PA (IBHS)- INITIAL 30hrs Training for BHTs & Behavior Techs (ALL)

Krystal Larsen, BA, BCaBA is a Board Certified assistant Behavior Analyst born in New York and raised in Florida where Mickey Mouse was her neighbor. She has been practicing Behavior Analysis for over 10 years, where she started out as a behavior technician. She has experience working in family homes, schools, group homes, foster care, and facilities. She specializes in Natural Environment Training, maladaptive and aggressive behaviors- with children and adults whom have ASD, developmental delays, and/or mental health diagnoses.

As an RBT Program Manager for Special Learning, she is responsible for overseeing and provide behavior analytical coaching to those seeking RBT training, clinical supervision, and RBT credentialing.

She received her Bachelor’s in Psychology from the University of South Florida and her BCaBA training from Florida Institute and Technology.

Amanda Fishley, MA, BCBA, COBA is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and Certified Ohio Behavior Analyst. She received her Master’s degree in Special Education/ABA from The Ohio State University. She has been working with in the field of ABA for over ten years.

She has experience working with children, adolescents and adults in school, home and mental health settings. These experiences have allowed her to work closely with parents, teachers, paraprofessionals, as well as mentoring and supervising behavior analysts. She is the Associate Director of Clinical Solutions for Special Learning, creating and presenting educational materials and promoting Special Learning’s mission to positively impact the special needs community.

Jennifer LaLuzerne has been a Clinic Director at Step By Step Academy, Inc. since May 2011. Before that, she served as Program Manager and social worker, starting in 2008. At Step By Step, she is responsible for supervising Program Managers, their staff, and their caseloads, collaborating in the development and monitoring of treatment plans, behavior plans, and ongoing treatment integrity.

Jennifer has a Bachelor's Degree in social work from the University of Wisconsin - Madison, her Master's Degree in social work from The Ohio State University, and she is completing coursework towards her BCBA through the University of North Texas.

Clinic Director at Step By Step Academy, a position she has held since 2009, where she previously served as Training and Behavior Plan Supervisor,Outreach and Training Coordinator, Program Supervisor/Outreach Support Technician and Behavior Technician.

Christine regularly publishes and presents at professional conferences on the topic of autism and behavioral support. Her areas of expertise include ABA, training, individual education plans (IEPs), treatment planning and behavior modification and behavior management. She has a BA in Psychology and minor in Sociology from Ohio State University. A Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analyst (BCaBA), Christine trained in Applied Behavior Analysis with the University of North Texas and is certified in Crisis Prevention.

Erin Lombard is currently a behavior consultant with over 12 years of experience working with children with autism and developmental disabilities in homes, schools, and center based programs. She is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and a previous certified Special Education teacher in Arizona. Along with providing consultation through SBSA, she also currently teaches graduate level Positive Behavior Support courses at Northern Arizona University.

Erin is originally from California where she finished her undergraduate degree in Child and Adolescent Studies from California State University, Fullerton. She obtained her master's degree in Special Education from the University of Phoenix. She completed her coursework in applied behavior analysis through the University of North Texas. She is currently working on her PhD in Psychology at Capella University.

Dr. Debbie Coehlo is a certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner and Pediatric Mental Health Specialist with a Doctoral Degree in Family Sciences and Human Development. She is the Founder and Director of Juniper Pediatrics, a clinic modeled after John F Kennedy’s multidisciplinary system of care. Using a holistic, integrated care model, Juniper provides counseling, medication management and family therapy for children with ASD, ADHD and other childhood mental health disorders.

Dr. Coehlo completed her Master’s in Nursing with a specialty in parent- child nursing. She spent 10 years working at the Child Development Center at the University of Washington in the Genetics Clinic and Multidisciplinary Clinic. In 1999, she complete her Doctorate degree in Human Development and Family Studies. 

She continues to teach at the undergraduate and graduate level and had pursued research in the area of social networking, transitioning to out of home care for families, and child development. 

Dr. Coehlo is a co- editor for the 4th and 5th edition of Family Health Nursing (F.A. Dais, 2010/2013) and has published several journal articles in the areas of families choosing residential care, families in transition, family health nursing, and care of children with special health care needs.

Michele LaMarche is the co-founder of Special Learning, Inc. She is also the founder and Executive Director of Step By Step Academy (SBSA), a highly-regarded centre-based non-profit Autism treatment centre in Columbus, Ohio. Since its formation almost ten years ago, SBSA has touched the lives of over one thousand students through rigorous application of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) treatments, resulting in exceptional outcomes.

Ms. LaMarche, with over fifteen years of professional experience in the field of ABA, uses her knowledge of behavioral treatment to produce ground breaking, effective, empirically validated curricula, a critical factor in successfully mainstreaming hundreds of students with ASD. With her credentials and work through Special Learning and SBSA, she has changed the lives of countless individuals and families affected by ASD.

