John
R. Johnson, Ph.D. & Chloe
About Me
My undergraduate and masters
degrees were completed at the University of Cincinnati in 1980
and 1983, respectively. My undergraduate program focused on the instruction of
students with moderate and severe disabilities. My undergraduate program
included the completion of an inter-disciplinary studies program at the Cincinnati Center for Developmental Disorders.
I shifted my emphasis to working with students with severe emotional and
psychiatric disabilities for my Masters degree. During both my undergraduate
and graduate programs I was fortunate to have excellent faculty advisors who
made it possible for me to complete advanced coursework in experimental
psychology and other research-focused courses. This exposure contributed
significantly to my interest in research and ultimately led to apply a
published research study to designing one of the first fully community-based
career development programs for students with severe disabilities in Northern
Kentucky.
Following the completion of my
Masters degree, I continued to pursue advanced studies and completed a graduate
internship in the area of supported employment at Virginia
Commonwealth University, Rehabilitation and Research Training Center
. My continued interest in research led me to pursue my doctorate at the University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The principle investigator of the
study mentioned above, Dr. Frank Rusch, became my doctoral advisor. I finished
my doctorate in 1991. During my tenure at the University of Illinois I worked
at the Transition Research Institute and
focused my efforts in areas related to transition of youth with disabilities
from school to adult life, supported employment, self-determination and
leadership development. My dissertation focused on an analysis of the
relationship between co-workers without disabilities and employees with
disabilities.
After I
completed my bachelor's degree I had teaching certificates from the State of Ohio
and the Commonwealth of Kentucky. My first job was working with students with
moderate/severe disabilities ages 14 and older for the Kenton County Board of
Education in Northern Kentucky at Ft. Wright School. At the time, the school
was administered by the local archdiocese. The school was a completely
segregated school for students with disabilities located on a single entrance
road named "Sanitarium Road". Up the hill was a nursing home for the
elderly and at the entrance to the road was a psychiatric hospital. The entire
area was surrounded by woods. Later the road was renamed, Farrell Dr. I taught
there for six years. The staff I worked with were extremely progressive in
their thinking and before I had moved on one of the elementary age classrooms had
been relocated into a local elementary school. I was also fortunate to work
with an school principle who fully supported and encouraged his staff to move
students with disabilities into fully included and integrated environments.
Eventually, all of the classes were moved and the school is now a regular
elementary school that includes students with disabilities.
During my
tenure at Ft. Wright School I became very disenchanted with the fact that it
appeared that no matter how hard I worked at promoting the achievement,
independence, productivity, and integration of students with disabilities,
their fate was to be warehoused in the local sheltered workshop. While working
at Ft. Wright School, I also had the extremely unfortunate experience of
working for the Butler County Board of Mental Retardation during the summer as
a supervisor in what was considered one of the best county sheltered workshops.
As a result, I became very interested in the notion of supported employment. I
was later elected as a Board member of the Association for Persons in Supported
Employment. While I was working on my Masters degree for a Cincinnati
Public school exclusively for students with severe emotional and psychiatric
disabilities. After my Master degree I went back to work at Ft. Wright School.
I entered
my doctoral program in 1986 at the University of Illinois. I received an
assistantship and provided technical assistance to adult service agencies
through the State of Illinois delivering supported employment services to teens
and adults with disabilities. I eventually ended up directing technical
assistance and created a statewide database to evaluate the impact of the
technical assistance we were providing with a specific effort on monitoring the
employment outcomes of persons receiving supported employment services. I was
also involved in conducting policy analysis of best practice in transition.
After I
completed my doctorate I did a three year stint at the University of Cincinnati.
I collaborated with colleagues at Ohio State University and Kent State
University to submit a systems change grant in transition (Project Life) which
was awarded. I also authored and submitted a grant for the Ohio Department of
Rehabilitation Services for systems change in supported employment (Project
More) that was also awarded.
From
there, I did what amounted to a postdoc at the Institute for Community Inclusion
at Boston-Children's Hospital where I was involved in two research projects.
One involved a qualitative study of the factors contributing to the
organizational change of agencies who eliminated their segregated adult service
programs in favor of fully integrated community-based services. The second
involved a national study of adult day programs to determine the predictors of
integrated employment options. I also taught a number of courses at the
University of Massachusetts-Boston.
I was
recruited back to the University of Illinois to work for the National Transition Alliance from
1996-1999. During this period of time I provided technical assistance to the
National School to Work Office related to the evaluation of persons with
disabilities participating in school-to-work programs. In addition, I assisted
the State of Illinois Coordinating Council with the start-up of their systems
change grant in transition.
From
August 1999 through July 2000 I took a leave of absence for reasons
professional and personal. I am extremely happy to be here and feel I have
found both a professional and personal home. The short period of time I have
been here at San Diego State University has been the best time of my
professional career. I look forward to a long and productive tenure here.
I am the
eldest of nine. My father recently passed away. He was the Director of the
Research Laboratory for Good Samaritan Hospital and made some significant
contributions to medical research. My parents celebrated their 50th anniversary
about two months prior to his passing. My mother is doing well and continues to
live in Cincinnati, Ohio. My brothers and sisters live across the country in
Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, and Michigan. I was born in Port
Hueneme on the Naval Base near Santa Barbara. I grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio. I
went to parochial grade and high schools and was fully included before they
made such a public issue out of it.
I just
bought a kayak and Chloe and I are now spending a lot of time on the Bay
hanging out in the water and doing a little fishing. I am also looking into
taking sailing lessons through a new program called AIMS. I love to camp and
like being outside near a body of water.
I have a
sixth degree black belt in a traditional Korean Martial Art called "Soo
Bahk Do. I was elected as the Chairman of the Board of Directors by the US Soo Bahk Do Moo Duk Kwan Federation, Inc.
and served for two years. I have been elected once and was appointed by the
Founder of this martial art to the Board two years ago. I continue to train in
this art and serve the organization.
I have
traveled to India, Korea, and Malaysia. I spent a month in India and had some
incredible experiences. I want to go back to both Korea and India. I would also
love to visit Japan and China.
I love to
read and write; hang out in a local cafe; watch the sunset; and play with
Chloe.