Comics for Social and Communicative Behavior

Vera Bernard-Opitz is an American BCBA-D and German psychotherapist and behavior therapist, who has worked in Germany, Singapore, and the United States. She has assessed and treated more than 1000 children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) in autism research centers, rehabilitation centers, special needs schools, and homes. She studied Psychology at the University of Göttingen, conducting her Ph.D. research in Göttingen and the University of California Santa Barbara. For seven years she headed the Psychological Services unit at a rehabilitation center near Heidelberg, where she set up behavioral programs for individuals with ASD. Her research on computer-assisted instruction was funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). For twelve years she was Associate Professor of Psychology at the National University of Singapore, mainly teaching Abnormal Psychology and Behavior Modification. During this period she initiated the first autism program in Singapore (STEP), where she coordinated training and research activities at the Behavior Intervention Center of the university. Here in Southern California, she has supervised home-programs for a private ABA-company. For the last eight years she has been an international consultant, spearheading tele-health for individuals with behavior challenges and varying levels of capabilities. She has written several books focusing on behavior intervention, curriculum development and social skills training. The fourth edition of her curriculum guide Children and Adolescents with ASD has recently been published by Kohlhammer Publishing. Her cartoon-book Teaching-goals: Communication and Social Behavior has just been published in German and is in manuscript in English by Future Horizon. She has edited the Autism Concrete Series with eight published books from internationally recognized authors. Vera Bernard-Opitz lives with her family most of the year in Irvine, California. She spends three to four months in her home in the nice city of Hildesheim from where she gives practice workshops throughout Germany.