Simmons College

Allan S. Blume is a full-time Assistant Professor in the Department of Education, Programs in Special Education at Simmons College. He joined the faculty of Simmons College in 1995.  In addition, he served as Chair of the Department for two years.  

Allan's primary area of instruction and expertise is on the laws, regulations and processes of special education.  His course engages graduate and undergraduate students, who anticipate becoming special or general educators, in the state and federal requirements for the provision of special education services.  Allan also teaches a seminar for graduate students that blends the theoretical and practical aspects of the craft of teaching and the practice of special education.   In addition he supervises full-time graduate interns/teachers in classrooms from Pre K to grade 12. 

Prior to his work at Simmons, Allan taught for 18 years as a special education teacher in public schools and educational collaboratives in Massachusetts.  He has consulted to schools throughout the Commonwealth regarding federal and state special education regulations.  He has guided school personnel with understanding and implementing individualized education programs, disability awareness, special education process, inclusion, eligibility, Section 504, linking instruction to standards, and district evaluation of inclusion and special education provision.

In January 2009, Allan traveled to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to present at the Help Center 4th Symposium: Young Adults and Beyond.  He served on a three-person panel presenting elements of his paper on Transitions and Adulthood of Persons with a Mental Disability.  This panel presentation was followed by workshop entitled "Preparing for Transition" attended by government officials, practitioners and parents of children with special needs. In addition to his presentations at the Symposium, Allan was a guest at the American International School of Jeddah, Jeddah Institute for Speech and Hearing, the Maharat Center for Cognitive and Skills Development and at Dar Al Hekma College for Women.