The Associates
Each Associate has first hand work experience in public education. Each of us has hands-on classroom experience as well as expertise in mentoring and consultation. Our knowledge of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), best practices, teaching strategies and the public education system make us uniquely qualified to train other educators.
Patty Schetter, MA, BCBA: Patty holds a Masters Degree in Psychology with an emphasis in Behavior Analysis and is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst. She also holds a California Pupil Services Credential in School Counseling and has been working with individuals with ASD and other behavioral challenges since 1990. She is the owner and director of ABTA and is responsible for the development and approval of all training materials and program recommendations developed by the Associates. Her professional experiences have included working as a classroom teacher in non-public school for learners with ASD, behavior analyst providing consultation services in a variety of settings including home and school programs and Program Specialist for children with ASD in the public schools. Patty is also the current Coordinator of ASD Education Initiatives at the CEDD at the UC Davis MIND Institute and State Liaison for the National Professional Development Center in Autism Spectrum Disorders. She has been an invited presenter at local, national and international conferences and forums including the California Association for Behavior Analysis, the Association for Behavior Analysis, The International Williams Syndrome Association, the National Autism Conference, the Texas State Conference on Autism, the California Association of Resource Specialists and Special Education Teachers, the Capital Autism Conference, and the Sacramento Asperger’s Syndrome Information and Support Network. Patty is the author of Learning the R.O.P.E.S. for Improved Executive Function and The Autism Program Development and Review Protocol (APDAR).
Kandis Lighthall, M.A. received her B.A. from Sacramento State University in 1970. She earned her M.A. in Education with an emphasis in Special Education in 1984, from California State University at Chico. Throughout her career she has worked with many populations however, her main focus area has been students with moderate to severe disabilities including Autism. Kandis began her teaching career in British Columbia, Canada where she established one of the first integrated classrooms for students with moderate to severe disabilities on a general education campus. Upon her return to California she established one of the first inclusive classrooms on a community college campus for students with moderate to severe disabilities. Her classroom was a Special Education Resource Network (SERN) demonstration site for the Individual Critical Skills Model (ICSM). She has been an invited presenter at TASH, CEC, CARS +, the Capital Autism Conference and is the 2006 recipient of The Carol Gray Award for her contributions to the field of Autism education. Kandis has been a successful teacher educator for the past 15 years as a part time instructor at CSU Chico, UC Davis Extension and the Bureau of Education and Research. She recently retired from public education after a distinguished career. Kandis is the author of The School Participation Checklist, R.E.A.D.Y. for Inclusion, and What Makes School Great?
Dina Greenberg, O.T.R. has been working directly with children on the autism spectrum and those with other special needs for over 10 years. She has spent the last seven years working exclusively with children with special needs in a school setting, supporting them in meeting their Individual Education Plan goals, and providing activities to support their home programs. In addition to having her bachelor’s degree in Occupational Therapy, she is also certified in the administration and interpretation of the Sensory Integration and Praxis Test from Sensory Integration International. Dina has delivered formal presentations on Sensory Integration Deficits and Successful Classroom Intervention Strategies for Children with Autism. Her trainings are directed toward providing sensory-based intervention strategies for children with autism to help them perform at their highest level of functioning, as well as, to support them in fully benefiting from their education program. Dina has also provided a variety of in-services on topics such as Developmentally Appropriate Fine Motor Activities, Ocular Motor Activities for Improving Reading, and Writing Skills and Sensory Based Activities for Fine Motor Development.
Kristine E. Strong, Ph.D. Licensed Educational Psychologist has provided school psychology services to a wide range of programs over the past 17 years. She has worked as a school psychologist and Early Intervention Program Coordinator. In these capacities, she has collaborated with administrators, teachers, and behavior specialists in the development of research based educational program for children with autism. Dr. Strong has conducted independent program assessments of educational programs for children with autism to assist educational teams in identifying areas of strength and areas of need as a part of ongoing program development. Dr. Strong has also taught undergraduate and graduate level courses in school psychology and education at UC Davis and California State University, Sacramento. Currently, Dr. Strong is an independent educational consultant providing consultation and training services to a range of schools and programs throughout the north state. She provides workshops on effective behavior management, assessment of children with developmental disorders/autism spectrum disorder, and school-wide improvement.
Gail Cafferatta, B.A. received a B.A. in psychology, with an emphasis in animal behavior, from University of California, Davis and teaching credentials from California State University, Chico. She has been teaching in public education for almost thirty years. She has experience with students from pre-school age to college age. In addition to teaching ten years as a regular education teacher, Gail has worked with students with a wide variety of special needs, including autism, severely handicapped, emotional disturbance, and behavioral challenges.
