John B. Thomas, M.Ed.
Director, ASD Partners
Autism Society of North Carolina
John Thomas is an educator who has dedicated his career to improve the lives of individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and is currently the Director of ASD Partners with the Autism Society of North Carolina.
Mr. Thomas spent much of his career working with people with (ASD) as a teacher, classroom consultant, diagnostician, adolescent and adult therapist, vocational coordinator in a residential program, and a supported employment coordinator. For over 20 years he was a therapist with Division TEACCH, a nationally recognized program that focuses on education, research, and training related to autism spectrum disorders, and was involved in assessment teams to determine autism diagnoses.
He worked as a behavior specialist and as a staff development specialist before becoming the autism educational consultant for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. He was a principle author of the TEACCH Transition Assessment Profile (Pro-Ed., Inc., 2006). A major focus of his present work is identifying procedures that assure success in residential and vocational settings for adults with autism.
Mr. Thomas presently helps to coordinate the training efforts of the Autism Society of North Carolina and coordinates the Autism Early Intervention Model project. Mr. Thomas has provided assessments of the children involved in this program and works to identify "best practice" in the programs involved in the project.