University of Florida - Gainesville

Candace Carsey, Alachua County
Lawton Chiles Elementary School
CARD Staff: Cathy Zenko

Candace Carsey is from Gainesville Florida. She received her undergraduate degree in Psychology from Saint Leo University and my master’s degree in Counseling Education from Webster University out of Saint Louis, Missouri. She is currently employed as a guidance counselor at Lawton Chiles Elementary with the School Board of Alachua County. Prior to coming to Chiles Elementary, she worked as a career counselor in Gainesville, FL. Working as a Guidance Counselor she is exposed to students with varying exceptionalities. Each child is unique and special in every way. She loves her job and she loves meeting the needs of the students and their families. She is really excited to have the opportunity to obtain the educational experience in autism from CARD at UF as she will be able to further enrich the lives of her students.

Proposed Project:

“Chiles Professional Learning Community”

This project was created to help teachers learn skills and strategies to use with students who are identified as being on the spectrum. The number of students who are diagnosed with autism has increased within the past few years. Teachers have expressed interest in learning more about autism and the skills on how to work with these students.

2nd Year projections - Parent workshops, additional teacher training on behaviors affect academic learning, Brainstorming session on how to work with Autistic students, extending google doc file, Social Skills through technology.