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MICHELLE WENZEL, MS, BCBA
Conejo Valley Office

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Michelle Wenzel, is a board certified behavioral analyst who received her Bachelor's degree in Psychology from California State University, Northridge where her main focus of study was in the areas of child development and child psychology. She has over six years of experience working with children with development disabilities and over four years of experience working specifically with children with Autism. She has extensive formal training in Applied Behavior Analysis which includes the areas of Discrete Trial Teaching, Pivotal Response Therapy, Positive Behavior Supports, and Functional Analysis Assessments. She has also completed her Master's degree in Counseling including coursework with an emphasis in Applied Behavior Analysis.
As a Clinical Manager, Michelle develops programs and collaborates with therapists on implementation of programming designed for individuals with Autism and other developmental disorders for a variety of ages. In addition, she is currently providing school consultation regarding behavior management and behavior training in the Conejo Valley School District.
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Nicolette Nefdt Gonzalez
Ph.D., BCBA-D Ventura Office

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Nicolette Nefdt Gonzalez received her Ph.D. in Special Education, Disabilities and Risk Studies at UCSB, where she specialized in autism spectrum disorders and gained expertise in Pivotal Response Therapy and Positive Behavior Support. Dr. Nefdt spent three years as one of the project managers of the County Funded First STEP program. During this time she received training and experience with diagnosis and assessment of children with autism spectrum disorders and children with language delays and worked closely with Pediatricians and community agencies for comprehensive service delivery for families in need.
Following her graduate career Dr. Nefdt spent a year managing the Ventura County Branch of the Koegel Autism Center where she provided training and supervision for families in home and school based programs.
Dr. Nefdt has taught in the Special Education Teacher Credentialing program at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo and continues to pursue research in this area. Dr. Nefdt is published in autism research areas such as PRT, parent education and service delivery models, and has presented at several national conferences. She has also participated in the international dissemination of Pivotal Response Treatment.
Dr. Nefdt resides in the Ventura area and aims to provide effective support and education for families and children affected by autism while also adding to the development of the science of the field.
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Courtney Keene
Ventura Office

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Maria Wynne, Ph.D., BCBA-D Ventura Office

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Maria Wynne is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst who has been in the field of special education for the past 11 years. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Georgia focusing on Applied Behavior Analysis and Autism, Learning Disabilities, and Educational Administration and Policy. While she was working on her doctorate in Georgia, Maria was a member of the steering committee for Effective Behavioral and Instructional Supports (EBIS) with Georgia's state Department of Education. She also taught Positive Behavioral Supports for Young Children with Challenging Behaviors and Instructional Methods courses at the University of Georgia. She worked at the Northwest Center of Applied Behavior Analysis conducting functional analyses while completing her master's degree in special education at Gonzaga University.
In addition to being a behavior analyst, Maria has a great interest in teaching early literacy as she conducted research examining the construct validity of two literacy assessments to contribute data to the Reading First Initiative for the No Child Left Behind Act. Maria continues to integrate her knowledge of the relationship between problem behavior and academic failure with her work consulting in the school system. She currently resides in Ojai, California, where she is happy to be back near her hometown of Los Angeles.
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Lindsee Porter, MS, BCBA Conejo Valley Office

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Lindsee Porter is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst who began working with individuals diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders during her undergraduate internship at UNR. Lindsee received her Bachelor's degree in Psychology from the University of Nevada, Reno and her Master's degree in Clinical Psychology from California Lutheran University. Lindsee has over eight years of experience working with children with autism and children with developmental disabilities.
Lindsee has been a member of Support and Treatment for Autism and Related Disorders for over 4 years. During this time, Lindsee has had the opportunity to collaborate in research projects, including studies on behavioral treatment of individuals with autism and staff training. In addition, Lindsee is an adjunct professor for the department of Applied Behavior Analysis at the University of West Florida. This opportunity has allowed Lindsee to provide extensive training in various methodologies of ABA and support those in pursuit of their BACB certification.
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Sarah Dacey Ventura Office

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Mayu Fujiwara, MS, BCBA North Los Angeles/West Los Angeles Offices

