Susan Swan-Petrok
Educational Consultant 

I am the parent of an adult son (27) with autism who is well established working as a chef for a catering company. I became a teacher following my son's diagnosis when he was 9. We live in Waterbury, CT, the 5th lowest socio-economic city in the state. I knew that I needed to learn what the district was supposed to be doing so that I could make them do it. I self-studied to learn as much as I could about advocating for my son and special education law. This led to my returning to college to become a teacher. I am now in my 18th year working in the field of education. I worked in public schools for 16 of those years. I made the move from public school district to private special education school in 2022. I currently work as the head special education teacher of the transition program at the Fresh Start School at FOCUS Center for Autism in Canton, CT. My area of expertise is obviously in the area of autism; specifically in how autism impacts cognitive functioning overall; in the learning process, socially, emotionally, and the area of development of abstract constructs and schema such as, self-determination. I am currently working on completing my doctorate in Educational Leadership. In my doctoral studies I am focusing on one particular skillset of cognitive functioning that impact individuals with autism; Central Coherence, one of the key deficit areas in cognitive functioning of autism and developing programing to better teach self-determination skills to this population.