Samantha Didrichsen is an Arthur A. Schomburg fellow & PhD student at the University at Buffalo (SUNY) in the Curriculum, Instruction and the Science of Learning program (CISL). Her prospective graduation date is May 2026. She is also an early childhood special educator, caring for and supporting young children Birth-3 years of age residing in the City of Buffalo through New York State’s early intervention program. She is a proponent of natural environmental teaching (NET) as taught to her through her applied behavior analysis (ABA) training.
Samantha believes that all young children, no matter their skills or abilities, should have access to high quality educators that encourage their children to learn through play and interacting with their environment. However, young children with developmental delays and disabilities in Western New York are not receiving this level of support and education because of a lack of providers. Samantha Didrichsen is interested in tackling this call to action by generating a new preservice early childhood special education teacher preparation program in the region following the recommended personnel standards constructed by the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), Division for Early Childhood (DEC), and the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), of which she is an active member of all three.
Bio:
A native of Long Island, NY, Samantha earned her BSEd. in Early Childhood Education in 2015 from the State University of New York at Fredonia under the guidance of the late Dr. Mira Berkley. She completed her undergraduate student teaching through a grant from the SUNY Urban Teacher Education Center (SUTEC) and was able to student teach in NYC. She then attended Hofstra University and received her MSEd. in Special Education Early Childhood Intervention in 2017 through a grant funded program supervised by Dr. Stephen Hernandez. Her teaching career began by caring for and supporting young children with disabilities in the South Bronx. Samantha moved to Buffalo with her husband in 2020 and has since called the city home. She is working and learning under Dr. Claire Cameron as both her student and graduate assistant on Project Equity and other HTKS (Heads-Toes-Knees-Shoulders) research endeavors.
Contact Information:
Email: srdidric@buffalo.edu
Samantha Didrichsen, MSED. 