Susan Leonard-Giesen, ABD

Ms. Leonard Giesen is a graduate of the University of Washington and CSULB.  She has over 10 years of classroom experience in both general and special education bilingual classrooms in urban settings.  She enjoys traveling and spent three years in Santiago, Chile, where she taught in an international school while learning Spanish.  Her areas of interest include working with traditionally underrepresented students with moderate to severe disabilities and their families, and the development of inclusive schools and communities. She is currently in an joint doctoral program at University of California, Irvine and University of California, Los Angeles. Her dissertation will focus on the impact on family daily routines when  home-based interventions are introduced  for young children with Down syndrome.

I am currently working on my doctorate in Educational Leadership (UCI/UCLA). My disseration will focus on the impact of family daily routines when an in-home intervention is introduced for young children with Down syndrome. Past research has been in the area of social relationships of students with moderate to severe disabilities who are included in general education classrooms.

Grenot-Scheyer, M. & Leonard-Giesen, S. (2001) Cecilias Story: Learning Opportunities & Obstacles. In M Grenot-Scheyer, M. Fisher, & D. Staub (Eds.) At the end of the day: Lessons learned in inclusive education (pp. 73-89). Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co. Grenot-Scheyer, M. & Leonard-Giesen, S. (1997). Adult mediation: Syracuse Working Conference. Unpublished manuscript, California State University, Long Beach.