A Mindfulness Intervention for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders / Mindfulness in Behavioral Health (PDF)

Yoon-Suk Hwang, Ph.D., is a research fellow at the Learning Sciences Institute Australia (LSIA), Australian Catholic University. Prior to this role she was a lecturer in inclusive and special education at Griffith University. As an experienced mindfulness practitioner with a research expertise in listening to the voices of people living with developmental disabilities, she has applied mindfulness to address the behavioral problems of learners with autism spectrum disorders and to enhance the quality of their family life. Dr. Hwang began her teacher training in special education in 1996 and worked as a special education teacher of a support class in an inclusive primary school. She received a Ph.D. in 2009 from the University of Sydney based on a thesis, Mind and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Theory-of-Mind Continuum Model and Typology Developed from Theory-of-Mind as Subjectively Experienced and Objectively Understood. She has recently extended this project to Singaporean and Australian students with ASD and their family members.

Patrick Kearney is an independent dharma teacher in the lineage of Mahasi Sayadaw of Myanmar, a key figure in the modern revival of insight meditation and mindfulness training. Mr. Kearney began meditation practice in 1976 and since 1984 has trained extensively in the Mahasi approach to insight meditation. This included several years as an ordained Buddhist monk. He has also trained in the Diamond Sangha lineage of Zen Buddhism and has studied early Buddhism at postgraduate levels. He continues to study Pali, the language of the earliest surviving Indian recension of the Buddha's teachings. Mr. Kearney has a particular interest in the original teachings of the Buddha, before "Buddhism" began, and seeks to bring his understanding of the early texts to the practice of dharma and meditation in the contemporary world.