Find Out What Makes Us Different

Gina T. Chang, PhD, BCBA-D, CA PSY#26473 received her Ph.D in Applied Developmental Psychology from Claremont Graduate University with a concentration in developmental disabilities. She is a licensed psychologist and a Board Certified Behavior Analyst, Doctoral level with over 20 years of experience working with persons with autism and other developmental disabilities. Her expertise includes early intervention, parent education, adolescents with autism, school consultation, and staff development. Additionally, Dr. Chang has co-authored a chapter in Ameral, Dawson, Geschwind’s Autism Spectrum Disorders (2011).

Melanie has over 20 years’ operational management and leadership experience in the pediatric therapy and behavioral health industry. She originally started her journey in the field as an in-home behavior technician and went on to work as an ABA program manager, then later becoming a pediatric speech language pathologist specializing in Autism. Melanie draws on her first-hand knowledge of being a therapist in the trenches to drive operational decision making and excellence that best supports clinical teams and families. She co-founded Children’s Learning Connection in 2000, establishing one of the first interdisciplinary ABA programs in Orange County. She has overseen ALP offices across multiple states, and supported teams bringing best in class services to families in need across the country.

Kristine leads the training, research, clinical development, and client outcomes initiatives at Autism Learning Partners (ALP). She is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) with 15 years of experience in autism services, holds a master’s degree in exceptional student education from the University of West Florida, and is a doctoral student in the ABA program at Endicott College. She regularly presents organizational initiatives at regional and national conferences, focusing on such topics as values-guided practice management, innovations in service delivery, and scaling clinical quality. Recent peer-reviewed publications include a model to transition 1:1 ABA-based autism services to telehealth and a cultural responsiveness curriculum for behavior analysts; she recently co-authored a book chapter highlighting applications of Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) toward a compassion-focused model for social justice.

Marta has been in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis for over 20 years and has been a Board Certified Behavior Analyst since 2010. She is passionate about leading teams and establishing a strong culture amongst the leadership teams.   Marta has worked with children and adolescents diagnosed with autism in schools, homes and in community settings.  Marta focuses on operational management and leading the agency in developing and implementing new clinical and operational initiatives, as well as driving standardization and collaboration with departmental leaders. “Changing and impacting the lives of those individuals diagnosed with autism and their families is an absolutely rewarding experience.  I am fortunate to be able to support families throughout their journey.”  Marta has led and supported Directors, Supervisors and Direct Service Staff in the Southern Los Angeles regions including the Downey Center for Autism.

Jennifer began working in the field of ABA in 2003 and became very passionate about helping families and children with special needs. I received my Master’s in Counseling Psychology in 2006 and joined the PCFA team shortly after graduating. In 2009 I became a BCBA. Since 2006 I have been very fortunate to support and serve hundreds of families across Central and Northern California. “My passion for this field is fueled by families sharing their appreciation and success stories of their children attaining new goals and achieving heights they didn’t know were possible.” Jennifer oversees the clinical directors, program supervisors and direct staff in their work helping families in Northern CA, Connecticut, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington, and the Autism Learning Partners subsidiary, A is for Apple.

Mary’s background in family therapy combined with her years of experience in Applied Behavior Analysis helps her appreciate the child’s role as part of a family system, which she utilizes to promote functional and sustainable change for her clients. Her current interests include social skills treatment, interdisciplinary collaboration, and CLC program development. Mary has advanced training and experience with Autism Spectrum Disorder, early childhood behavioral intervention, and social skills group intervention. “Working in the field of Behavior Analysis and serving families with children with special needs is an amazing privilege. I feel very fortunate to be surrounded by caring professionals and inspiring families”

Kate has worked with individuals and families with autism for more than 10 years and has been with ALP since 2012. For the last year, she acted as the social skills program director as well as the lead BCBA for in-home services. She specializes in communication skills on a client level and program treatment integrity on a staffing level.

“At ALP, we are so lucky to be able to do the work that we do. It’s a privilege for a family to let you into their lives and onto their team. I’m excited to have the opportunity to take on this role and continue building an amazing group of ABA professionals to support our families.”

