Michelle Somerton, PhD

Michelle Somerton is Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of Education and current Academic Program Director of the degree Masters in Leadership Inclusive Education. She holds a PhD, Graduate Certificate in Research, and a Bachelor of Education with Honours from the University of Tasmania. Current research interests are investigating educational inequity and barriers to education in Kazakhstan including the diagnosis of children with Autism (ASD) and intellectual impairments, the effectiveness of resource centres in developing inclusive education in Kazakhstan, and developing an instrument to evaluate inclusion within higher education institutions. Her previous research considered reading comprehension difficulties in students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and the design of educational software for mobile technologies, and visual and phonological processing in children with ASD. Michelle currently teaches Inclusive Education leadership, policy, global perspectives, research methods, and inclusive practices for Master’s students. She has successfully supervised a number of Masters students to completion and currently supervises three doctoral students.