Doreen Granpeesheh
| Doreen Granpeesheh دورین گرانپیشه | |
|---|---|
| Born |
1963 Tehran, Iran |
| Nationality | Iran |
| Fields |
Clinical psychologist Board certified behavior analyst |
| Institutions | University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) |
| Alma mater | UCLA |
| Thesis | The effects of teaching common preschool games to autistic children on increasing peer interaction (1990) |
| Known for |
Applied behavior analysis Lovaas technique Center for Autism and Related Disorders (CARD) ACT Today! (Autism Care and Treatment Today!) |
| Influences | Ivar Lovaas |
| Notable awards |
American Academy of Clinical Psychiatrists Winokur Award (2011) Autism Society of America, Wendy F. Miller Professional of the Year Award (2007) Parenting Arizona, Raising the Bar Award (2007) |
Doreen Granpeesheh, PhD, BCBA-D (born in 1963) is an Iranian-American clinical psychologist and producer of the independent award-winning documentary Recovered: Journeys Through the Autism Spectrum and Back, which depicts four children's learning achievements as their parents recount how they recovered from autism.[1] She obtained her psychology degree from the California Board of Psychology. Moreover, Granpeesheh is the founder and president of ACT Today! (Autism Care and Treatment Today!), which provides financial support to families who are unable to pay for validated treatment.[2]
In 1990, Granpeesheh founded and is chief executive officer of the Center for Autism and Related Disorders (CARD), a nationally recognized clinic that implements early, intensive Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy.[2] In 2010, she completed a study which found that 6 out of 14 autistic children who obtained treatment by CARD "had fully recovered".[3]
Granpeesheh co-created Skills—an online assessment and ABA treatment guide for children with autism spectrum disorders and attention deficit hyperactivity disorders—with CARD's research and development manager Adel Najdowski; Jonathan Tarbox, the director of research; and Dennis Dixon, director of analytics.[4][5][6]
Early childhood and education
Granpeesheh was born in Tehran, Iran and went to school in England and Switzerland. Her father served as an advisor to the Minister of Finance in Tehran. When it became unsafe to proceed living there and the Islamic Revolution was beginning to arise, her parents sent her to Los Angeles, California in the United States where she completed high school at the age of 15.[7]
When she was 16 years old in 1979, Granpeesheh attended the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) where she met her college professor Ivar Lovaas, who was pioneering an early intervention to teach children with autism called Discrete trial teaching (DTT), an intensive and structured modality derived from the science of Applied behavior analysis (ABA).
In addition, Granpeesheh, who later became Lovaas' senior supervisor at his clinic, took part in his famous study in 1987 which documented how 9 of 19 children with autism who obtained early, intensive ABA therapy acquired typical academic and language skills and were placed in regular classrooms.[7][8] A follow-up study in 1993 tracked these children as adolescents with 8 of the 9 best outcome children displaying "adaptive and social skills within the normal range" and were indistinguishable from other typically developing children their age.[9] In 1999, the United States Surgeon General praised the study and remarked that three decades of research has shown early, intensive ABA interventions to be highly effective for treating youngsters with ASD.
References
- ↑ "Recovered: Journeys Through the Autism Spectrum and Back - The Story". Center for Autism and Related Disorders, Inc. Retrieved June 19, 2011.
- 1 2 "Our Founder". Center for Autism & Related Disorders. 2011. Retrieved December 28, 2011.
- ↑ Mary Beth Faller (November 12, 2010). "Autism therapy group says it cured 6 kids". The Arizona Republic.
- ↑ "Meet Skills Founders & Leaders in ABA and Autism Therapy". Center for Autism and Related Disorders. 2012. Retrieved September 8, 2012.
- ↑ "About: Corporate Leadership". Center for Autism and Related Disorders. 2008–2012. Retrieved September 8, 2012.
- ↑ "Skills Index". Center for Autism and Related Disorders. 2012. Retrieved September 8, 2012.
- 1 2 "Dr. Doreen Granpeesheh - About". Dr. Doreen Granpeesheh. 2010. Retrieved June 19, 2011.
- ↑ Lovaas, O. Ivar. Behavioral Treatment and Normal Educational and Intellectual Functioning in Young Autistic Children. ScienceDirect. 1987;55(1):3-9. doi:10.1037/0022-006x.55.1.3.
- ↑ McEachin, J. J., Smith, Tristram, and Lovaas, O. Ivar. Long-term outcome for children with autism who received early intensive behavioral treatment. American Journal on Mental Retardation. 1993;97(4):359-372.