Michael Brady, Ph.D.

Michael P. Brady, Ph.D. is a professor and chair of the Department of Special Education. He received the doctorate from George Peabody College at Vanderbilt University. Dr. Brady has been active in developing teacher education programs for students with moderate to severe disabilities, and has worked with school districts, and state and local agencies to improve services for students with severe disabilities. He serves as consulting editor or a viewer for several professional journals including Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities, Teacher Education & Special Education, and Focus on Autism and other Developmental Disabilities. His professional interests focus on translating and adapting research findings into practice, streamlining professional development for teachers, developing instructional and prompting systems for students, increasing social interactions among people with and without disabilities, and promoting special education reforms. Recent applications of this involve building training and support teams to implement functional behavioral assessments in local school districts, using family friendly prompting and generalization strategies for school-aged children, and developing performance strategies for supported employees. Dr. Brady is the co-author of JOBS: The Job Observation and Behavior Scale, a Work Performance Evaluation for Supported and Entry Level Employees, and JOBS: Opportunity for Self-Determination (JOBS: OSD) (Stoelting), as well as Students with Autism: Characteristics and Instructional Programming (Singular / Wadsworth), and Mental Retardation: Historical Perspectives, Current Practices, and Future Directions (Allyn & Bacon). He is also active in teaching leisure and health classes that promote scuba diving, CPR, emergency oxygen use, and first aid skills.

KEY WORDS: Behavior Analysis; Severe Disabilities; Supported Employment; Instructional Strategies