Dr. Chen received her master’s degree and teaching credentials in special education from San Francisco State College and received her doctorate in special education with a minor in developmental psychology from the joint doctoral program at the University of California-Berkeley and San Francisco State University. She has been a teacher of school-age children with severe and multiple disabilities, and early interventionist with infants who have visual impairments or are deaf or deaf-blind, and an administrator or programs for these children in California.

Dr. Chen has directed several federally funded projects related to professional development in early intervention/early childhood special education and program development for infants with multiple disabilities and sensory impairments. She has worked with families of diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Her research and publications have focused on caregiver interactions with infants who have disabilities, early communication in infants with multiple disabilities and sensory impairments, interventions for these infants and preschoolers, and effective practices for working with families of diverse cultures. Dr. Chen has provided leadership in developing in-service training models and materials in these areas of professional development in California and other states.

At California State University-Northridge, Dr. Chen teaches in the master’s and credential programs in Early Childhood Special Education. She has been invited to conduct courses in early intervention practices for working with children who have multiple disabilities and sensory impairments throughout the United States, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Taiwan, and Thailand.