Funds to support developing educators for autism mastery

TAHLEQUAH — Northeastern State University has received a $1.08 million dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs to fund Project DREAM (Developing Rising Educators for Autism Mastery).

Project DREAM is a unique multidisciplinary collaborative project that will provide financial assistance to qualified scholars pursuing graduate degrees in occupational therapy, school counseling, social work, special education and speechlanguage pathology who aspire to work in local area school districts.

“This program exemplifies NSU’s unwavering commitment to fostering excellence in education and addressing the critical needs of our community,” NSU President Rodney Hanley said. Project DREAM is a testament to our dedication to inclusive, impactful and collaborative education.”

Dr. Lisa Bisogno, Associate Dean of the College of Education, said Project DREAM will provide the vital pre-collaborative experience for all five of these subject areas by cohesively working together through reciprocal course presentations and activities, community involvement projects and a shared research component.

The collaboration fostered by Project DREAM aims to go beyond academic requirements, encouraging diverse scholars to actively engage in projects that will make a real difference in the lives of children with disabilities. By bridging the gap between education and practice, this initiative is poised to create a more inclusive and supportive educational environment for children with special needs.

“Through these cooperative projects beyond their program requirements, scholars will not only increase their knowledge of and demonstrate effective related service strategies provided to children with disabilities, it will also have an impactful effect on children with disabilities and assist in filling the gap of many of the shortage areas within these fields,” Bisogno said.

To learn more about occupational therapy, school counseling, social work, special education, and speech-language pathology and other graduate programs at NSU, visit nsuok. edu/GoGrad.