Having built a career spanning five decades, Beth Fouse, PhD, is currently the president of Ark-La-Tex Shredding Company, Inc., since 2000. Now retired from teaching, she previously spent almost a decade of her career at the University of Texas at Tyler, where she held the positions of an instructor from 1990 to 1991, assistant professor from 1991 to 1996, educational consultant from 1995 to 2007 and associate professor from 1990 to 1999. Prior to her association there, Dr. Fouse lent her skills to the Region VII Education Service Center in Kilgore, Texas, as a special education director from 1985 to 1991. She held the same title within the Paris Independent School District in Texas from 1977 to 1985.
Dr. Fouse was employed by the Irving Independent School District from 1970 to 1973, first as a homebound teacher and after as a teacher for students with disabilities. Her career began with the Austin Independent School District in 1967, where she was a first-grade teacher. Since then, Dr. Fouse has taught the third grade for the Pasadena Independent School District and the Harlingen Independent School District.
Prior to her professional career, Dr. Fouse pursued an education at the University of Texas at Austin, receiving a Bachelor of Science in 1967. She then completed additional coursework at Texas Woman’s University and graduated with a Master of Education in 1973 and a PhD in 1976. Since then, Dr. Fouse has taken various postgraduate courses in Texas in 1980 and from 1985 to 1989. She is also a certified elementary teacher, special education teacher and educational diagnostician school counselor in the State of Texas.
A prolific writer, Dr. Fouse is the author of two editions of “Creating a Win-WinIEP for Students with Autism,” published in 1996 and 1999. Additionally, she is the co-author of the “Assessment Manual for Appraisal Personnel,” “Guidelines for Speech Pathologists,” “A Primer About Attention Deficit Disorder” and “A Treasure Chest of Behavioral Strategies for Individuals with Autism.” From 1988 to 1989, she was a consultant to the editor board for the Academy Therapy Journal. Outside of her immediate professional responsibilities, Dr. Fouse is an active member of the Autism Society of America, the Texas Council for Exceptional Children, the International Council for Exceptional Children and the Association for Children with Learning Disabilities, among other associations.
In recognition of her efforts, Dr. Fouse was named Small Business Person of the Year in the Dallas-Ft. Worth Region in 2009. Moreover, she was selected for inclusion in several editions of Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Education, and Who’s Who in the South and Southwest. Dr. Fouse became involved in her profession because her grandfather many years ago was an educator, but then he became a farmer. Thus, she always wanted to be a teacher. Today, she is the proud mother of four wonderful sons, Robert Lynn, Michael W., Alan D. and Douglas L. Her 10 grandchildren range from ages 2 to 31 years old, and she is also a doting great-grandmother to five great-grandchildren.