Rena Lewis  e-mail: rlewis@mail.sdsu.edu

Professor of Special Education, Graduate Advisor

Ph.D., M.Ed., Special Education, University of Arizona

B.A., English, Northern Arizona University

I grew up inupstate New York but escaped at age 18. I've done many types of work but got my start in special education by working in a residential facility for persons with mental retardation. That job sparked my interest in disabilities and I went to the U. of A. to learn to teach. Since finishing my doctorate, I've worked at theUniversity of Arizona with the Navajo Teacher Education Project, atJames Madison University with the Department of Special Education, and at San Diego State.

My major professional interests concern the use of technology with students with learning disabilities. I've just completed a three-year research project, Enhancing the Writing Skills of Students with Learning Disabilities. This federally funded project investigated word processing tools such as word prediction and how they can be used to provide an assistive writing environment for students with learning disabilities and others who have difficulty writing.

I've recently completed a federally funded research project,Project LITT (Literacy Instruction Through Technology). This project was concerned with the reading problems of students with learning disabilities and how one type of software, hypermedia-based children's literature (sometimes called "talking storybook" programs), can assist these students to acquire reading skills. The website for Project LITT provides information about the five studies to be conducted during the project and contains Software Profiles for more than 300 talking storybook programs.

I love cats, mystery stories, and computer games like solitaire. My cats include a family ofHimalayans and three alleys.

Last updated on March 1, 2001.

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