William

SSAT

Microsoft Windows

PSAT

dyslexia

autism

My experience with working with autistic children began when I was employed at the Mansfield Training School in Mansfield, CT, and then in the Masters Program in Psychology at the former University of Bridgeport. We used a behavior modification approach in this program with these children. My training and experience continued while working with failure to thrive, and Aspergers students. I also took courses on Autism with the Yale Child Study/Pediatrics Dept. I have also worked with Autism Spectrum Disorder students at the college level. My main goals when treating/teaching children with Autism are to lessen associated deficits and family distress, and to increase quality of life and functional independence. No single treatment is best and treatment is typically tailored to the child's needs. I am presently tutoring a 17 year old male student with pervasive developmental disorder (one of the Autism Spectrum Disorders) in Math and English through the Meriden School System, Platt Technical School

computer science

Aspergers

Dear parents as you might know Aspergers is one of the autism spectrum disorders, it is a developmental disorder, although usually not as severe as autism as most Aspergers have developed language and cognitive skills. However many Aspergers often exhibit a lack of empathy, problems with social interactions, a tendency to perseverate and exhibit repetitive behaviors and actions. They often have physical clumsiness and an atypical use of language. They can be quite verbose. Also, they might exhibit a lack of eye contact, unusual facial expressions and physical gestures. This might describe your child. My first experience with Aspergers was when I was teaching college algebra/geometry at Southern Vermont College. Although this student was in my class, we did not know that he had never attended a regular classroom, and from my first exam it was obvious that he would not pass mathematics without outside support and resources. Therefore, after he was identified, I worked with his counselor and a tutor making sure that they knew what the assignments and requirements were. The counselor worked with the family. Luckily, he was a motivated student wanting to do well in math. After he completed an assignment or test, I went over it with the counselor and tutor. It should be noted that most of my class was not prepared for college algebra, so I had to teach algebra 1, 2 and provide remedial work, plus the college algebra course. This repetition probably helped him, as college algebra is not an easy course. Also this was an applied course requiring considerable reading. We had to make sure that he understood all assignments and what was required for the next test. He was also on medication. He did pass the course with a C. As a parent of an Aspergers child, early intervention and diagnosis is called for and to target directly, interpersonal skills, and the stereotypical, repetitive, redundant long wind speech behavior, which is often irrelevant to the task at hand and gets in the way of teachibg and learning. There are questions as to etiology and classification. Medications should be handled with care because side effects are often hard to determine with other comorbid conditions which often accompany Aspergers. Early diagnosis, treatment and modified teaching techniques and classrooms are beneficial. You as the parent should be brought into your child's educational experience at all times. Therefore, I am sure we can work together to help your child or you the student.

ADD/ADHD

I have many years working with ADD/ADHD students, children, adolescents and adults especially in tutorial programs at tutorial centers, both private and public and at colleges and universities, my last being at PSU in Plymouth, NH. Many of the students in elementary through secondary school I worked with were ADD/ADHD, some unidentified. I have found that one-on-one tutoring is very beneficial for ADD/ADHD students and many function well in the neutral tutorial environment, in a familiar setting with no distractions, where attention, concentration and focus can improve. This is good because you as the parent can monitor the tutoring session and your child's progress. I believe that working together, we can help you child.

special needs

ADHD

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

theatre

When I graduated from high school in CT., where I played the clarinet in the high school band and was a member of Junior Achievement and participated in a weekly radio show on WICC in Bridgeport, CT. with Bob Crane (Hogan’s Heroes), I was an Intern at the American Shakespearean Festival Theatre and Academy in Stratford, Connecticut (unfortunately now defunct) where John Houseman was the artistic director at the time. I remember standing on the stage of the theatre one night and the director was looking for supernumeraries for a production Shakespeare’s Henry the Fifth. A man in the audience said, “You’ll do, please stay” (I was tall, no talent required). The man was John Houseman, the partner of Orson Welles in the Mercury Theatre. I received my education from the University of Connecticut (where I took theatre courses and was in a production of Miller’s The Crucible). At the New School for Social Research where I was also a student, I studied the Films of Alfred Hitchcock (with Donald Spoto) and film production, theatre production including: Legal Issues, television production and video editing. While living in Westport CT., I stage managed and was the technical director for a production of The Gin Game. While a student in NYC, I videotaped at both The Blue Note and the Village Gate in New York City, recording some of the great of American Jazz musicians, including Bobby McFarrin, Dizzy Gillespie, the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, and Tito Puente. In Florida I and my production company produced a professional presentation of selected songs from Sondheim’s Company and Shenandoah, and successfully produced a professional production of the musical Shenandoah in Port Saint Lucie, Florida. I also produced productions of a Street Car Named Desire, and You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown, and created the sound design for Streetcar in Florida. I also portrayed the role of Teddy in Arsenic and old Lace. I designed a theatrical performance space with Richard Randall (copyrighted), While in Portland, Maine, at the Portland, Stage Company (LORT 4), I created the sound design for a production of The Real Thing, where I was also an Equity Intern. I taught film writing at the University of Southern Maine with the granddaughter of E. B. White. Theatre and the American Musical Theatre have been a life-long love and interest. My production company is: Sutton – Sycard Productions Inc. I have finished writing a professional Musical Revue "Have You Heard?" (copyrighted) which is the life, music and lyrics of Cole Porter which I plan to produce and direct in the summer of 2012. "Have You Heard?" serves many functions in addition to being a musical entertainment. It also serves an educational function (I being a teacher who has worked with handicapped students), it is a brief history of the American Musical Theatre, and some of its famous entertainers, it focuses on the creative use of the English language, the process of artistic creation, and finally, and most importantly, it presents the life of a man you triumphed over a severe handicap, the loss of his legs and the amputation of one. This could be an incentive for other children, adolescents and adults who are similarly handicapped.

elementary (k-6th)

Theater

SAT reading

SAT writing

physical science

ASVAB

spelling

ACT Reading

ACT English

elementary math

elementary science

GED

SAT math

literature

GRE

psychology

anatomy

English

ESL/ESOL

Microsoft Word

reading

writing

algebra 1

American history

biology

vocabulary

grammar

geometry