About the Finegans
Sara and Richard Finegan
Sara Finegan lives and works in San Diego, California, where she teaches a Special Day Class for grades 4, 5 and 6 in elementary school. She has taught in the public and private school sectors for more than 25 years in both general and special education settings. She’s taught students with a variety of learning abilities including GATE, students diagnosed with emotional disturbances, high-functioning autism, non-verbal learning disorder, and expressive and receptive language deficits. Her classroom is known for its rigor and humor.
Ms. Finegan obtained her Masters Degree in Special Education from California State University at San Marcos. In addition to teaching children, she has served as Adjunct Professor at National University where she has taught and mentored graduate-level students working on action research in Special Education.
Sara and her husband Richard Finegan, a paraprofessional (and former attorney, journalist and teacher) with considerable experience working with children with autism and related challenges, serve as consultants to parents, advocates and education groups interested in supporting the needs of students with disabilities.
Sara has led workshops on learning and teaching methods as well as content-area instruction, and writes about her experiences teaching students with autism reading comprehension skills on her blog at http://www.readerswithautism.com/. A long career in the field of Jewish education has also inspired her to work with congregations interested in providing a rich experience for Hebrew School students with special needs.
