Social Skills and Adaptive Behavior in Learners with Autism Spectrum Disorders

In addition to his position at the Westchester Institute for Human Development (a University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities), Dr. Crimmins is a faculty member of the School of Public Health and the Department of Psychiatry, both at the New York Medical College. In 2002a 2003, he was a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellow in Washington, D.C., where he worked in the office of Senator James M. Jeffords on health and education policy. Dr. Crimmins has a career interest in child development and disability with a particular interest in those issues that reflect the intersection of research, practice, and policy. He is coauthor of The Motivation Assessment Scale (Monaco & Associates, 1992) with V. Mark Durand and the Autism Program Quality Indicators (New York State Education Department, 2001) with V. Mark Durand, Karin Theurer-Kaufman, and Jessica Everett. Peter Gerhardt, E.D., is the director of education at the Upper School of the McCarton School and the founding chair of the Scientific Council for the Organization for Autism Research (OAR). He has more than 30 years of experience using the principles of applied behavior analysis in supporting adolescents and adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) in educational, employment, residential, and community-based settings. Dr. Gerhardt is the author or the coauthor of articles and book chapters on the needs of adolescents and adults with ASDs and has presented nationally and internationally on this topic. He serves on the editorial board of Behavior Analysis in Practice and on numerous professional advisory boards. Dr. Gerhardt received his doctorate from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, Graduate School of Education.