About Del Payne

When asked about her professional history, Del said “Over the last few years, I have come to the realization that my work and my personal life are both centered on cultivating positive relationships that generate happy, healthy and growing individuals.” With a professional background focused on teaching special education, she says that she has learned what it truly means to “be in the trenches.” As a brand new special education teacher in 2012, Del gained first-hand experience in the obstacles that accompany students with significant cognitive, communication, and behavioral disabilities. After a few years of being “the new teacher” and earning a Master of Arts in Teaching, she started to dig deeper into learning effective behavior supports and found that they generated positive impacts for her overall classroom management and culture. Now, as she has transitioned out of the classroom and into a support role that equips teachers and educators with the tools they need to cultivate positive student behavior, she says, “I find that my true passions are grounded in increasing functional communication with support of AAC and creating meaningful and authentic inclusion opportunities.” Providing teachers with reasonable and effective intervention supports and tools to manage behaviors leads to more opportunities to engage in functional communication and inclusion, which is the ultimate goal. As a professional speaker, Del encourages educators to discover ways to catalyze change in their school cultures, to increase accessibility and opportunities for communication, and to understand the social indicators and impacts for students with disabilities.

Looking forward, Del says “My job is to help teachers bridge the gaps for students with disabilities and I understand that it is often an overwhelming path to travel alone. My goal is not to be just a consultant, but to be your wingman, trekking alongside of you!”