I was born and raised in Santiago, Chile and moved to the United States in 2004 to continue my undergraduate studies in Psychology. After graduating from the University of California, Irvine (UCI), I was offered a job and a work visa at a pediatric center that offered ABA, OT, and speech therapy to children with ASD and developmental delays. It was at this center that my love for ABA began! It was an amazing experience to work together as a team - with parents and colleagues alike - to help our learners reach their full potential. After four years or so at that center, I decided to pursue my master's degree and got accepted at Harvard University. I moved to the east coast and acquired a more holistic understanding of approaches available for neurodiverse learners in the school system and community as a whole. Upon graduation in 2010, I wanted to continue growing in my knowledge of ABA specifically and completed the coursework towards the BCBA credential at San Diego State University, Florida Institute of Technology, and National University. My career took off at that point and I acquired supervisory skills across different agencies, both large and small. One of those organizations had a 3-tier model and I was blessed to receive several years of supervision from BCBAs who guided me on programming, assessment, leadership skills and soft skills to support learners of different ages. I passed my BCBA exam in 2016 and continued growing in my skills set through roles such as Records Consultant (reviewing reports before sending to insurance) and Clinical Director. By 2020, I was ready to learn a new modality of treatment and transitioned to telehealth right before the COVID-19 pandemic. I have been supervising cases remotely ever since and look forward to continue growing with my clients!
I see our learners as children/individuals first who have the same needs and wants anyone else does and who deserve the utmost respect and care. I want to provide the best quality of services possible and for that reason, I will ask for parents' and RBT's input, observations, feedback (constructive too, please!), and ideas throughout treatment. The best results will be accomplished when we truly work together as a team. I believe parents are the captains of the ship and the clinical team is the assistant crew: parents lead the way on where they'd like to go with services and we offer our support to reach that destination. I will break down information I share with parents and RBTs into manageable chunks so they can grasp concepts fully and grant them an opportunity to practice strategies so they can actually implement them and not just "know" them. "Quality versus quantity" is my motto!
Early in my career, I was the only RBT in my agency assigned to an infant program (back then, my title was "Developmental Specialist" as the RBT credential did not exist ;). It was the sweetest experience interacting with 18-month old babies to 1.5-year old toddlers and so eye opening! I worked closely with the SLP who led the program and learned tremendously about early development and developmental milestones.
There's nothing more rewarding than seeing the lives of others improve. As a parent myself, I experience the immense joy of seeing my children acquire new skills, communicate their needs and wants with more specificity with time, and feeling connected to them. I want that for other parents too! I also understand how empowering it is for us parents to have the right tools and information to best support our children and it's an honor for me to be that trusted partner for families during their treatment.
I will individualize treatment to your family, culture, and situation and do my best to support the RBT staff on how to present trials in a naturalistic way. I truly believe learning is more meaningful when this happens, for any individual. I will also be honest about my knowledge and limitations and seek out information and resources when needed. You can expect me to reach out to other service providers so we're on the same page on our learner's goals. All in all, you can expect a true partnership with me.