Susan O'Rourke

Dr. Susan O’Rourke, former DISES president and department chair and professor of special education at Carlow University, is doing exciting professional development and service in Uganda, Ireland and Belize (previously Nicaragua). She is doing study abroad special education programs with Ireland and Belize. (She’ll be taking a group of students to Ireland this summer.) In Belize she also developed and utilized an assessment tool to measure student learning in the arts.

Dr. O’Rourke is doing extensive work in Uganda encompassing special education program development and service in their communities. Her services to the communities includes raising funds to construct 7 wells in place where access to clean water is quite difficult as well as distribution of eyeglasses. Special education professional development activities there include consultation with faculty at Kisubi University for a new graduate special education teacher preparation program, building of the first inclusive education program in the Teso region and development of a vocational gardening curriculum for students with disabilities. She recently went to Malaysia where she is working on professional development for special education teachers there. Dr. O’Rourke plans to continue this work in these countries and possibly expand to Liberia and Columbia.