Marti Snell

Honoree:
Marti Snell

Submitted By:
Diane Browder

When I began my Master’s degree program at the University of Virginia in 1975, I was surprised to discover that all of the special education training focused on mild disabilities. I was grateful to learn all that I did about teaching students with learning disabilities and mild intellectual disability, but I wondered about the students with the most severe disabilities that I had come to know at Lynchburg Training School. I also wondered about the new federal law passed that year that would create the opportunity for all students to have a free appropriate education. In one of my last classes in my MEd, this new faculty member Dr. Martha Snell cotaught the class on methods. I was mesmerized by how much she knew about teaching students important life skills. Her guest lecture in my reading class on teaching functional reading inspired me to make a longterm commitment to that goal. When I returned for my doctorate, I discovered that Marti had procured one of the first grants to train doctoral students in severe disabilities.

She also was writing the first textbook on this topic. I remember going to Marti to ask her to mentor me. She asked me why and all I could think to tell her was that she seemed so organized! The field of severe disabilities was just being born; in fact you might say Marti Snell became the “mother” of the field of severe disabilities. I could not yet envision where the field would go or what I would learn, but I knew this brilliant person with her strong values for educating all students would help me find the way. From the beginning, Marti’s expectations were high. While some doctoral students attempted one single case design study, we were expected to do TWO intervention studies in every class we had with her. Not surprisingly, one of those became my first publication. What also made this first publication special to me was that I was able to do it with some of the same students with whom I had worked in Lynchburg. Although I loved the students, I could not endure an institutional setting and Marti encouraged me to learn more about new school and community services. Marti also taught me how to do a great teacher workshop. I learned the importance of combining research, video models, and practice. As a new faculty member, Marti continued to encourage me and to give me opportunities including contributing to her textbook for five of its editions. She helped me understand the world of higher education and provided a strong role model of how to be a researcher and mentor.

Although I have had many opportunities to create new options for students with severe disabilities through research and teacher training, Marti was the person who began with a blank page. She began with no public school programs, no journal or professional organization committed to students with severe disabilities, and no textbooks. She laid the foundation on which so many of us built our future understanding. I thank her on behalf of the thousands of students with severe disabilities who have benefited from her wisdom, commitment, and courage. And I thank her for all the professionals, including me, who followed the path she created.