Peter & Monique's research & advocacy

Peter began his work as a clinical child psychologist more than 35 years ago. For much of that time, he led programs that specialize in helping people with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). This includes school- and hospital-based programs of education and treatment in the US and Canada. He has held teaching and faculty positions in education, psychology, pediatrics, and public health at The University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University, McGill University, and elsewhere. His work has been funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control, Maternal Child Health Bureau, and elsewhere. You can see Peter's full resume here.

Peter has published two books in Autism (with a third in press), more than a dozen papers in peer-reviewed journals, and chapters in the most widely cited book in the field. He also published training guidelines for the Checklist for Autism in Toddlers while pioneering its use in North America (the CHAT has evolved into the most widely used Autism screening instrument in the world). He continues to present papers on autism research, treatment, and policy at conferences across North America and Europe (click here for an abbreviated vita).

Peter's scholarship and program leadership on evidence-based practice (EBP) in autism in inclusive school and community settings is particularly relevant to KAN. His 2011 book, edited with Fred Volkmar, Domenic Cicchetti, and Brian Reichow, has been used to train a wide range of professionals, with worldwide sales exceeding 80,000 books or chapters. A significantly revised and expanded edition of this book is now in press, and includes comprehensive reviews of the latest outcome research and applications of EBP in a wide range of community settings.

Monique and Peter began their non-profit work in 2006, helping The Land Conservancy for Southern Chester County (TLC) create its first major preserve in Kennett- Stateline Woods (pictured right) . They served on TLC's board, and as chair he launched the reorganization that eventually led to TLC's merger with the Brandywine Red Clay Alliance. Monique continues to serve on the board of the Kennett YMCA, and while Peter serves on the board of the Kennett Library. In each case, they promote the inclusion of people with IDD in facilities and programs.

Through his work with TLC and land conservation, Peter was invited to become a founding member of the Council on Disabilities at the Land Trust Alliance, the leading organization in the country for training and accrediting land conservancies. With the Council, he helped to author landmark national guidelines in 2021 (left) to help land conservancies increase inclusion. He remains engaged with LTA in these efforts, helping to lead presentations at state and national conferences on the topic.

His previous work and experience helping Margot learn to hike, bike, paddle, and ski led Peter to develop a model - Progressive Access - using research-based practices to build outdoor recreation skills for children with IDD. This framework helped to guide his Fresh Air Self Care FOR ALL program, designed to guide parents and professionals seeking to develop healthy routines centered on walks in nature that build the person's capacity to master paths, trails, and routes of increasing difficulty. He has promoted this model at state and national education and training conferences.

In the course of seeking walks to build Margot's fitness and skills, Peter saw a need to raise awareness of - and promote access to - the full range of local paths and trails. So Peter founded Kennett Outdoors to provide information about options in the region. Peter also worked with trail builders to explore a better model for characterizing the difficulty of natural trails to help people with mobility challenges access more trail options, a model at state and national conferences. When Peter saw that millions of dollars were potentially being wasted on a greenway in my own town, he launched Open Kennett to shed light on these (and other) issues.

Through his interest in adaptive outdoor recreation, Peter saw other opportunities to raise awareness other ways to help people with IDD get healthy outdoors. He has also worked with others to promote adaptive cycling and adaptive active transportation at a range of statewide events. In recognition of these and other efforts, Kennett Outdoors was invited to contribute to the development of Pennsylvania's Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan (SCORP).

When Peter learned that a new law passed in June 2021 - Act 66 - offered an extra year of public school to everyone but most children with disabilities, he worked with other parents to lobby state lawmakers. COVID had had a disproportionate impact on children like Margot, whose critical community-based training continued to be affected long after schools re-opened. His Fix 66 campaign ultimately led to the inclusion of language in Act 55 offering those like Margot, slated to graduate in 2022, the option to stay in school an extra year to make up for learning lost to COVID. We project that this change allocated more than $40M towards an extra year of special education for at least 1500 21 year-olds in the 2022-2023 school year. We continue to meet with state legislators as part of a larger campaign to close critical service gaps. This past year, parent advocacy resulted in an additional investment of more than $400M to IDD waivers in Pennsylvania.