute's Center for Autism and Related Disorders, Baltimore, Maryland, under the direction of Dr. Katherine Holman. In 2010, she received her Masters Degree in Education with an Endorsement in Early Childhood Special Education from George Mason University. Ms. Roberts has raised an adult son with autism and has taught general preschool education for nineteen years. In addition to teaching she has at times assumed Preschool Administrator, Education Coordinator and Teacher Supervision responsibilities. In 1998 she was honored with the Children's World, Northern Virginia District Area, Master Educator Award. In 1999, she received the Children's World Honor Teacher Award and was one of eighteen honorees chosen nationwide to attend the National Association for the Education of Young Children's 1999 annual conference. In 2010, Ms. Roberts joined Virginia's Prince William County's Special Education team. She taught preschool students for seven years and for two years she taught kindergarten to grade two students with autism. She retired from teaching in 2019. Her undergraduate project to develop a manual for preschool teachers to use for including children with autism in the classroom won George Mason University's BIS award for "Most Creative Project," May 16, 2009. Worldwide response to this project from preschool administrators, special education and general education preschool teachers and families has resulted in the publication of the first edition of this book, Embracing Autism in Preschool: Successful Strategies for General Education Teachers. Ms. Roberts is also the author of the Let's Talk series of books for preschool parents and teachers. The idea for the series was drawn from the many questions special education families ask about their child's challenges in early development. The first of the series, Let's Talk About Early Language Development is co-authored with Ana G. Hoover (2013). The second in the series, Let's Talk About Autism in Early Childhood is authored by Ms. Roberts (2014). The final and third in the series, Let's Talk About Early Childhood Social-Emotional Development is co-authored by Ms. Hoover and Ms. Roberts (2020).