The SUN™ Program | REAACT Research Program

Creating Safe Schools for All

The SUN™ program partners directly with school districts to make schools more welcoming and capable of educating children with neurodevelopment disability in the common classroom.

The idea for this project came directly from our PAARCC group – who told us that we need to start with changing schools if we want to reduce the alarming suicide rates in people with neurodevelopmental disabilities, like autism. Our team of teachers, principals, counselors, superintendents, and community members has worked together to create the SUN™ program.

The SUN™ program teaches educators a series of tools to design classrooms and instruction in ways that eliminate or reduce unnecessary barriers, complications, and individual modifications, setting both educators and children with neurodevelopmental disability up for success at school. Our goal is to expand and implemented the program in schools all over the country.

If you’re interested in learning more about SUN, please contact Kelly Beck (kellybeck@pitt.edu)

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Partnerships for Implementation:

Research Brilliance Award

With our Research Brilliance Award, we will implement SUN in several schools and test its impact on mental health of children in those schools.

More about this award at

The Education Partnership

The Education Partnership provides school supplies for more than 70,000 students and their teachers in under-resourced schools in Southwestern Pennsylvania. This year TEP will provide more than $11MM worth of classroom resources, as well as professional development, partnership, and expertise to ensure a motivated, supported, and respected educator workforce.

Our Collaborative partnered with a local organization, The Education Partnership, to offer 2 modules of SUN training. 30 Pittsburgh-area completed the 2-module training and received school supplies from The Education Partnership as part of the training.

Link to The Education Partnership

Upper St. Clair School District

Our full SUN Collaborative team implemented the 6-hour SUN training to educators in the Upper St. Clair School District. Approximately 220 educators (e.g. teachers, support staff, counselors, and administrators) completed the training. Educators knowledge and confidence in working with neurodivergent children significantly improved after the SUN™ program.

Link to Upper St. Clair School District

SXSW EDU

Members of the SUN Collaborative will lead a workshop at the SXSW EDU conference held annually in Austin, Texas.

Link to SXSW EDU

Meet the Team

Andre Rhone | Steve Edwards | Donna Westbrooks-Martin | Amy Ionadi | Jamie Upshaw | Rachel Harris | Kelly Beck | Taylor Kesich | Dan Beck | Tim Wagner | Allie Kleinschmidt | Carla Mazefsky

Information Privacy and SUN

The data we collect from study participants are secure and private. This means that we do not have your name written anywhere on the data. We use a random number. So, instead of having data, for example, that is called “John Smith interview”, it might be called “#101 interview”. The file that links your name to the data is stored separately and not shared.

We do not collect data from your medical records.
We do not have access to your medical records.
We are not putting data or diagnoses into your medical records.
Your name, address, and other information that can identify who you are is not being shared with the government or any other funder or scientist.