What can a teacher do when a child throws himself on the floor, kicking and screaming? How can a classroom run smoothly when one or two kids behave differently than the rest of the class on a daily basis?

Childhood education expert Clarissa Willis, Ph.D., knows one reason teachers have difficulty maintaining order in the classroom: mainstreaming. Teaching special needs kids in regular classrooms is a powder keg that has parents firmly entrenched in different camps. Caught in the middle are the students themselves and the teachers who are trying to ensure that all their kids are learning. On your show, Willis will talk about the unique
challenges posed by children with autism spectrum disorder.

She’ll discuss:

• The positive effects special needs kids have on the other children in the classroom.

• How the skills needed to teach autistic children have proven to be helpful in teaching the average kid, as well.

• How families can help teachers make the classroom more cohesive.

• How we all went to school with autistic kids… we just never knew it.

CREDENTIALS: Clarissa Willis, Ph.D., is the associate director of the Center of Excellence in Early Childhood Learning and Development at East Tennessee State University, and the director of the East Tennessee Autism Training Project. Willis has more than 20 years’ experience as a special educator, early interventionist and speech/language pathologist. Her articles in the field of early childhood and special education have been published both nationally and internationally. Willis’s current book is TEACHING YOUNG CHILDREN WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER, the winner of the 2006 iParenting Media Award.

AVAILABILITY: Tennessee, nationwide by arrangement and via telephone
CONTACT: Rowena Lund, (301) 595-9500, ext. 423 (MD); rowena@ghbooks.com