Introduction Teaching Interests Research Interests Educational Background Schedule

College of Charter School of Education Jennifer Symon Assistant Professor Office: King Hall C1036 Phone: 323-343-4429 FAX: 323-343-5605 Email: jsymon@calstatela.edu INTRODUCTION Jennifer B. Symon, Ph.D. BCBA is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Special Education at California State University, Los Angeles. She is also a Board Certified Behavior Analyst. Dr. Symon coordinates the Autism programs at CSULA including the university autism certificate and the Master of Arts degree in Special Education with an emphasis in Autism. She is the Project Director and Principal Investigator for the Preparing Autism Spectrum Specialists (PASS) Project at CSULA. This grant supports masters level students from a variety of disciplines to gain specialized knowledge and skills in autism. Dr. Symon's background includes work in homes, schools, and communities with individuals with mild to severe disabilities. Most recently, she has worked with individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), their families, and other key support providers. Previously she coordinated a comprehensive parent education support program for families of children with ASD living in areas that are geographically distant from a center that specializes in interventions in autism. Additionally, Jennifer has worked collaboratively on other projects to develop and evaluate a service delivery system to expand the quality and quantity of services available to families. The project consisted of training paraprofessionals to implement procedures that have been well documented in the literature to improve motivation in children in with autism. This project served to (1) provide additional intervention for children in the targeted areas of social communication skills, (2) respond to families who desired additional services for their child but have difficulty finding well-trained paraprofessionals, and (3) recruit interested college students to obtain fieldwork positions and training in the field of special education.   TEACHING INTERESTS Autism, Functional Communication Training, Positive Behavior Support in the classroom and School-wide Positive Behavior Support. Cognitive and Linguistic Development: Intervention for children with Communication Disabilities Consultation and Collaboration in homes, school, and community settings RESEARCH INTERESTS Dr. Symon's research interests include positive behavior interventions for children with ASD, family support, consultation in classrooms, and development and evaluation of service delivery models. She has recently published several research articles evaluating the positive effects that resulted from participation in a parent education program for families of children with autism living in geographically distant locations. She is currently working on completing additional qualitative and quantitative research articles that measure the generalized spread of effect, including quality of life issues in this programmatic line of research. Representative Professional Activities   Date Publications/Presentations In Press Openden, D., Symon, J.B., Koegel, L.K., & KOegel, R. L. (in press). Developing a Student Respite Provider System for Children with Autism. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions 2005 Symon, J.B., Koegel, R.L., & Singer, G.H.S. (2005). Parent Perspectives of Parent Education Programs. In KOegel, R.L., & Koegel, L. K. (Eds.) Pivotal Response Treatments for Autism: Communication, Social and Academic Development (pp. 93-115). Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes 2005 Symon, J.B. (2005) Expanding interventions for children with autism: Parents as trainers. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 7(3), 159-173. 2003 Falvey, M. & Symon, J. B. (2003). Preparing Teachers to Work in Inclusive Settings. The Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps, Chicago, IL 2003 Koegel, L. K., & Symon, J. B. (2003). Pivotal Response Interventions for Children with Autism. The World of PBS: Science, Values, & Vision. Orlando, FL. 2003 Symon, J. B. (2003). Assessing the Processes and Long-Term Impacts of Comprehensive Positive Behavior Support for Severe Problem Behaviors. The California Association for Applied Behavioral Analysis. 2003 Symon, J. B. (2003). Parent Education Programs for Families of Children with Autism Living in Geographically Distant Locations: Generalized Spread of Effects. The California Association for Applied Behavioral Analysis. 2003 Koegel, L. K., Koegel, R. L., Openden, D., McNerney, E., Symon, J. B., Sze, K. & McLain, W. (2003) A Model for Increasing In-Home Services to Children with Autism 2002 Boettcher, M., McNerney, E. K., Symon, J. B., Openden, D., Koegel, L. K., & Koegel, R. L., (2002). Service Coordination and Positive Behavior Support: Developing a Model for use Across Systems. The Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps, Boston, MA. 2002 Symon, J. B. (2002) Early Intervention Strategies for Children with Autism: From Practice to Research. The Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps, Boston, MA. 2002 Symon, J. B., & Falvey, M. (2002). Supporting Children with Disabilities: Empowering Families and Teachers. The Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps Conference, Boston, MA, 2001 Koegel, R. L., Symon, J. B., & Koegel, L. K., (2001). Parent education for families of children with autism living in geographically distant areas. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 4 (2), 88-103. 2001 Symon, J. B., (2001). Parent education for autism: Issues in providing services at a distance. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 3 (3), 160-174. EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND PhD Educational Psychology 2002 University of California Santa Barbara MA Special Education Disabilities and Risk Studies 2000 University of California Santa Barbara MA Child Study 1995 Tufts University Medford, MA BA Psychology 1992 University of California Santa Barbara Return to the top.