The A. J. Pappanikou Center for Developmental Disabilities at the University of Connecticut Is Hosting Three Scholars
November 30, 2010
Dr. Mary Beth Bruder, the director of the A. J. Pappanikou Center for Developmental Disabilities at the University of Connecticut (CT UCEDD/LEND) is currently hosting three international scholars who are here to focus on aspects of early intervention service delivery. The three scholars are also full long term trainees in the CT LEND program at UCONN.
Li Ju Chen from Taiwan, is an Associate Professor at the Graduate Institute of Early Intervention, Chang Gung University, Taiwan. The country of Taiwan has provided a grant for Chen to spend a year with Dr. Bruder to examine early intervention practices and coursework in order for her to return and begin offering masters level classes in early childhood intervention at her University.
Varsha Shrikant Gathoo, is a Fulbright Research Scholar from India studying service delivery models of school readiness for young children who are deaf and hearing impaired. Gathoo has a PhD in Special Education and Disability Management, a Master's degree in Child Development and another Master's degree in Speech & Hearing from Washington University. In India, she is the Head of the Department of Education at the National Institute for Hearing Handicapped where she will return to institute evidenced practices and policy initiatives on early childhood transitions.
Lastly, Basak Kerimoglu Senyurt, from Turkey-Istanbul, has a degree in psychology and masters in organizational behavior. She is currently on a sabbatical to participate in a postgraduate fellow at the Yale Child Study Center, and participate in the UCONN Lend program. Senyurt directs a Reggio Emilia preschool in Turkey that is supporting her studies in the US. She is studying inclusive preschool models while here in the US and will return to implement such a model within her program in Turkey.
Chen, Gathoo, and Senyurt have been acquiring first-hand information on Inclusive practices and transition models from such activities as visiting early intervention and preschool centers across the state of Connecticut and the region. They will also do interdisciplinary research projects as part of their participation in the LEND program at UConn.
