Education

Ed.D., Literacy Studies, Hofstra University, 2009

M.S., Special Education, LIU Brentwood, 1982

B.A., Child Study, St. Joseph's University, New York, 1981

Bio

Katherine Granelli, Ed.D. specializes in working with children with special needs (in particular, autism). She engages in research involving the literacy capabilities (reading, writing, language) of children with autistic disorder. She has more than 20 years of experience working in the fields of early intervention, adult education and special education. As an early intervention teacher, Dr. Granelli worked with both children and parents in home-based settings to achieve the best results for the instruction of infants and toddlers with special needs. She has also served as a teacher’s union representative, participatory management team member and mentor teacher.

At St. Joseph’s University, New York, Dr. Granelli is the director for the Advanced Certificate in Applied Behavior Analysis and the Infant/Toddler Early Childhood Special Education Graduate Program. She is also a co-director in the Office of Student Accessibility Services.

Dr. Granelli is a member of the Council for Exceptional Children, National Council of Teachers of English, International Reading Association, National Association for the Education of Young Children and Autism Society of America. In 2010, she presented, "Revealing the Hidden Language Capabilities of Children with Autistic Disorder during Oral Reading" at the International Autism Symposium at the Geneva Centre for Autism in Toronto, Canada.

Dr. Granelli teaches courses on topics such as the Psychology of the Exceptional Child, Special Education: Methods and Materials, and Special Education Student Teaching on both the graduate and undergraduate level. She is also a N.Y.S. certified Schools Against Violence in Education (S.A.V.E.) and Dignity for All Students Act (D.A.S.A.) officer.

Scholarly & Professional Interests

Dr. Granelli is a member of the Council for Exceptional Children, National Council of Teachers of English, International Reading Association, National Association for the Education of Young Children and Autism Society of America. She has presented her research work, "Revealing the Hidden Language Capabilities of Children with Autistic Disorder during Oral Reading," at the International Autism Symposium at the Geneva Centre for Autism in Toronto, Canada and many other national conferences. Most recently, Dr. Granelli has presented her case study, "Using Special Education Techniques to Recover From Stroke," at local hospitals, conferences, and colloquiums.

Select Publications

Granelli, K. (2007). Imagination: The bridge to meaning. In Imagination, cognition, and language acquisition: A unified approach to theory and practice. Coreil, C. (Ed.). New Jersey City: New Jersey City University Press. 

Quote

"As a special education teacher, you hold someone's life in your hands every day. The decisions you make about the children you teach can affect them for a lifetime. An effective, dedicated, special education teacher always needs to ask him/herself, 'How can I change the environment to meet the needs of this child?'"