Profile:

Dr. Denis Keyes is a Professor of Special Education in the Department of Teacher Education at the College of Charleston, South Carolina. His Bachelor of Science is from Ohio University in Special Education.  He also holds a Master of Education in Special Education, a Master of Science and an Educational Specialist Degree in School Psychology from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. He was awarded his Doctor of Philosophy in Special Education from the University of New Mexico in May, 1992, with emphasis in intellectual developmental disabilities (formerly referred to as mental retardation).

Dr. Keyes has worked exclusively in the field of intellectual developmental disabilities (IDD) since 1974, and specifically in classrooms for students with IDD, both children and adults, for nearly 10 years.  He has been certified as a school psychologist since 1988, and Nationally Certified (through the National Association of School Psychologists) since 1989.

Dr. Keyes is a Diplomate of the American Board of Forensic Examiners and a Fellow of the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (formerly the American Association on Mental Retardation, or AAMR), and serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the latter. He has consulted and testified for numerous legal protection and advocacy agencies (particularly in the areas of intellectual disabilities, special education and the criminal justice system). Since 1988, he has been active in evaluating and testifying in cases involving offenders with intellectual disabilities, and has published several related articles, most dealing with capital punishment and issues of mental disabilities. In 2002, Dr. Keyes was lead author on an article that was cited by the United States Supreme Court in the landmark decision in Atkins v. Virginia.