Miranda Schehr is the Clinic Transition Director of Step by Step Academy. As a clinic transition director she directs the treatment plans of multiple clients through management, training and supervision of clinical staff. Before her involvement with SBSA she worked as an Intervention Specialist in Applied Behavioral Services, where she was responsible in the implementation of treatment of multiple clients and their families through teaching and training in the classroom and home environments.

She earned her Bachelor of Science in Mild-Moderate Special Education at Xavier University, Cincinnati, OH, completed a graduate coursework in Behavior Analysis in the University of North Texas, Denton TX; and she is anticipating the completion of her Masters of Education in Cognitive and Behavioral Disabilities in August 2012.

Dr. Bailey received his PhD from the University of Kansas and is currently Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Florida State University where he was a member of the graduate faculty for 38-years and produced a record 63 PhDs. He is currently Director of the FSU Panama City Masters Program in Applied Behavior Analysis. 

Dr. Bailey has published over 100 peer-reviewed research articles, is a past editor of the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, and is co-author of Research Methods in Applied Behavior Analysis, How Dogs Learn, Ethics for Behavior Analysts, 2nd Expanded Edition, How to Think Like a Behavior Analyst, and 25 Essential Skills and Strategies for Professional Behavior Analysts, all co-authored with Dr. Mary Burch.

Karen is the Founder and CEO of Special Learning. She started the company in 2010 after learning about the effectiveness of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) juxtaposed against the reality that over 95% of the world did not have access to ABA. As an entrepreneur with over 20 years of corporate experience, she started Special Learning to leverage existing and emerging technology to make quality ABA resources and services available to parents, educators and professionals around the world.

Karen’s entrepreneurial experience includes starting and growing a diversity retained executive search firm specializing in placing women and minority executives in leadership positions of Fortune 1,000 companies. Her investment banking background includes working with various venture capital and private equity companies to facilitate deal flow while representing CEOs of rapidly growing companies seeking to raise equity and debt capital for various middle market businesses and commercial real estate developers. Her corporate background includes various leadership and functional roles in Fortune 1,000 and middle market companies.  Her additional entrepreneurial activities include owning and operating high end boutique

She graduated with a Masters of Management degree from Kellogg Graduate School of Management of Northwestern University. She is a Certified Public Accountant and a recipient of the Elijah Watts Sells Award from the American Institute of Certified Public Accounts (AICPA), an award granted to less than top 5% of all CPA exam candidates.

Ms. Manya Ralkowski has been practicing in the field of applied behavior analysis for over 25 years. Her training began under direct education and training from consultants from the Lovaas Clinic in Los Angeles while completing her bachelor of arts in Communication Disorders with endorsements in special education and psychology at Western Washington University. Ms. Ralkowski continued her education and training with a master’s degree in Education from Lesley University and a graduate certificate in Applied Behavior Analysis from the University of Washington while working as an assistant teacher on the Project DATA grant at the Haring Center-Professional Training Unit. She also possesses a doctorate degree in Instructional Leadership.

Dr. Ronald Brown, a noted expert on the topic of ADHD has served as the Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic (Health Affairs) at the University of North Texas System.

Dr. Brown completed his Ph.D. from Georgia State University and has been the past President of the Society of Pediatric Psychology and the Association of Psychologists of Academic Health Centers.

He is a board-certified clinical health psychologist and has been an active clinician, teacher, advocate and investigator. He served as a member of the Behavioral Medicine study section of the NIH and chaired several special panels at NIH. He currently serves as the Editor of Professional Psychology: Research and Practice.

Dr. Ronald Brown’s area of specialization includes behavioral sciences, pediatric psychology, attention deficit disorders, neuropsychology, psychopharmacology, learning disabilities and psychosocial oncology. 

Ann Beirne, MA, BCBA is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst with over two decades of experience working with individuals with autism spectrum disorder.

She has provided direct services to children and families in home environments, schools, and residential programs. Her work with this population has spanned the lifespan, including toddlers, young children, adolescents and adults with developmental disabilities.

Ms. Beirne is co-author of the textbook Understanding Ethics in Behavior Analysis:  Practical Applications available from Routledge Publishing in 2019.

Julie is a dually credentialed Occupational Therapist and Board Certified Behavior Analyst. She started working with children on the autism spectrum in 1994 as a behavior technician. This sparked a passion for working with these amazing kids. Julie has served as a BCBA and/ or OT in home, center, and community based programs. She has also worked in private schools and consulted in public schools. She has a unique perspective encompassing her experiences as an OT, BCBA, and parent, and firmly believes in the importance of collaboration with families and multiple disciplines in order to help children achieve their full potential in all areas of their lives.