Staff

SEAT Center Director and SED Professor

Dr. Parette graduated from the University of Arkansas in 1976 with dual certification in elementary and special education. He has worked as a 4th grade elementary teacher, an Educational Diagnostician for the Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services, a special education teacher in the Department of Correction educational system, and as an early intervention teacher. He completed his Master's degree in Learning Disabilities from the University of Arkansas in 1978, and completed an Ed.D. degree in Special Education (Multidisabilities) from the University of Alabama in 1982. He has served as the Americans with Disabilities Act Coordinator for the Arkansas Easter Seal Society, and taught special education at several institutions of higher learning, most recently at Southeast Missouri State University (1993-2003). Between 2000-2002, he served as Dean of the School of Graduate Studies. In 2003, he was appointed the SEAT Center Director and SED Professor at Illinois State University. Dr. Parette has published more than 200 scholarly works since 1982, with the preponderance of his work in the field of assistive technology (AT). In recent years, his work has focused on cross-cultural AT applications. He was a primary co-author of the Arkansas Technology Access Program, one of the first nine states funded under the Assistive Technology and Related Assistance Act of 1988 (Tech Act). He has also developed an innovative CD-ROM, Families, cultures and AAC, that has received six major film and media competition awards.

, M.Ed.

Coordinator

Brian Wojcik is proud to be an ISU Special Education alumnus. He received both his undergraduate (Deaf and Hard of Hearing/Elementary Education) and master's degree (LD/BD with emphasis on teaching students with multiple disabilities) from the Special Education Department.

During his professional career, he has worked in a variety of ways with individuals with disabilities. He has worked as a sign language interpreter, a postsecondary transition specialist, and as a teacher for seven years. In his career, Brian has taught children receiving special education services in every eligibility category from preschool through adulthood. He has been actively involved in several professional organizations on both the state and national level. Currently, Brian is working as the Illinois State University Special Education Assistive Technology Center Project Coordinator.