Exceptional Education

About Kathy Doody, assistant professor

Dr. Kathy Doody is a graduate of Buffalo State and joined the Exceptional Education Department as an assistant professor in 2012, after several years of teaching as an adjunct instructor. Her professional areas of interest include autism spectrum disorders, early childhood education, behavior management, educational collaboration, and low incidence disabilities.

Doody was an early childhood general education teacher for several years before pursing her graduate and doctoral degrees in special education with an emphasis in early childhood education and autism spectrum disorders. She worked for several years as a teacher at Summit Educational Resources, teaching infants and preschoolers on the autism spectrum. She has also worked for Erie and Niagara County Early Intervention programs providing services to children with autism.

Doody provides consultation and teacher in-service training to schools and agencies servicing children of all ages with autism. She is a member of the New York State Commissioner’s Advisory Panel (CAP) for Special Education, functioning in an advisory capacity to the Office of Special Education and advises the Governor, Legislature and Commissioner on matters relating to educating students with disabilities in New York State. Doody is also a member of the Local Early Intervention Coordinating Council (LEICC), reporting to the Early Intervention Official of Erie County on the scope and quality of the early intervention system and is also a specialized autism consultant to The Children’s Guild Foundation Autism Spectrum Disorder Center at Women & Children’s Hospital of Buffalo, providing training to hospital staff in how to best meet the needs of patients with autism. 

Doody is passionate about her work in the field of autism spectrum disorders, and collaborating with educators, administrators, parents, medical professionals, and related service providers to assist individuals with autism in reaching their full potential in home, community, and educational settings.

EDUCATION         

• Ph.D. Learning and Instruction: Special Education (Autism Concentration), SUNY University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY
• M.S. Education, Exceptional Education, SUNY Buffalo State, Buffalo, NY
• B.A. English, SUNY University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY

COURSES OFFERED

• EXE 100 : Nature and Needs of Individuals with Special Needs
• EXE 364 : Behavior Management
• EXE 371 : Foundations of Teaching Children with Disabilities in General Education Settings
• EXE 502 : Contingency Management
• EXE 510 : Cognition/Emergent Literacy (service learning)
• EXE 530 : Parent /Family Involvement in Special Education Programs (service learning)
• EXE 612 : Managing Behavior in Young Children with Special Needs (service learning)
• EXE 650 : Assessment of Young Children with Special Needs (service learning)
• EXE 652 : Interventions for Young Children with Special Needs (service learning)
• EXE 682 : Field Practicum – Early Childhood Exceptional Education                                               

TEACHING & RESEARCH INTERESTS & EXPERTISE

• Autism Spectrum Disorders
• Early Childhood Special Education
• Behavior Management
• Family Involvement
• Service Learning/Community Engagement as components of teacher preparatory programs   

CURRENT COLLABORATIVE SERVICE & INVOLVEMENT

• Executive Board of Directors (2013-present).  Child Care Resource Network, Buffalo, NY.
• Director (2012-present).  Au-Some Evenings at Explore & More Children’s Museum, East Aurora, NY.
• Director (2013-present). MusiConnect: Music therapy for ASD, Getzville, NY.
• Specialized autism spectrum disorder consultant, Early Childhood Direction Center, Women & Children’s Hospital of Buffalo
• Collaborator and College Partner, Center of Development for Human Services
• Collaborator, and community partner,  Help Me Grow of WNY
• Member, Commissioner’s Advisory Panel (CAP), New York State Education Department, Special Education
• Co-Chair, Local Early Intervention Coordinating Council (LEICC), Erie County
• Collaborator and Innovative Community Partner, Gerard Place of Buffalo
• Family Education and Trainer, The Summit Center

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

• del Prado Hill, P., McMillen, S., & Doody, K.R. (2017).  Extending PDS to all: Successes and challenges at a large comprehensive public institution.  In Ferrara, Nath, Guadarrama, & Beebe (Eds.), Expanding opportunities to link research and clinical practice: A volume in Professional Development School research, Volume VII. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing (by invitation).
• Song, C., Wang, A., Doody, K.R., Hartley-McAndrew, M, Mertz, J., Lin, F., Xu, W. (2016).  A Comparative Study of Social Scene Parsing Strategies Between Children with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder.  North American Journal of Medicine and Science, 9(3), 96-103 (by invitation).
• Doody, Kathy R. Ph.D., "A Guide to Playing with Children with Autism" (2015). Foster/Adoptive Parent Training Projects. 1. 
• Doody, K.R. (2015).  GrAPPling with how to teach social skills? Try tapping into digital technology.  Journal of Special Education Technology, Technology in Action. 30(2).

• Hartley-McAndrew, M., Doody, K.R., & Mertz, J. (2014).  Knowledge of autism spectrum disorders in potential first-contact professionals.  North American Journal of Medicine and Science, Special Issue of Autism, 7(3), 97-102.

• Doody, K.R. (2013).  Can’t we all just get along? Tips for Teaching Social Skills to Individuals with ASD.  ExpertBeacon.

• Doody, K.R., Mertz, J. (2013).  Preferred play activities of children with autism spectrum disorder in naturalistic settings.  North American Journal of Medicine and Science, Special Issue of Autism, 6(3), 128-133.