About the Author

Jamie Bleiweiss, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Special Education at Hunter College, USA where she teaches in the Early Childhood Special Education master’s degree programme. She is also the director of the Summer Training Institute for new staff of the ASD Nest program. Specialising in work with children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders, Dr. Bleiweiss has extensive clinical experience with children, families, and professionals in a variety of community and educational settings, and has served as a behaviour consultant for several agencies and programmes in the New York metropolitan area.

Lauren Hough, MsEd, is the coaching consultant for the ASD Nest Support Project at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, USA. In this role, she provides professional development workshops, school-based consultation, and seminars on meeting the needs of school-aged students on the spectrum in inclusion settings. Prior to working as a consultant, Ms. Hough worked for five years as a special education teacher and school-based coach in the ASD Nest programme. She is a coauthor of Everyday Classroom Strategies and Practices for Supporting Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders (AAPC Publishing).

Shirley Cohen, PhD, a professor in the Department of Special Education at Hunter College of the City University of New York, USA for many years, became Professor Emeritus in 2011. In her role at Hunter College, Dr. Cohen co-developed the ASD Nest programme for the New York City public schools with Dorothy Siegel of New York University, and continues to serve as a consultant and intervention developer for the programme. She is the author of the book Targeting Autism, originally published in 1998 and since 2006 in its third edition. She is also a coauthor of Everyday Classroom Strategies and Practices for Supporting Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders (AAPC Publishing).