By Gina Macris

Amy Grattan, an expert in special education with a focus on early childhood, has been appointed director of the Paul V. Sherlock Center on Disabilities at Rhode Island College.

Grattan “brings a breadth of knowledge and experience in the field of disability and special education,” according to a Sherlock Center statement on her appointment.

Grattan will help ensure that “Rhode Island’s citizens with disabilities have a strong and vibrant advocate” and will “strengthen the many positive collaborative relationships with Rhode Island school systems and community partners,” the statement said.

The Sherlock Center, a federally funded University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD), has served as a key resource as Rhode Island tries to transform its services for adults with developmental disabilities from a segregated model to an inclusive one to comply with the integration mandate of the Americans With Disabilities Act, as required by a 2014 civil rights consent decree.

The Sherlock Center has provided a philosophical framework on inclusion, as well as technical assistance, research and specialized training and educational programs for state employees, direct care workers, families and individuals who themselves receive developmental disability services.

A Sherlock Center staff member since 2005, Grattan has served as a consultant for initiatives aimed at improving early childhood education nationwide and in Rhode Island, collaborating with the state Department of Education and with local school districts. Currently, she also serves as a consultant on early childhood education for the Sherlock Center’s counterpart at the University of Connecticut.

In addition to early childhood education, she has expertise in alternate assessments, standards-based instruction, and helping teachers understand students significant disabilities and autism, accoring to the Sherlock Center statement.

Grattan also has served Rhode Island College as an adjunct professor in special education and early childhood education at the masters’ level. Her appointment became effective Oct. 21, according to a Sherlock Center spokeswoman.

Grattan succeeds A. Anthony Antosh, who had served as director of the Sherlock Center since its inception in 1993. Antosh was responsible for securing the federal grant which established the Sherlock Center as a UCEDD. The center was named after the late Paul V. Sherlock, a special education professor at Rhode Island College and state legislator who became widely known as a tireless advocate for Rhode Islanders with disabilities.