Supporting Students with Special Needs in Inclusive Environments: Strategies for Success” will be presented by Mary Jane Weiss, pictured at right, at the West Windsor-Plainsboro Special Kids Special Parents support group meeting on Wednesday, March 19, at 7:45 p.m., at the Plainsboro Municipal Building. ##M:[more]##
Weiss, who received her doctorate in clinical psychology from Rutgers University in 1990 and became a board certified behavior analyst in 2000, is director of research and training at the Douglass Developmental Disabilities Center, an associate research professor at Rutgers, and a West Windsor resident.
“More students with special needs are spending increasing amounts of time in inclusive educational environments, affording them more opportunities for socialization and full integration with their peers,” she says.
Weiss will review how attention, learning, and communication challenges of students can be accommodated in regular education classrooms and how strategic supports can facilitate learner coping and independence. The group will also discuss how communication between home and school can be fostered, how progress can be measured, and how team members can work productively together to achieve goals for students.
Her clinical and research interests focus on the identification of best practice applied behavioral analysis techniques and evaluation in learners with autism and maximizing family members’ expertise and adaptation. She has been working with people with autism spectrum disorders for more than 20 years.
Weiss, who has written numerous articles and books on the topics of early and intense behavioral intervention, social skills, and sibling issues, is the co-author of “Reaching Out, Joining in: Teaching Social Skills to Young Children With Autism,” “Right from the Start: Behavioral Intervention for Young Children with Autism,” “Practical Solutions for Educating Children with High-Functioning Autism and Asperger Syndrome,” and “Sibling Stories: Reflections on Life with a Brother or Sister on the Autism Spectrum.”
Born in Rockville Center, Weiss was raised on Long island. She graduated from Marquette University with a degree in psychology.
She and her husband, Daniel, moved to West Windsor in 1991 when she was working outside of Philadelphia and he was commuting to New York City. Now employed by Unisys, he is able to telecommute a majority of the time. They are the parents of a son, 8; and two daughters, 3 and 6.
“It is nice to give back to the community,” Weiss says. “Meeting the diverse needs of these students can be a challenge.”
— Lynn Miller
Inclusive Environments, WW-Plainsboro Special Kids Special Parents, Plainsboro Municipal Building, 609-799-8036. www.wwpsksp.org. Wednesday, March 19, 7:45 p.m.
