Eric Schopler
| Eric Schopler | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 8, 1927 Fürth, Germany |
| Died | July 7, 2006 (aged 79) near Mebane, North Carolina |
| Nationality | German |
| Alma mater | University of Chicago |
| Occupation | Professor, psychologist, researcher, author |
| Known for | Founder of TEACCH, autism researcher, professor and author |
| Notable work | Research and books on autism, Asperger syndrome, developmental disorders, TEACCH |
Eric Schopler (February 8, 1927 – July 7, 2006) was a German born American psychologist whose pioneering research into autism led to the foundation of the TEACCH program.
Eric Schopler was born February 8, 1927 in Fürth, Germany to Erna Oppenheimer Schopler and Ernst Schopler, who were Jewish. In 1938 his family fled Nazi Germany and emigrated to the U.S., where they settled in Rochester, New York.
Schopler married Betsy Burch in 1953 and together they had three children: Bobby, Tom and Susie. Following his divorce in 1970, he married Margaret Lansing. He died at the age of 79 from cancer on July 7, 2006 at his home near Mebane, North Carolina.
After graduating from high school, Schopler joined the United States Army. In 1949 Schopler earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Chicago. In 1955, he attained a graduate degree in Social Service Administration. He earned a PhD in clinical child psychology in 1964. All three degrees were attained at the University of Chicago.
After attaining his graduate degree, Schopler worked from 1955 to 1958 as a family counselor in Rochester, New York. He moved to Rhode Island where for 2 years he worked at the Emma P. Bradley Hospital as the Acting Chief Psychiatric Social Worker. Then in 1960 worked in Chicago at the Treatment and Research Center for Childhood Schizophrenia. He was an investigator and therapist there until 1964, the same year that he attained his doctorate from University of Chicago.
Schopler joined the faculty as an associate professor of the Psychiatry department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1964. He became the director of the Child Research Project in 1966. In collaboration with Dr. Robert Reicher, he applied his earlier research on receptor processes to the treatment of autism. Funding was provided by the National Institute of Mental Health and trials were conducted with autistic children and their parents.
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