MoxieTalk with Kirt Jacobs #272: Trisha Gallagher, Ed.D.

Trisha Hernandez Gallagher was born in Lakenheath, England on a Royal Air Force Base. She came to the US at 2½ & grew up all over the USA. During her younger years, Dr. Gallagher considered New Jersey home, as she spent summers and her high school career in the Garden State. Now, after 16 years in Louisville, she considers it home. Dr. Gallagher is the proud mother of two sons, Cole, 19, & Liam, 17. She follows in her son's footsteps, with Cole being one of the youngest guests ever on MoxieTalk, our 213th guest! Liam, her youngest, dreams of being a future MoxieTalk guest. Dr. Gallagher earned her B.S. in Psychology from Penn State, M.Ed. in Special Education from West Chester University., & Ed.D. in Educational Leadership & Organizational Development from the University of Louisville. Dr. Gallagher works as an Administrative Specialist for the Exceptional Child Education (ECE) Department in Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS). Currently, she focuses on students with special needs & compliance with local, state, and federal regulations and legislation. She works with the JCPS Family & Community Engagement (FACE) Team, as well as the Parent Advisory Council (PAC).  Prior to 2018, she worked with students with Autism Spectrum Disorders and their families for 21 years. Her dissertation focused on the social networks of parents of students with autism as a proxy measure of social capital.  Previously, Dr. Gallagher supervised programming for children with autism & trained school/district/state/national groups of professionals on Evidence-Based Practices (EBPs). As a member of the state autism team, Dr. Gallagher, assisted in the development of the Kentucky Family Guide for Autism, coordinated the 1st model classrooms for Kentucky's partnership with the National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorders (NPDC), and contributed to the development of the KY Department of Education's Guidance Document for Autism. Last year, Dr. Gallagher reviewed the latest set of EBPs for the NDPC