Laura Desportes

Laura is a professor at JMU with a Masters in School Psychology and a Doctorate in Educational Psychology. Her professional interests include Intervention Outcome Assessment, Teacher Resilience and Efficacy, and Inclusive Models of Education Globally. She has worked as a clinician and a researcher with individuals with disabilities and at-risk from birth to geriatrics. Her human services career began as a practicum student at our Pygmalion School and then on to teaching at Woodrow Wilson Rehab Center, where she continued to serve our clients. From there she has served as a research and evaluation specialist focusing on treatment outcome assessment for a state human services agency, been a regional human services director, an inpatient pediatric clinician, and a special educator across a wide variety of settings. She has traveled extensively studying models of inclusive education as a means for enhancing social justice. She is looking forward to serving on the board as it feels full circle since her human services career as a practicum student at the Pygmalion school. She and her sociologist husband Carl are happy “empty nesters” living along the South River with their many critters and love working together on shared research interests.