With research featured in books, publications, and grants, Dr. Odom has contributed to many areas including early childhood special education, social inclusion, autism spectrum disorders, and the effective implementation of evidence-based practices. During his leave, Dr. Odom will be working with colleagues in the Department of Special Education on a research grant from the Department of Special Education’s Institute of Educational Sciences titled The Center on Secondary Education for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders (CSESA).
Dr. Odom will assist in coordinating this multi-site randomized control trial study evaluating a comprehensive multi-component professional development intervention for high school students with autism spectrum disorder. San Diego State University is one of the three locations - along with University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and University of Wisconsin, Madison - that each will be working with the personnel in 20 high schools across the next three years.
On March 11, Dr. Odom presented a Distinguished Lecture entitled, “Letting it happen, helping it happen, making it happen: Autism spectrum disorders and evidence-based practice” for students, faculty, alumni and community partners that was very well received and sparked much conversation about how to effectively implement what practices we have found with evidence.