Sharon Jones, M.Ed.

Sharon's primary areas of work include providing support to professionals, families and programs in the benefits and use of assistive technology (AT) and developing AT services in educational programs. She also supports individuals and programs in working with children and adolescents with autism and their families. Other interests include infant intervention and early childhood special education with an emphasis on involving families in educational programs. As a program specialist at the Training and Technical Assistance Center, she provides consultation, training and long range planning to professionals working with students with disabilities and their families.

Education

• M.Ed., Virginia Commonwealth University (Early Childhood Special Education - 1984)

• B.S., Virginia Commonwealth University (Special Education - 1978)

• Postgraduate work in Special Education

Professional Experiences

• Program Specialist, Training and Technical Assistance Center at VCU (1996 - present)

• Adjunct Faculty, VCU in Special Education (1993 - 2001)

• Coordinator, Early Childhood Special Education Technical Assistance Center at VCU (1995-96)

• Project Assistant, Early Childhood Special Education Technical Assistance Center at VCU (1991-95)

• Infant Development Specialist, Crater District Infant Intervention Program (1987-91)

• Early Childhood Special Education Teacher, Chesterfield County Public Schools (1981-1986)

• Special Education Teacher/Vocational Trainer, Chesterfield County Public School (1978-1981)

Certification

• Virginia Postgraduate Professional Teaching License

Endorsements Areas:

• Special Education
• Early Childhood Special Education

Current Professional & Academic Association Memberships

• Council for Exceptional Children, Division for Early Childhood

• Council for Exceptional Children, Division of Technology and Media

• Autism Society of Virginia, Central Virginia Chapter

• Virginia Society for Technology in Education

Selected Publications

• Croasdaile, S., Jones, S., & Smith, F. (2006). Universal Design for Learning: Improving access for all students. Innovations and Perspectives, Fall Edition, 2,8.

• Jones, S., Dye, B., Lyons, B. et al. (2008) A Framework for Assistive Technology Consideration and Assessment. Virginia Department of Education.

• Jones, S. & Landon, T. (2004). Sensory dysfunction: Answers to common questions. Innovations and Perspectives, Vol. 5, No. 1.

• Jones, S. & Ligon, K. (2007). Teams guide quality AT service delivery. Innovations and Perspectives, Winter Edition, 2

• Jones, S., Oggel, L. & Ligon, K. (2003). Why start an assistive technology team? Innovations and Perspectives, Spring Edition, 8.

• Jones, S. & Palko, S. (2007). Visual maps promote positive behavior, Innovations and Perspectives, Summer Edition, 4.

• Jones, S. & Smith, F. (2008). Student direction results in effective AT. Innovations and Perspectives, Fall Edition, 6.

• Jones, S., Smith, F. & Wittig, K. (2006). AT for college success, Innovations and Perspectives, Summer Edition, 6.

• Oggel, L., Jones, S., Sarrett, E., et al. (2003). Teaching young children with autism: Effective practices in Virginia (video). Richmond, VA: Virginia Department of Education.

Selected Presentations

• Ready, Set, Create a Literacy Activity Using Boardmaker Storybook Template, Shining Stars conference, VA Beach, VA, July, 2008 with M. Wilds.

• Show Me the Money: Funding Opportunities for AT. Technology Tuesdays, T/TAC at VCU, Richmond, VA, April, 2008 with J. Wallace.

• Assistive Technology Can Make a Difference, International Dyslexia Association: 32nd Annual Conference-Virginia Branch, February, 2008 with S. Croasdaile.

• Text-to-Speech Computer Software. Technology Tuesdays, T/TAC at VCU, February, 2008 with M. Pruett.

• FLIP that Classroom: Design to Learn. VDOE Educational Technology Leadership Conference, December, 2007 with L. Peters and L. Lunden-Seidel.

• Proactive Behavior Strategies for Individuals with ASD, Autism Society of Virginia, Central VA Chapter, Richmond, VA, October, 2007 with S. Palko.

• AAC for All! Technology Tuesdays, VCU T/TAC, Richmond, VA, May, 2007 with L. Oggel.

• Boardmaker Plus. Technology Tuesdays, T/TAC at VCU, Richmond, VA, April, 2007.

• From chaos to order, Commonwealth Autism Services conference, Richmond, VA, March, 2007 with T. Landon.

• Cool Resources for Early Childhood, Shining Stars conference, VA Beach, VA., July, 2006, with M. Wilds.

• From Chaos to Order. Autism Spectrum Disorders Conference. Abingdon, VA, March 2005, with L. Oggel.

• Utilizing Picture Schedules to Increase Student Success. Commonwealth Autism Service annual conference. Richmond, VA. March, 2004 with S. Jones.

• Building Bridges to Understanding for Students with Autism. Virginia Federation Council for Exceptional Children Conference. Charlottesville, VA. February, 2004 with L. Oggel and S. Palko.

• Considering AT in the IEP, VDOE Technology Leadership Conference, Roanoke, VA., December, 2004 with K. Ligon.