Gail has served as the liaison between special education and regular education in the development of Special Day Classes on regular education campuses, has worked in juvenile hall and residential settings, provided educational consulting for non-public schools serving students with severe behavioral challenges, and is a regular speaker at graduate level psychology and education classes at California State University, Chico. She has also developed an instructional model for self-evaluation and self-advocacy to use with adolescents which she presented at the California Association of Behavior Analysis.
Gail has been a member of the statewide network of trainers for positive behavior interventions, PENT, for many years, currently serving as part of the PENT leadership team. Prior to serving on the PENT leadership team, Gail was part of the training team for the CASP (California Association of School Psychologists) Functional Analysis Assessment and Positive Behavior Intervention Plan Certification Training.
Gail is currently serving as a program specialist in Butte County SELPA. She is the lead program specialist for all pre-school autism programs and the lead trainer in the county for functional behavioral assessments and analysis, positive behavior intervention plans, and quality evaluations of behavior plans.
Victoria Bluett-Murphy, M.S., B.C.B.A. is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) with an M.S. in Psychology/Behavior Analysis. She has worked as a behavior analyst in a variety of public and non-public settings for the past 15 years. Her experiences include implementing and supervising home and school based intensive behavioral intervention programs for children with ASD, developing and training others in functional behavior assessment and behavior support plans, training and developing functional analysis assessment and positive behavior intervention plans and conducting extensive staff training and program development for students with ASD.
Victoria has been an invited presenter at many state and local conferences including C.A.S.P. and has taught courses at community college, the California State University and UC Davis Extension. She has conducted program reviews for Local Education Agencies to assist them with developing their programs and services for students with ASD and to assist them in the development of legally defensible programs.
Cathy Smith, M.A. has worked with children on the Autism Spectrum since 1998. She began her career as a Behavior Technician providing in home discrete trial training/intensive behavioral intervention to young children with ASD. Following the completion of her degree, Cathy began working as an Autism Specialist, providing consultation, program development and staff training for the Butte County SELPA. Her classroom teaching experience ranges from preschool/early childhood to secondary. She has a Masters Degree in Special Education and a credential as an Ed. Specialist with authorization for Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Amber Fitzgerald, M.A. has been working with individuals from birth to adulthood with a variety of special needs (autism spectrum disorders, emotional disturbance, behavior challenges, and moderate to severe disabilities) for the past 11 years. She has worked directly with students with Autism and other behavioral/developmental challenges in both the non-public and public school systems as an in-home behavior technician, special educator, district behavior specialist and Program Specialist for students with ASD. Amber developed and offers trainings for parents, adult programs, special educators, general educators, administrators and para- educators in the following areas: behavior management, behavior plan development, collaboration, functional communication, understanding Autism and Autism Spectrum Disorders, visual classroom support systems, classroom and case management and data collection. Amber has also taught courses at California State University, Sacramento for teachers earning their moderate to severe educational specialist credential.
Amber has been a member of the statewide network of trainers for positive behavior interventions, PENT, for 3 years. In addition to holding an Educational Specialist Teaching Credential in the area of moderate to severe disabilities, Amber has her Masters Degree in Special Education from California State University, Sacramento.
Rodger L. Stein, M.A. has been providing behavior support services since 1990. He received his B.A. and M.A. from California State University, Sacramento with an emphasis in Behavior Analysis. He has provided services across the range of developmental disabilities in both public and private settings, including school districts, in home and community care facilities. Rodger specializes in behavior supports for High Functioning Autism/Asperger’s Syndrome. As a nationally invited speaker/presenter, he provides professionals and families with approaches to minimize behavioral challenges and develop such “hidden” skills as self-regulation and self-monitoring. In addition, he provides training to families and school districts across the country in the area of Applied Behavior Analysis related to Autistic Spectrum Disorder and developmental disabilities. Rodger has assisted several authors, through editing and research, in creating cutting edge books designed to provide user-friendly tools in the field of Autism including such works as Navigating the Social World by Jeanette McAffee and Learning the R.O.P.E.S. for Improved Executive Function by Patricia Schetter. He is currently working on developing distance learning models for Autism training and is an Adjunct Professor of Psychology for his local community college district.
Michelle Mann, Ed.S, M.A. received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication from Stanford University. She also earned: Master of Arts in Special Education, Master of Arts in Educational Psychology, Education Specialist in School Psychology from Chapman University. Her Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) and Licenced Educational Psychologist (LEP) certificates are projected for completion in Summer 2011. Michelle has over16 years experience in education that includes school psychology, general and special education classroom teaching. Michelle has worked with special education students from preschool to post-secondary levels with a variety of special needs that included autism, developmental delay, emotional disturbance, specific learning disability and traumatic brain injury. She has provided advocate and consultative services for students with autism.
Contact Information
ABTA
PO Box 8321
Woodland, CA 95776
Phone: (916) 826-1915