Kari Dunn Buron

Kari Dunn Buron taught in K-12 with students on the autism spectrum for 30+ years and was a founding member of the MN Autism Project. She developed an Autism Spectrum Disorders Certificate program for educators at Hamline University in St. Paul, MN and has done volunteer work specific to autism in Trinidad, Tobago, Barbados, Tanzania and Ghana. In 2003, Kari received a Self-designed Bush Leadership Fellowship that allowed her to spend a year interviewing and working internationally with a number of scientists and researchers in the area of Neuroscience, Social Cognition, Education and Autism with a focus on challenging behaviors. In 2012, Kari was inducted into the Illinois State University Education Department Hall of Fame.

Kari is the co-author of The Incredible 5-Point Scale (Revised Edition), and the author of When My Worries Get Too Big, A 5 Could Make Me Lose Control and A 5 is Against the Law! (2008 ASA literary award winner). Kari is the co-editor of a textbook for educators titled Learners on the Autism Spectrum: Preparing Highly Qualified Educators (2009 ASA literary award winner) and is the creator of an original social skills magazine designed for students with Asperger Syndrome called The Social Times (2010 Gold Winner, National Patenting Publications Award and Gold Medal Winner - Moonbeam Children's Book Awards).

Kari's latest projects include Social Behavior and Self-Management

(a book about how to use the scale with adults) and an early chapter book entitled Adalyn's Clare. Adalyn's Clare is a story about the dilemmas faced when a child has social anxiety, and the importance of respecting special interests when creating successful special programs. Adalyn's Clare is an excellent book to add to a Bibliotherapy curriculum teaching social and emotional information to highly anxious children.