Episode #54: Diane Gould - Trauma Informed Educators Network Podcast

Diane wanted to become a social worker at age 10 when she read a book about Jane Addams. She received a master's degree in social work at Jane Addams School of Social Work in the 1980s. She has worked in many schools and in social service agencies supporting special education students and families for many years. She has always had an interest in human behavior and became a Board Certified Behavior Analyst as she was unhappy with the way behavior change was typically addressed. Because of the certification, she has been allowed to represent students in due process hearings when their needs were not being met in schools. Often these students had significant trauma histories and complex learning profiles and were not helped by a traditional behavioral model. Diane started a private practice about 17 years ago and has specialized in supporting autistic individuals and their families. She became interested in the demand avoidance profile of autism which is recognized in other countries and not the US and founded PDA North America in 2020.