Meet the Editors
 

Dr. Karen Waldron is Trinity University Professor Emerita of Education and served as Director of Special Education  (28 years), teaching undergraduate and graduate classes preparing educators to work with children and youth with special needs.  A former teacher of Elementary and Secondary students, she received her B.A. from SUNY New Paltz, and M.S. and Ph.D. from Syracuse University.  

Within Trinity’s Community-based model of collaborative interactions with regional school districts,  professionals, and families, Waldron initiated programs focusing on special students from ethnic/minority backgrounds who lack economic opportunities. She developed and directed the Trinity University Special Education Clinic; the Psycho-Educational Clinic for the University of Texas Health Science Center Department of Child Psychiatry;  Trinity University Special Education Certification Program; The Inclusive Network Consortium of 200 teachers from 65 schools, collaborating to design model Inclusion programs to incorporate children with disabilities into the general education classroom.

She has consulted in Northern Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong and the Czech Republic, presenting hundreds of lectures and professional workshops supporting the needs of women and children at risk of poverty, illness, and abuse.

In 2005, she received the Headliner Award for Professional Achievement from the San Antonio Women in Communications for her international and community work in developing programs for children with disabilities, as well as her involvement with media, including television, radio, magazine and news journals.

Waldron has published five books and numerous research articles and handbooks.  Her book, Introduction to a Special Education:  The Inclusive Classroom (1996) (Albany, NY: Wadsworth/ITP), was an international university text.  

Her work with Co-Editors Janice Brazil and Laura Labatt, resulted in Risk, Courage, and Women:  Contemporary Voices in Prose and Poetry (2007) (Denton, TX: University of North Texas Press).  This book received the “Best of the Best from University Presses” Award, as well as Honors from the American Library Association.  It was nominated for the Amelia Bloomer Award for Young Feminist Books.

Waldron has served as a Trustee for the George W. Brackenridge Foundation and as a member of the Board of Gemini Ink Writer’s Association.  She has been honored by WINGS (Women Involved in Nurturing, Giving, and Sharing) for her support of treatment of uninsured women with breast cancer. She is a Mediator for the Bexar County Dispute Resolution Center, and in 2015, received the Alamo Area Mediators’ Association Distinguished Service Award for her work with Community, Family, and Child Protective Services cases.  She was the Family Service Association Volunteer of the Year for United Way and Bexar County (2017).

Currently, Waldron is working on a collection of writings dealing with women’s journeys throughout their lives.

Dr. Michael Steer was Senior Lecturer in Vision Impairment at Renwick Centre, Royal Institute for Deaf & Blind Children, New South Wales, Australia. Prior experiences include Director of the New South Wales Office on Disability; Principal Advisor, Disability Policy for Community Services Victoria; Director of the Integration Unit, Ministry of Education in Victoria; and Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Health & Behavioural Sciences, Deakin University, Melbourne. Prior to his arrival in Australia, Dr. Steer was Director of Special Education, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador; Principal of the Psychoeducational Teaching Laboratory, Syracuse University; and Principal, Montreal Association School for the Blind. He has a Ph.D. in Special Education Administration, from Syracuse University (New York), with Masters Degrees in Public Policy with Honours (Melbourne), Vision Impairment (Boston College) and Education (Southern Illinois), BA (SGWU, Montreal), Teachers Certificate and Diploma from St. Luke's College,  Exeter University, England. His professional associations included the Australian Society for the Study of Intellectual Disability, Council for Exceptional Children, Phi Delta Kappa, American Association on Mental Retardation, NSW State Counsellor, South Pacific Educators in Vision Impairment, Convenor, Australian Heads of Services (Vision Impairment), Convenor, Round Table on Information Access for People with a Print Disability and NSW State Representative for the Australian Deafblind Council, and NSW State Representative for the International Council for Education of Vision Impaired (ICEVI). Dr. Steer became a Member of the Order of Australia in 2009.

Dolly Bhargava completed a Bachelor of Applied Science in Speech Pathology from the University of Sydney, a Master of Special Education from the University of Newcastle, and Certificate IV in Training and Assessment.

Midway through her career she realized her passion was in supporting children, adolescents and adults with emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBD). She started working extensively with individuals with EBD in a variety of contexts such as family homes, childcare centres, preschool, schools, respite care, post school options, employment services and corrective services.

Benjamin is a Professor and Head of Instruction Services  with the Trinity Library, and has been a faculty member at Trinity University since 2004. He has been liaison to numerous departments including Art/Art History, Modern Languages, Classical Studies, and Human Communication/Theatre. Benjamin has been a key contributor to this website and it would not exist without his dedication.

Acknowledgements

Our special thanks to the following outstanding professionals:

  • Dr. Rod Beattie, for his significant encouragement and support for the completion of this project. Dr. Beattie is Head of Graduate Studies, The Renwick Centre for Professional Education and Research, Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children / The University of Newcastle;
  • Dr. Charles White, for his invaluable assistance with organizing the production of this web site. Dr. White is Vice President, Information Resources and Administrative Affairs at Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas;
  • Ronnie Swanner and his staff at the Center for Learning and Technology, Trinity University, for the months they spent in intense effort in web site creation. The project could not have been possible without their wonderful efforts;
  • Dr. Breda Carty, for her thorough reading and review of the chapters on Hearing Impairment, in support of Dolly Bhargava's Master's Project. Dr. Carty is Lecturer in Hearing Impairment, The Renwick Centre for Professional Education and Research, Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children / The University of Newcastle;
  • Mike Offord, at the Elmwood Visual Resource Centre, in Christchurch, New Zealand, for sharing invaluable information from the Centre's web site for teachers and parents of students with vision impairments.
  • Trinity University Strategic Communications and Marketing team, for their hard work and dedication to rebuild our site and maintain its integrity on the Trinity website.  
     

The many Trinity University graduates of the Special Education program, classes of 2004 and 2005, who conducted research, interviews, and wrote numerous chapters for the handbooks:

  • Dr. Phil Hatlen, Superintendent,Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, and his faculty, who shared extensive curricular and teaching knowledge with graduate students from Trinity University in support of the students' completion of their chapters for this handbook. The web address for TSBVI's extensive site is http://www.tsbvi.edu
  • Robin Feder, Executive Director, Central Institute for the Deaf, St. Louis, Missouri and her faculty for the extensive interviews and discussion concerning best practices in teaching students with hearing impairments;
  • The administrators and faculty at St. Joseph's Institute in St. Louis, for sharing enthusiasm and dedication, along with important information on instructional strategies for the hearing impaired;
  • Trinity graduate Laurie Hemberger, who completed numerous interviews in support of this project and collated the chapters of fellow graduate students in completion of handbooks on vision and hearing impairment.
     

Dedicated educators who supported Dolly Bhargava as she wrote chapters for the handbooks:

  • Andrew Willis, Assistive Technology Consultant from Word of Mouth Technology;
  • Karina Badcock, Early Childhood Trained Teacher of the Deaf (Oral Deaf and Auslan user);
  • Margaret Haenke, Manager of Deafness Resources Australia;
  • Staff at Cochlear Ltd.