Prof. Vicki Casella, executive director

The Bridge School, USA

Dr. Vicki Casella has been involved in the education of children and adults with special needs for over 50 years. Her professional experience includes classroom and clinical teaching, public and private school administration, and university teaching and administration. She has taught at the University of Alabama, the University of Nevada, Reno, and San Francisco State University. While a professor in the Special Education Department at San Francisco State University, Dr. Casella initiated the first adaptive technology academic courses in the United States. Her areas of expertise were focused on teacher preparation in deaf/hard of hearing, learning, and multiple disabilities and she was the Director of the Deaf and Hearing Impaired Program. For the past 16 years she has served as the Executive Director of The Bridge School, a special school dedicated to ensuring that children with severe physical impairments and complex communication needs develop the education and communication the skills they need to become active participants in their communities and that the effective strategies employed at The Bridge School are disseminated throughout the national and international community.