Biographical Information

Deborah Golden Alecson earned a M.S. degree in special education and a B.A. degree in philosophy, both from Hunter College, CUNY. She was awarded a certificate of graduate study in Autism Spectrum Disorders in 2007 from Antioch University New England, Department of Applied Psychology.

She started her teaching career as a special education teacher for the New York City Board of Education. Ms. Alecson has been an ABA therapist and early interventionist for Westchester Center for Educational and Emotional Development; and has been an independent provider of EI services for the Westchester County Department of Health. She was an academic tutor for the College Internship Program in Lee, Massachusetts, working with post-high school students with a range of learning disabilities, including Asperger’s syndrome. She ran and conceived recreational programs for children with special needs at Berkshire South Regional Community Center. She has been an adjunct lecturer in the department of humanities at LaGuardia Community College CUNY; an adjunct lecturer in the English department at Pace University in New York City; and an adjunct instructor for the philosophy department at SUNY New Paltz.

Currently, Ms. Alecson works as a therapist and teacher for early intervention and preschool special education. She is an autism specialist and consultant for the Pediatric Palliative Care Program of HospiceCare In The Berkshires, Community Resources for People with Autism and local school districts. She is an ongoing substitute therapist for social skills groups and an approved senior therapist for the Autism Waiver Program of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Ms Alecson has been in private practice with children and adolescents since her move to the Berkshires in 2003.

Ms. Alecson is the author of two books: Lost Lullaby (University of California Press, 1995) and Alternative Treatments for Children Within the Autistic Spectrum (Keats Publishing, 1999). She has lectured on autism and biomedical ethics.