Deborah A. Bruns, Ph.D.

Deborah A. Bruns, Ph.D.

Deborah A. Bruns is an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology and Special Education at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in the areas of assessment and intervention in early childhood special education, working with families and program leadership. Dr. Bruns's research agenda reflect her primary areas of teaching including the use of play-based assessment as a teaching tool, examining feeding development of young children with and without disabilities and parent-professional relationships in early intervention. She is also Principal Investigator of the Tracking Rare Incidence Syndromes (TRIS) project.

She serves on the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Early Intervention, Early Childhood Research & Practice, Neonatal Network and Young Exceptional Children. Dr. Bruns is active at the state and national levels in the Division for Early Childhood. She is also a member of the National Association for the Education of Young Children.