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Mayu Fujiwara is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst who received her Bachelor's degree in Psychology and Biology from University of California, San Diego where she was a research assistant at the Autism Lab under Dr. Schreibman and Dr. Whalen. She received her Master's degree from California State University, Los Angeles in Counseling with emphasis in Behavior Intervention Case Management.
Mayu has over ten years of experience working with children with autism and children with developmental disabilities. She has extensive experience and training in designing, implementing, and overseeing behavioral intervention programs, as well as providing consultation support in the school and community setting. She also has experience providing support to the families of children with autism through parent education.
She is a member of professional organizations (CalABA, ABAI, JABA) and attends national conferences regularly to further her knowledge. Mayu has also presented at conferences. She is fluent in Japanese and has great appreciation for various cultural influences on ABA services in the home, school, and community. (She currently resides in the San Fernando Valley with her husband and twin boys.)
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Meredith Hagan, M.A., BCBA Santa Barbara Office

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Meredith Hagan is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst with over 10 years experience working with children with autism. She has a Master's degree in Special Education with a Specialization in Applied Behavior Analysis.
Meredith has extensive training in various methodologies of ABA, including Discrete Trial Training, Pivotal Response Treatment and Positive Behavior Support. Throughout her career, Meredith has supported children with autism in various settings through various organizations. She has provided in-home and school support to students and consultation to parents and school personnel. After working as a behavior therapist and subsequent program supervisor for a non-public agency in Los Angeles, Meredith served as a Behavior Specialist for Westwood school district outside Boston, MA. While at Westwood, Meredith oversaw over 60 students with a primary focus on conducting Functional Behavior Assessments, developing Behavior Support Plans for the school and home settings, and training staff and family member on implementation.
In addition, Meredith worked at an international school in Trieste, Italy developing a Special Education Program to support children of various cultural backgrounds succeed in an international setting. Her work there included staff trainings on functions of behavior, behavior support plans, and various methodologies in ABA, as well as working with students and families on how to best support their progress in classroom and home settings.
Meredith has also presented research at ABA conferences and is a member of several professional ABA organizations. She is thrilled to be part of the STAR of CA team and continues to enhance her professional development by attending conferences and seminars in ABA.
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Scott Revlin, MA, BCBA
Ventura Office

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Scott Revlin is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst who began working with children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders while an undergraduate at UCLA. Mr. Revlin worked closely with Dr. O. Ivar Lovaas, serving as the Assistant Director of Clinical Services at the Lovaas Institute for Early Intervention, as Lovaas' research and teaching assistant, and as a lecturer at UCLA. Mr. Revlin had the sad honor of coauthoring Lovaas' final publication in 2006.
Mr. Revlin received his MA in Psychology at Pepperdine University, and has presented at conferences and universities throughout California on the topics of behavioral theory, behavioral treatment of individuals with autism, and how to train school aides to facilitate inclusion. His current research interests are maximizing the effects of reinforcement, and the use of video modeling in social skills development.
He has worked with countless children and families over the last 15 years, and is proud to have helped train therapists and supervisors who are now providing effective treatment to children around the world. He resides in Ventura County with his wife. |
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Kelly Soo, MA, BCBA West Los Angeles Office

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Kelly Soo is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst who received her Bachelor's degree in Psychology from University of California, Los Angeles and her Master's degree from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. She obtained her degree in Clinical Psychology with specialization in Applied Behavior Analysis under the supervision and advise of Dr. Rachel Findel Pyles.
Kelly worked closely with Dr. O Ivar Lovaas team at the Lovaas Institute, serving as a clinical supervisor, responsible for certification training, staff training, school consultation and parent education. Kelly also had the opportunity to collaborate in research projects, including studies on discrete trial training provided to school staff through consultation and workshop models.
Kelly has extensive training in various methodologies of ABA, including Discrete Trial Training, Pivotal Response Treatment and Positive Behavior Support. She has over eight years of experience working with children with autism and children with developmental disabilities. She also has experience providing support to the families of children with autism through parent education as well as support in school setting through consultation services.
Kelly is of Taiwanese descent but born and raised in Brazil. She currently lives with her husband in Playa del Rey.
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Larisa Kirby, Ph.D., BCBA-D San Luis Obispo Office

