I’m LAURA, AN EXPERT IN
STUDENT BEHAVIOR

With more than 50 years of experience, I have trained thousands of teachers, parents, counselors, psychologists, administrators, and bus drivers on how to make data-based decisions as a way to change behavior.  My  seminars are filled with humor and make data collection easy to understand and use in any setting.

I served as the webmaster for the National Technical Assistance Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports sponsored by the Office of Special Education Programs (www.pbis.org) from 1999-2012. I have traveled the world presenting on Functional Behavior Assessment and Writing Effective Behavioral Plans as a private consultant.  I also present on Positive Interventions and Effective Strategies for classroom teachers, autism, oppositional defiant disorder, ADHD, and learning disabilities.

The Turning Point

In the early 1970s, I began my career as a volunteer at the School for the Blind, which led to my interest in special education. I received my bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Kansas State University with a minor in special education. My master’s degrees are in 1) special education with an area of concentration on learning disabilities and intellectual disabilities; 2) special education consulting, and 3) personal counseling. My Ph.D. from the University of Kansas is in Cognitive and Multiple Disabilities, Families, and Policy, with a minor in research. I have had the opportunity to teach the following students:

• Inclusive classrooms in Kindergarten, First, Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth grades.
• Resource and self-contained classrooms in learning disabilities, emotional behavior disorders, mild intellectual disabilities, moderate intellectual disabilities, severe and profound intellectual disabilities and medically fragile students. (Elementary and Middle School levels)
• Students who were deaf using Signing Exact English (SEE II) in an inclusive setting where all students and teachers were taught to use sign language as they spoke.
• District tutor for adjudicated youth; teaching middle and high school grades at detention facilities.
• Director of a statewide program for behavioral intervention planning serving 500 students per year
• Director of a day program for students with significant behavioral needs

Previously, I’ve enjoyed teaching at the college level at the University of Kansas, Georgia State University, and the University of Central Oklahoma. I taught the following courses: Families and Quality of Life, Applied Behavior Analysis for Classroom Teachers, and Managing Classroom Behavior.

Training Hits Home

My husband Tom and I lived with Jay Turnbull as his housemate and friend for almost a decade. Jay was 41 years old and had autism, intellectual disabilities, bipolar condition, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Jay passed away suddenly from a massive heart attack on January 7, 2009.  He taught us the value of life for individuals with disabilities and his friendship is dearly missed.

My email is caughtyoubeinggood@gmail.com