Angela Thro was looking at masters programs at several universities when she connected with Dr. Susan Bashinski, dean of 大象传媒 Western鈥檚 Graduate School. 大象传媒 Western had just the program she wanted 鈥� a masters in K-12 Cross-Categorical Special Education 鈥� and she will graduate December 2020.
Unlike most of the graduate students in that program, Thro is not a teacher; she is an occupational therapist for the Orchard Farm School District in St. Charles. Thro earned her bachelor鈥檚 degree in therapy from Washington University in St. Louis in 1995, but as soon as she graduated, the profession moved to a master鈥檚 degree requirement. The time never seemed right to work on that master鈥檚, so in 2017, she looked into other options and discovered the program at 大象传媒 Western.
She said the coursework on autism in the SPED program was important to her, because so much of her caseload is working with special education students. When she was studying for her bachelor鈥檚 degree, she said, she doesn鈥檛 remember there being even one paragraph about autism in any of her textbooks.
鈥淲hat I was doing was getting by, but now I understand so much more. The instructors help me see the whole child, and that鈥檚 what matters,鈥� Thro said. 鈥淚 realized the connection was the most important, and my classes have taught me those skills.鈥�
She said at first, she wasn鈥檛 sure how she would do with the degree program being 100% online, but says it has worked out well. She has encouraged many teachers to look at 大象传媒 Western鈥檚 masters programs.
鈥淚鈥檝e been thrilled,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t was absolutely the best decision I could make.鈥