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Larisa Kirby is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst, who received her Ph.D. in Education from the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) with an emphasis in Special Education, Disabilities and Risk Studies. While at UCSB, Dr. Kirby specialized in autism spectrum disorders and gained expertise in Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT), the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS), and Positive Behavioral Support (PBS) methodologies.
During her graduate career, Dr. Kirby received training and obtained experience in assessment and treatment of children with autism spectrum disorders and other developmental disabilities. In addition to providing both in-home and school support to children with autism, she spent two years as a Branch Manager for a community-based behavioral agency in Ventura County. As a Branch Manager, Dr. Kirby provided on-going training and supervision to families and staff, as well as coordinated with local school districts and regional centers.
Dr. Kirby has extensive experience training both parents and professionals in ABA intervention approaches. She has coordinated and provided week-long intensive parent education trainings to families from out of state and out of the country through the Koegel Autism Center Remote Parent Education Program. Additionally, Dr. Kirby has conducted numerous workshops and classroom trainings, presented at research conferences across the country, and traveled internationally to conduct trainings in ABA approaches, including PRT and PBS.
Dr. Kirby's research interests include examining effective components of parent education models and service delivery and designing effective individualized interventions for nonverbal children with autism who are having difficulty acquiring speech. She is published in autism research on the latter topic and continues to examine the applied procedures to target communication problems for children with autism.
Dr. Kirby resides in the Santa Barbara area and aims to provide effective support and education not only to families of children with disabilities, but the community at large. She enjoys establishing on-going partnerships with key stakeholder's and community agencies and seeks to contribute to the field through continued service and research.
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Crystal Bahamondes, Ph.D., BCBA-D
San Luis Obispo Office

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Crystal Bahamondes is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and received her Ph.D. from UCSB, where she specialized in autism spectrum disorders and gained expertise in Pivotal Response Treatment, The Picture Communication System (PECS), and Positive Behavioral Support methodologies.
While at UCSB, Dr. Bahamondes was one of the project managers of the Santa Barbara First Five funded program, First S.T.E.P. (Screening, Training, and Education Project) for 3 years. During this time, she gained training and experience in diagnosis and assessment for children with autism spectrum disorders and other developmental disabilities. Moreover, she conducted pediatrician trainings on early identification of autism spectrum disorders and was part of a community collaborative that worked to provide comprehensive service delivery to families in the community. Dr. Bahamondes applied and received an additional grant through First Five to provide these services specifically to support the monolingual Spanish speaking community.
In addition to assessment and diagnosis, Dr. Bahamondes has extensive experience training both parents and professionals in ABA intervention approaches. She has conducted parent education group workshops, classroom trainings, and traveled internationally to conduct trainings in ABA approaches, including Pivotal Response Treatment and Positive Behavior Support.
During her studies at UCSB, Dr. Bahamondes gained experience in grant writing and was awarded a National Institute of Health Supplemental grant to conduct research on improving early social communication in children with autism spectrum disorder. Her research interests include stress in parents at the time of diagnosis, early social communication development, and improving conversational skills in preschool aged children with autism spectrum disorder.
Dr. Bahamondes resides in the Santa Barbara area and enjoys providing support and education to both the community and families of children with disabilities and collaborating with community agencies to do so. She aims to continue to contribute to the field through service and research.
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Alison Stanley, MS, BCBA North Los Angeles Office

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Alison Stanley is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst who received her Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Messiah College in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. During her undergraduate study she worked as a research assistant in the psychology department at Penn State University's Hershey Medical Center on a study involving the use of video feedback treatment to individuals diagnosed with PTSD. She first began working with children with developmental disabilities in the public school setting during an undergraduate internship with the Philadelphia school district. Alison received her Master's degree in Psychology with an emphasis in Applied Behavior Analysis from California State University, Los Angeles.
Alison has over six years of experience working with children with development disabilities, and has been a member of STAR of CA for over five years. She has extensive formal training in Applied Behavior Analysis which includes the areas of Discrete Trial Training, Pivotal Response Treatment, and Positive Behavior Support. As a Clinical Manager for the North Los Angeles area, Alison develops programs and collaborates with supervisors and therapists on the implementation of programming designed for individuals with Autism and other developmental disorders.
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