Early childhood intervention

So from early in my career, I've been drawn to work that is centered around helping others to build confidence, to build independence and a sense of belonging.

And in early intervention, we did that in homes, in preschool environments, in child care centers, in schools, being able to do that in community-based settings and also in public schools.

It's just been great.

So the early experiences that I had really taught me compassion.

So thank you for sharing that.

But on that note, Julia, what about your work with autistic students? What really drew you to that? And then how has all of your experiences teaching autistic students shaped how you think about human potential today?

So working in, again, starting with my early intervention experience, it taught me to look beyond the traditional measures that we have for success and instead recognizing growth in communication, growth in emotional regulation, and in independence.

And I still look at those things in my classroom today.