National Authority on Autism, Inclusion, Early Childhood Education, Developmental Disabilities, and Applied Behavior Analysis, Dr. Ilene Schwartz earned her Ph.D. from the University of Kansas in Child and Developmental Psychology and is a Professor of Education at the University of Washington in Seattle. She is the director of the Haring Center for Inclusive Education on the UW campus, an interdisciplinary, research and training center focused on improving outcomes for children of all abilities. Dr. Schwartz has had continuous funding from the US Department of Education since 1990 to support her work in the areas of autism, developing educational interventions for young children, and preparing staff to work with people with disabilities. She is the author of 3 books and over 75 scholarly articles and book chapters.
Dr. Schwartz has spoken to audiences around the world on topics such as “Understanding Autism”; “Why Inclusion is Important for all Children”, and “Getting an ‘A’ in ABA*”. Her TED talk, “The Power of Inclusive Education” has been viewed by thousands of people. Her recent book, “The Project DATA Model for Teaching Preschoolers with Autism**” describes her 20-year ground-breaking project designed to provide state of the art services for children with autism in public school settings. The Project DATA model is used across the country and internationally and is the standard of care for young children with autism in Washington state.
Dr. Schwartz lives in Seattle and maintains an active research and teaching portfolio in addition to her work as an amateur gardener and avid Mariners fan.
