Ira Padhye

2020 VCU Policy Intern

Ira Padhye is the Project Coordinator for the Virginia Project for Children & Young Adults with Deaf-Blindness at the Partnership for People with Disabilities at the Virginia Commonwealth University. Ira works on providing training and technical assistance across Virginia to educational teams currently working with students with deaf-blindness. She received her Masters in Education in Low-Incidence and Severe Disabilities (with a concentration in Deaf-Blindness) from Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. She was a teacher in the DeafBlind Program at the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, Massachusetts, where she taught students with sensory loss and multiple disabilities. Through the Perkins e-learning department, she ran workshops and webinars on various topics that include communication, literacy and adapting the Common Core Curriculum. Ira is currently a Ph.D. student in the Special Education and Disability Leadership program at the Virginia Commonwealth University. Her research interests include personnel preparation, especially for those individuals working with students with deaf-blindness and special education teacher retention.