She graduated from The College of William and Mary with dual emphases in gifted education and special education. Her research areas include twice-exceptional children, particularly children with high-functioning autism; the role of ability and language in stress management; and response to intervention issues in gifted education. She has been a visiting fellow at Oxford in the area of high functioning autism and has authored several articles, chapters, and books as well as an ongoing blog at professormother.com. She is a former elementary and middle school teacher, has presented at numerous national and state conferences, and is currently the Chair of the Special Populations Network of the National Association for Gifted Children. She lives on St. Simons Island, GA, and is the mother of two twice-exceptional children.