Education: BS, St. John’s University, 2008; MS, St. John’s University, 2010; PhD, University of London, 2017. At SPU since 2016.
Krystle Jalalian-Chursky joined the SOE as a full-time faculty member after having served as an adjunct professor since 2016. During that time, she taught classes in both general and special education and served as practicum supervisor. Prior to coming to SPU, Dr. Jalalian-Chursky worked as a clinician and behavioral therapist at the University of Washington’s Experimental Education Unit at the Haring Center and Seattle Children’s Research Institute, where she focused on creating and developing intervention programs for children with autism and other developmental disabilities.
Dr. Jalalian-Chursky teaches several special education courses, including severe disabilities, behavior management, individualized education programs, and special education assessment, as well as diversity, equity and inclusion in education, and teacher education courses.
Starting in fall 2021, the SOE has a new major in Early Childhood Education, where Dr. Jalalian-Chursky was on the task-force committee that created and developed the program. Having done extensive research focused on children with autism, Dr. Jalalian-Chursky applies this knowledge into the classroom. She is interested in social communication abilities, behaviors, and language development among bilingual children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Her research focuses on the connection between disabilities and English language learners (ELL) to develop educational programs and resources to help children with autism grow academically and developmentally.
As a passionate educator, Dr. Jalalian-Chursky believes in giving all students a place where they feel supported and brave, and she remains sensitive to students’ unique needs by developing effective plans through individual and group support, positive encouragement, and reinforcement. Her favorite expression is “Pay it forward” and she hopes to instill generosity in every student she teaches.