Effective Teaching, Successful Lives.
Barbara wins the 2017 Margaret Bancroft Distinguished Leadership Award!
With (left to right) Jack Kenney, Emily Iland, Pat Kenney, Linda Tortorelli, Cele Norris, Ann Osterling, Dave Bonnan, Barbara, Jean Doyle, and Tom Iland.
THIS YEAR, PLEASE HELP ME CELEBRATE MY 52nd YEAR OF PROVIDING SERVICES TO CHILDREN AND ADULTS WITH DISABILITIES, THEIR FAMILIES, SCHOOLS, AND COMMUNITIES!
Barbara T. Doyle, MS
Educator and Consultant
Barbara T. Doyle is a nationally known teacher, consultant, trainer, presenter, family member and author. She is known for her passionate approach to presenting practical and realistic solutions for everyday issues at home, school, work and social situations. She is an interesting and engaging presenter who keeps her audiences thinking and moving. Her “ready to apply” information is delivered with humor and humanity. Her more than 49 years of professional experience add to her life experiences as a family member of five people with disabilities. Barbara’s mission is to make the world a more inclusive place for everyone by increasing understanding, creating a truly accessible service delivery system and promoting effective teaching, adaptations and accommodations.
Barbara is the president and CEO of Barbara T. Doyle, MS, Inc. incorporated in 1998. In her private practice, Barbara educates and supports schools, families, child welfare systems, adult services agencies, employment training programs, mental health programs, employers, and others who are interested in improving the lives of people with autism spectrum disorders and others disabilities. She has a deep understanding of sensory impairments and autism at both a personal and professional level. Barbara is fluent in sign language and highly skilled in non-verbal communication methods.
Barbara has focused her attention on special populations and topics:
developmental disabilities
positive methods for improving behavior
teaching effective communication strategies
Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) across the spectrum and across the lifespan
Asperger Syndrome
Down Syndrome
Deafness and hearing loss
Autism with hearing impairment or deafness
Autism with vision impairment or blindness
Autism with cognitive impairment or severe learning issues
Autism with mental health disorders
Deafblindness
Norrie Disease
Children and young adults with developmental disabilities in child welfare systems
Assistive technology, both low-tech and high-tech that enables people to do more things, more successfully in life
Sign language training and non-verbal communication
Barbara works with school districts of all sizes to help them become more truly inclusive. Her definition of real inclusion is success for everyone in the classroom: teachers, general education students and students with special needs. She has developed a repertoire of strategies that are likely to benefit most students and school staff and are designed to create a future society that values and empowers everyone. She trains teams to work more effectively together, prioritize what is most important, and understand and respond to family issues. She is skilled in successfully addressing sensory integration issues in people of all ages.
Barbara has worked extensively in adult services for over 40 years. Her experiences have led her to develop her “lifetime” approach to working with people with autism and other developmental disabilities. She focuses on what is most important to learn and on skills that will have the greatest positive impact on individuals across their entire lifetimes. Her approach is realistic and practical.
Barbara consults to mental health programs, both in-patient and out-patient. She helps providers understand and treat mental health issues and disorders in children, adolescents and adults with autism spectrum disorders, deafness or other types of developmental disabilities.
Barbara has Bachelor of Science degrees from Illinois State University in Elementary Education and Special Education, with a focus on deaf and hard of hearing children. Interested in adult learning, she earned a Master of Science degree in Business Management from National Louis University in 1991, focusing on Human Resource Development issues and the challenges of teaching adults. This enhanced her ability to be a particularly effective trainer of the adults who provide supports to children and adults with disabilities.
Barbara is a founding member and president of the board of directors of the Illinois Assistive Technology Program, a federally and state funded program that provides information, technical assistance, training, device loans and cash loan programs to the citizens of Illinois. Her interest in assistive technology has led her to develop workshops and training on the use of assistive technology for people with ASD, and other disabilities.
Barbara is the coauthor of Autism Spectrum Disorders from A to Z a comprehensive autism manual and textbook for staff and families published by Future Horizons in 2004. Barbara’s coauthor is her sister, Emily D. Iland, MA who is an autism specialist, advocate, trainer, educational therapist and the parent of three great children, one of whom is a young man with ASD.
In 2005, Emily, who is fluent in Spanish, undertook the monumental task of translating their book into Spanish. Los Trastornos del Espectro de Autismo de la A a la Z is now available via their web site www.asdatoz.com.
Emily's new book about improving reading comprehension for students with Asperger Syndrome is now available. It is titled: Drawing A Blank: Improving Comprehension for Readers on the Autism Spectrum. It is a wonderful, research-based book with effective strategies for assessing and addressing reading problems. ISBN # 978-1-934575-77-2
Barbara is an extended family member of people with disabilities, seven of whom have an autism disorder. Her wonderful husband of 40 years is Ed Kenney, a terrific Blues keyboard player and composer who is completely blind and now hard of hearing. Ed is a person with Norrie Disease and Barbara has participated in the Norrie Disease Association activities, focusing on children and adults who have both Norrie Disease and an autism disorder or other intellectual/developmental disabilities.
Ed and Barbara have lived in many kinds of communities from very rural to metropolitan. She enjoys traveling and teaching when not at home in Orland Park, Illinois.
