Beth Myers

Beth Myers is the Lawrence B. Taishoff Professor of Inclusive Education and Executive Director of the Taishoff Center for Inclusive Higher Education. She is a tenure-track faculty member in the Teaching and Leadership Department in the School of Education at Syracuse University, teaching in the Inclusive Elementary program where she started in 2014. She oversees InclusiveU, a federally-recognized model program for college students with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Professor Myers taught in the Lower Merion School District in Pennsylvania and helped to create a best-practice inclusive program there. She opened a regional center for autism services in 2006 and served as Executive Director before joining the center’s consultation team in 2011. Beth holds a dual appointment with the Kelberman Center for Autism Services as Director of Special Projects. She has provided school consultations for students with autism and staff development to over 60 school districts. Additionally, Professor Myers has been the faculty liaison to the Syracuse City School District for the SUITR Program, a Masters Residency program in urban special education.

Dr. Myers was awarded a $2 million grant from the US Department of Education for her work on Transition and Postsecondary Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabilities (TPSID). She has served on the Fit Families research team and has recently published several articles in that area and a forthcoming book chapter. Myers co-authored the recent special issue of TASH Connections: Post-secondary Education and Self-Advocacy. Her book, Autobiography on the Spectrum: Disrupting the Autism Narrative, was published in 2019 by Teachers College Press. Her second book, Narrating Higher Education: Intellectual Disability with co-author Michael Gill, is under contract with University of Minnesota Press.

Myers has conducted research to study the autobiographical works of adolescents with autism, which won the Ralph C. Preston Award for Scholarship and Teaching Contributing to Social Justice and Educational Equity. Myers currently serves on the National Down Syndrome Society Inclusion Committee. She is the founding Executive Editor of the Journal of Inclusive Postsecondary Education. Dr. Myers was recently awarded the CNY Business Journal’s Business Woman of the Year in Higher Education.

Dr. Myers holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in elementary education, special education, and literacy from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia and a doctorate from the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania.

Education:

• Ed.D., University of Pennsylvania, 2012
• M.Ed. Reading Specialist, Saint Joseph’s University, 2000
• B.S. Elementary Education and Special Education, Saint Joseph’s University, 1999

Research Focus:

Autism Spectrum Disorders, disability studies, special education and teacher preparation, self-determination and transition planning, literacy education

Honors:

• Business Journal News Network Successful Business Woman of the Year, Higher Education
• Ralph C. Preston Award for Scholarship and Teaching Contributing to Social Justice and Educational Equity