Martina Barnhart received her master’s degree in special education from National University and is a certified Behavior Analyst. She began her career in ABA over 20 years ago, as an undergrad at UCLA, where she worked with children and adolescents with autism and other developmental disabilities and their family, by delivering behavior intervention services, parent training and developing and providing clinical oversight of ABA programs and staff training. In her role, she is responsible for providing leadership and oversight of clinical service delivery by supporting clinical directors, program supervisors and behavior technicians in their work with families. “Each day is a new beginning filled with possibilities.  I am inspired by the courage and dedication I see in our families, staff and most importantly our clients.  I feel blessed each day we celebrate a success and feel grateful to be a part it.”

Denise Buenrostro has been working in the field of ABA for the last 10 years. She began working with children at the tender age of 12 babysitting and volunteering in classrooms. Denise attained her Bachelor’s in Social Welfare from Cal State Northridge. Her educational journey continued on at the University of Southern California where she earned her Master’s in Social Work. A few years later, she became a Board Certified Behavior Analyst in 2013. Denise’s training and expertise includes working with the family as a unit and implementing strengths based approach coupled with ABA techniques. Denise has been a partner since 2013 working as the Clinical Director in the Inland Empire. “My philosophy includes finding the positive in every person and situation and helping others in any way I possibly can. I lead by example and am fueled by my passion for the field. I consider myself extremely lucky to have been given this opportunity and treasure it daily.”

Kellye is a compassionate and data-driven BCBA with over 15 years’ experience in the field of ABA. Kellye earned a Master of Arts degree from HCU and her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Stephen F. Austin State University (Axe ‘Em Jacks!).

Kellye pursued ABA following counseling and behavioral health roles with clients with complex medical and behavioral needs. Kellye’s career has included a variety of clinical settings including residential treatment, in-home and clinic settings with ages 18months through adulthood. She has experience leading multi-site ABA clinical operations. Kellye is passionate about clinician-led models emphasizing professional development as well as building high-performance teams through mentorship, supervision pipelines, and targeted intern programs for BACB supervisees/trainees.

Outside of work, Kellye enjoys spending time with family, reading, watching LOTR or Star Wars, and relaxing at the beach. Guided by the quote from Peter Pan, “to live will be an awfully big adventure”, Kellye tries to embody this in both her professional and personal life daily.

Celina Lopez has been actively working in the field of ABA and special education for over 12 years. Celina specializes in providing individualized ABA treatments to families and individuals with Autism and other learning disabilities. “I wake up every day thankful for the opportunity to make a positive and lasting change in someone’s life.  I am passionate about providing a better quality of life for my families.” Celina oversees the clinical directors, program supervisors and direct staff in their work helping families  in the North Los Angeles region.

Robin Palm is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst with over 20 years of experience working with autistic children and other developmental disabilities. She has been working with Autism Learning Partners for over 15 years. Her passions include developing social skills groups, school consultation and working with IEP teams to help students access the curriculum as well as collaborating with parents to best support their family’s needs. In her role as Associate Clinical Director, she oversees program managers and behavior technicians in their work with children and families in the San Fernando Valley and Santa Clarita Valley areas.

Rachael has a Bachelors Degree in psychology from Medialle College and a Masters Degree in applied behavior analysis from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. She has experience with working with individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder and developmental disabilities across the lifespan. She has worked in a variety of settings in family homes, group homes, school and community settings. Rachael has experience implementing verbal behavior programs, daily living skill programs, and challenging behavior programs. Rachael likes to work with a team approach and collaborate with all members of a team, including the family as a whole, school personnel, and other providers.

Sandhya is passionate about providing effective, creative and relevant programming. She has a background in creating programs for children aged 18 mos. – 21 years old. Sandhya also has experience in center based programming to teach children readiness skills to be successful in classroom environments. Sandhya started in the ABA field as a direct service provider and has a keen interest in up and coming research related to the behavioral field.” Working in this field doesn’t feel like work. Analyzing behavior is a puzzle and the more creative you try to be, the more effective the solution is. I also have the pleasure to meet the most amazing children and be humbled by their extremely committed and loving families ” 

Deanna Teramoto earned her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and her Master of Science degree from the University of Arizona (UA). She has been a part of the CLC family since January, 2006, and was previously their Social Skills Group Program Director and Speech Therapy Department Manager. She has also worked at Chapman University as Adjunct Faculty for their Speech-Language Pathology graduate program. Deanna enjoys CLC’s collaborative, family-friendly, developmental approach to treatment, viewing each child not as a disorder, but as a unique individual. Her interests include spending time with her husband and son, visiting family (and eating) in Hawaii, and participating in various church activities.