Currently, she leads Perkins International programs in Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, as well as a professional network of educators across the region. A leader in the field of Special Education, Gloria has more than thirty years of experience with a special focus on visual impairments, deafblindness, and multiple disabilities. Gloria started her career as an innovative teacher, then went on to found and develop the First Educational Program for children who are deafblind in Central America, at the Centro Nacional de Educación Especial “Fernando Centeno Güell” in Costa Rica. Gloria was also co-creator of the First Master’s Program on Multiple Disabilities and deafblindness in the prestigious University of Costa Rica, supported by the Hilton-Perkins Program.
In 1991 and 1992, F Gloria was recognized for her accomplishments with several study scholarships, and an internship at Gallaudet University and Perkins School from the Blind, and in 1997 based on these experiences she published “Sordoceguera: Lecturas selectas sobre educación para sordociegos.” Gloria holds an undergraduate degree in Special Education in Visual Impairments and a graduate degree in Special Education in Multiple Disabilities from Universidad de Costa Rica and a Master’s Degree in Special Education from Boston College, in Low Incidence Disabilities With Emphasis on Deafblindness, under the mentoring of program Director Dr. Barbara Mcletchie.
Gloria is the author of a number of articles and an advocate and speaker for accessible education at the national, regional, and global level.