Disclaimer: The material in this web site is intended to help parents and professionals work together for the best outcome for any individual. All material is of the nature of shared ideas, not recommendations. No claim is made as to the suitability of any particular practice or idea contained in this web site for any specific individual or program. Diagnosis, treatment, action plans, and medications are the domain of medical, health, educational and other professionals who should be consulted in assessing and treating each individual. I disclaim any direct, indirect, consequential, special, exemplary, or other damages arising from any person or group using information contained in this web site, referred to in this web site, or linked to this web site. All site information is Copyright © 2012 by Barbara T. Doyle, MS
News/Blog Updates
January, 2023
Hello Everyone,
Welcome to 2023! I hope this year is filled with hope and progress for you and yours! As I am communicating with families and service providers across the country, and sometimes around the world, many familiar themes are emerging, or maybe coming back around.
Here are some things I am thinking about:
One size does NOT fit all. The current trend to return to “autism classrooms” and “autism programs” could lead us to think that everyone with an autism diagnosis needs the same place, the same staff, the same companions, the same activities and the same programs. Not so! Each child or adult with autism is unique and will likely benefit from daily or at least frequent contact with others who do NOT have autism, in multiple environments.
I recently visited an autism classroom in a school. All of the children were non-verbal or did not speak often. When the teacher asked a question, none of the students answered. The staff answered the question! Our children and adults need access to more typical models for social interaction, behavior and learning.
An “autism program” can and should be a great home base for many students or adults as long as it does not become a restrictive environment. People with autism need to become comfortable in many environments with many different people. Work with educational and adult services teams to be sure that children and adults with autism are able to learn and grow in different places in each building where they receive services.
Children and adults are always listening even if they appear to be paying attention to something else. To reduce anxiety and depression, do not talk about concerns, fears, failures, etc. in front of the person with autism. My rule is, “If it goes in their ears, it lands in their brains!” With issues in language processing and social interaction, the child or adult may not understand what is said or be able to ask questions or respond. This can increase anxiety and confusion. If there are serious things to discuss about a child or adult, do that when they are not present or able to hear the conversation. If the child or adult needs to learn more about themselves or their behavior, have this conversation with them in a planned and careful way, and not in front of many other people.
Be careful what you teach because someone might learn it! I know this sounds odd but think about this example: a young boy with autism was taught to shake hands with others. This was not a problem until he became a grown, large man, and felt like he HAD to shake hands with others, such as ALL of the students during change of class in his high school, or even people he did not know in a shopping mall!
When we teach someone a task or skill we need to think:
”Will this serve him well in 10 years? 20 years?”
“What will it look like if she does what we have taught her when she is 25 years old?”
Technology may be getting in the way of learning what we need to know! Our focus on screens and screen time in every environment may be reducing opportunities for children and adults with autism to learn how to interact successfully with others. In a recent classroom visit, the staff used a video of cartoon animals greeting each other for the social skills lesson for the group. Afterwards they moved on to another video. When a guest came into the room, NONE of the students greeted the person!
Be sure to use technology appropriately and then follow up with real life practice to apply the skill. In another classroom visit, that is exactly what happened! The teacher used a video about asking questions to get to know others and then followed up with a game where each student had a card with a question on it. The students “asked” another person the question on the card (either verbally or by handing the card to the person or having it read aloud for them.) The students got it! Great teaching!
Let paper and pencil help people learn. Children and adults with autism are often very strong in remembering what they have seen in the three dimensional world. If they see something on a screen, and then the program is closed, they may not be able to remember what they saw. You can informally test this and you might find that once the screen is gone, so is the information they need when it is time to apply it to a life situation.
When you write something down, it is more “permanent” and the person may be able to look at it long enough or often enough to really absorb and use the information. This helps to combat issues in object permanence and delay in processing.
Writing things down can be very beneficial for people who ask the same questions repeatedly but then do not seem to remember the answer. Write down the answer and when the child or adult asks again, show them what you wrote and read it aloud to them. Over time, you may hear the person ask the question and answer it too!
Well, these are some thoughts that have been on my mind lately (and for decades!) There is more information about all of these in my Handouts page on this website. Let me know if you try some things and how they work for you and the people with autism with whom you work or live.
I honor and am grateful to the wonderful teachers, therapists, adult services providers and others who continue to devote their careers to the people we care about so much. Thank you!
Barbara
SUMMER 2021
Hello everyone,
What a time we have had with the pandemic, interruptions in services, changes to our world, civil unrest and our inability to find comfort by actually being together. I have missed conferences and professional activities, visiting schools and agencies and being with families. Finally things are changing for the better!
As I enter my 50th year of providing professional services, please let me know if I can be of any service to you, your family, your agency or your group. I continue to work providing virtual presentations and webinars, individual consultations for children and adults, and technical assistance to programs that support children and adults with autism (ASD), deafness, deafblindness, and other special needs. I also work with children and adults with Norrie Disease who have intellectual/developmental needs. My Lifetime goal has not changed: create inclusive communities where everyone is understood, is safe, belongs, participates, works, plays and contributes!
This has been a challenging time for everyone in our world but particularly for families and schools. Please let me know if I can be of service to any of you as we get our feet back under ourselves and move forward into the second half of 2021. Stay healthy and focus on the positives!
Barbara