Karin M. Fisher, PhD, CDE started her career in education when she earned her master's of art in teaching special education from the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida. She taught students with moderate intellectual disabilities and autism as a self-contained, resource, and inclusion teacher for 8 years. She was also the co-department chair for her school's large special education department. Her Ph.D dissertation compared standardized science scores with participation in extracurricular science, technology, engineering, and mathematics activities. Currently, Dr. Fisher teaches undergraduate and graduate courses at Georgia Southern University in the Department of Elementary and Special Education in Statesboro, Georgia. Kate E. Zimmer, PhD received a bachelor's degree in elementary education from Saint Leo University, St. Leo, Florida, and a master's degree in curriculum and instruction from the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida. In 2013, she graduated with her PhD in special education from the University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, where she examined the effects of a storybook reading intervention on the initiation of joint attention in young children with autism. Dr. Zimmer is currently Branch Alliance for Educator Diversity's Director of the BIRCH Professional Learning Center in Austin, Texas. In this role, Dr. Zimmer collaborates with the BIRCH professional learning and development team to create goals and design trainings for in-person and virtual programs, resources, and learning communities. Dr. Zimmer has taught both graduate and undergraduate courses that focused on autism, behavior, curriculum and instruction, and instructional practices. She developed an online graduate endorsement in autism spectrum disorders and works closely with the Early Childhood Faculty Special Interest Group in the Teacher Education Division of the Council for Exceptional Children. Her numerous peer-reviewed presentations, articles, and grants along with her passion for teacher education make her an excellent co-author and editor for this textbook.
