Paul Zionts Author

Paul Zionts is a professor of special education and Chairperson of the Department of Educational Foundations and Special Services at Kent State University. He has been a teacher in a reform school and an inner-city high school, a program director, consultant, and teacher trainer. He has lectured and provided training in local, state, and national events and has conducted hundreds of workshops that have included teachers, counselors, psycho­ logists, social workers, administrators, parents, secretaries, and bus drivers. He has authored Teaching Disturbed and Disturbing Students (2nd edition) and Inclusion Strategies for Students with Learning and Behavior Problems, and he has coauthored with Richard Simpson both Autism (2nd edition) and Understanding Children and Youth with Emotional and Behavioral Problems. Laura Zionts, PhD, is an assistant professor at Texas A&M University in the Department of Educational Psychology’s Special Education, At-Risk and Bilingual Education program. She has worked with students who have emotional and behavioral disorders as a classroom teacher and a transition specialist. She has enjoyed teaching in both early elementary and secondary classrooms in mostly urban settings. Her primary area of research is the disproportionate representation of minority youth in programs for children and youth with behavioral disorders. Richard L. Simpson was Professor Emeritus at the University of Kansas. He was a member of the Department of Special Education faculty for over 40 years. While at the University of Kansas he directed numerous University of Kansas and University of Kansas Medical Center demonstration programs for students with autism spectrum disorders and other disabilities and coordinated a variety of federal grant programs related to students with autism spectrum disorders and other disabilities. He also worked as a special education teacher, school psychologist and coordinator of a community mental health outreach program. Rich authored numerous books, articles, and texts on a variety of topics connected to students with disabilities. Rich was the former senior editor of the professional journal Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities. His awards include the Council for Exceptional Children Research Award, Midwest Symposium for Leadership in Behavior Disorders Leadership Award, Autism Society of Kansas Leadership Award, and numerous University of Kansas awards and distinguished roles, including the Gene A. Budig Endowed Teaching Professorship of Special Education.