Clarissa Willis

Clarissa Willis, Ph.D., is an author, keynote speaker, and educational consultant with more than four decades of experience in early childhood education and special education. Willis holds a doctorate in early childhood special education from the University of Southern Mississippi and a master's degree in speech-language pathology from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. As Professor Emeritus of Teacher Education at the University of Southern Indiana, Willis has contributed to teaching, curriculum development, publishing, and advocacy for inclusive learning environments.

Willis is the author of more than 19 teacher resource books, including "Teaching Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder" and "Teaching Infants, Toddlers, and Twos with Special Needs," both published by Gryphon House. She has developed early childhood curricula for Frog Street Press, Kaplan Early Learning Company, and Scholastic. Her professional resource, "Inclusive Literacy Lessons for Early Childhood," co-authored with Pam Schiller, serves as a guide for educators working with children ages three to six. Willis has also served as senior vice president at Kaplan Early Learning Company, overseeing intellectual properties and curriculum development, and as associate director of the Center of Excellence in Early Childhood Learning and Development at East Tennessee State University. In these roles, she directed projects such as Tennessee's Early Intervention System Technical Assistance Project and the East Tennessee Autism Training Project.

In addition to her professional resources, Willis is a children's book author. Her picture book "Bloomers on Pikes Peak," which tells the story of Julia Archibald Holmes, the first woman to climb Pikes Peak, earned a Will Rogers Medallion Award and was a finalist for the Women Writing the West WILLA Literary Award in Children's Picture Books. Her earlier title, "Fast as the Wind: The Story of Johnny Fry, Pony Express Rider," also received a Will Rogers Medallion. Other children's titles include "The Three Little Pigs and the Not So Big Bad Wolf," "Carrie Ingalls: The Forgotten Sister," and "Critter Invasion," a picture book about childhood anxiety.

Willis has trained teachers in all 50 states and 12 foreign countries, delivering keynote addresses and workshops that blend research-based strategies with hands-on experiences. She has served on the board of the Ozark Creative Writers Conference since the mid-1980s and is a board member of the Between the Pages Writers Conference. Her accolades include the Faculty Scholarship Award from the University of Southern Indiana and recognition for contributions to autism awareness. She is an inductee into the Arkansas Writers Hall of Fame, honoring her contributions to literature and education. Willis continues to address educators and craft stories that spotlight historical figures, drawing on her expertise in early childhood education, special education, and literacy development.