Sandra M. Cottingham, M.Sc., Ph.D.
District Consultant for Secondary Special Education
School District No. 36, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
and
Sessional Instructor
Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology and Special Education,
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
Email:drsandracottingham@gmail.com
Sandra Cottingham has twenty years of classroom experience with regular students and with students with special needs. As a consultant in a large British Columbia school district, Dr. Cottingham works with teachers and administrators supporting children with significant cognitive, behavioral, and mental health challenges.
Dr. Cottingham has been an instructor in the Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology and Special Education at the University of British Columbia and a guest presenter for Simon Fraser University. Her doctoral dissertation entitled, Implementing the Mandate of Inclusion, A Model for Moving from Concept to Action was published by Tilburg University, Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, in the Netherlands where she received her Ph.D. in 2007.
She is actively involved in action research initiatives within special education, and has recently completed an important new book. Lead Babies dismantles and reframes previous notions about our schools’ challenged learners and delinquent behavior as brain damage caused by in-utero neurotoxic exposure, while providing urgently needed research and resources to break the cycle of learning disabilities, ADHD, declining IQ, behavior and autism.
Dr. Cottingham is chairperson of the Surrey Community Council for CLBC (Community Living BC) as one small part of her committed personal and professional advocacy for people with physical and intellectual disabilities. Currently, the council has adopted Appreciative Inquiry as their approach to moving from community concerns for citizens with developmental disabilities to operationalizing positive social change.
