Course Presenters | Do Better Collective

Amelia Bowler, BACB

Amelia Bowler is a writer, artist and behaviour consultant. She has worked as a teacher, a clinical supervisor, a tutor and specializes in young people with challenging behaviour. She holds a Bachelor of Education and a Masters of Applied Disability Studies, and has been a Board Certified Behavior Analyst since 2014. She writes and shares her artwork at her blog, ameliabehaviour.com.

Debbie Ruff, MS, PPS, BCBA

Debbie Ruff, M.S., PPS, BCBA is a Regional Clinical Director at Patterns Behavioral Services located in Brea, CA. She also serves as adjunct professor at Santiago Canyon College in Orange, CA. Debbie has over 15 years of experience in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis. After earning her master’s degree in School Psychology from National University, Debbie immediately continued her studies by completing the required coursework, accruing hours, and passing the exam to become a Board Certified Behavior Analyst. She has extensive experience working with the early start population, conducting intake and ongoing assessments, and mentoring staff. Debbie also has a special interest in Organizational Behavior Management and completed the OBM Certificate Program through Florida Tech.

Diah Askari, BCBA

By day, Diah Askari, MS, BCBA is a behavior analyst who provides ABA therapy through his company Mighty Heroes in Miami, Florida. By night, Diah transforms into his alter ego, Behavior Man, where he takes to social media with the mission of disseminating the power of Behavior Analysis. Diah Askari's professional endeavors also include business consultation to organizations regarding supervision, marketing, social media, and innovative applications of ABA technologies. Diah is also a children's book author, and will soon be publishing his first two books that utilize ABA technologies to teach language to children through storytelling. Diah hopes to connect with others who share similar values and a passion for disseminating what ABA could, and should, be. This has led him to The Do Better Collective, where he hopes to contribute to the amazing work they have already done in improving the field of behavior analysis.

Dr. Clelia Sigaud, BCBA and Patrick Jecmen, BCBA

Dr. Clelia Sigaud, Psy.D, BCBA. Dr. Sigaud is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and Certified School Psychologist practicing in northern New England. Her background is in special education, with a focus on individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities who engage in severe problem behavior. She has a Master’s degree in Special Education, a Master’s degree in Educational Psychology, and a PsyD in School Psychology. She completed her postdoctoral fellowship at the Neurobehavioral Unit at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Maryland and at the Southeastern Regional Education Service Center (SERESC) in New Hampshire. Dr. Sigaud currently serves as faculty in the Educational Psychology department at the University of Southern Maine, the Special Education department at the University of Wisconsin Whitewater, and works as a school psychologist and behavior analyst in schools in Maine and New Hampshire. In her free time, she founded and co-manages a behavior analysis dissemination website at LearningBehaviorAnalysis.com Patrick Jecmen is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst from Sandwich, Illinois. Patrick graduated from Illinois State University in 2012 with a degree in Special Education and began teaching in a therapeutic day school. In 2016, Patrick took a job in a public middle school to establish a program for students with emotional disabilities. Patrick left the classroom in 2019 to become a K-12 special education coach, while pursuing his master’s degree at the University of Southern Maine. In July of 2021, Patrick graduated with a master’s degree in Educational Psychology with a Concentration in Applied Behavior Analysis. Patrick now serves as a Board Certified Behavior Analyst for an Early Childhood to 5th grade district in the suburbs of Chicago and contributes to LearningBehaviorAnalysis.com. He spends his days focusing on delivering dignified services to students, coaching school staff on the implementation of behavior analytic interventions, training staff in de-escalation skills, and creating content for LearningBehaviorAnalysis.com.

Emily Ice, M.Ed., BCBA

Emily Ice is the Executive Director at Step-In Autism Services and provides behavioral sleep mentorship and consultation. Emily’s doctorate research focuses on the behavioral conceptualization of sleep and analyzing contingencies affecting sleep. Since 2001, she has worked with families, children and adults experiencing developmental disabilities in-home and center-based settings. She serves as a board member at large on the Alaska Association of Behavior Analysts and is stepping into the role of a board member for the Colorado Association of Behavior Analysts in January of 2022. Emily’s passion is to empower Behavior Analysts to become sleep curators for their clients.

Hillary Laney, LBA, BCBA

I am a Board Certified Behavior Analyst providing highly competent, ethical, and considerate ABA services to families in and around Washington State.

Jonathan Amey, M.Ed

Jonathan Amey M.Ed. is the founding director of Agile Instruction and Management Solutions (A.I.M.S) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Combining his sports medicine background with Precision Teaching, Jonathan focuses on building gross motor repertoires in students across a broad spectrum of abilities. While serving as a special education teacher, Jonathan designed and implemented a school-wide gross motor skills wellness group. Over the last 17 years, Jonathan has utilized precision measurement to continually develop and expand a growing curriculum of gross and fine motor movements. He has presented his work at numerous conferences. Jonathan is the manager of the Multidisciplinary Skills Development special interest group within the Standard Celeration Society.

Julie Preuss, BCBA

Julie Preuss is a BCBA in St. Louis, Mo. During her psychology undergrad training, she focused her upper level classes on behavioral neuroscience and social psychology. She was a research assistant for Dr. Bettina Casad, in her social psychology lab, at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. That experience taught Julie the importance of physiological behavior data when assessing complicated human interactions, such as perceived heart rate, sweat conduction, and blood pressure levels. Additionally, she learned about the complicated science behind nonverbal behavior, by Dr. Miles Patterson, past editor of the Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. During her graduate program in behavior analysis, Julie worked with adults and children who had Autism, psychiatric conditions, and dual diagnosis. She is also a committee member of the Behavior Support Review Committee at the Missouri Department of Mental Health, which provides support and review of behavior plans that are not reaching predetermined goals. Her approach to behavior analytic services is focused on integrative behavioral packages that use evidence-based practices, centering on the perception and experience of adult and pediatric clients to promote behavioral changes guided by a person-centered approach.

Karly Cordova, Ed.D., BCBA-D

Dr. Karly Cordova, Ed.D., BCBA-D, received her Bachelor's Degree in Human Growth and Development, her Masters Degree in Counseling Psychology, and her doctoral degree in Educational Leadership with a minor in Autism. Dr. Cordova’s expertise resides in the areas of teaching functional life skills, conducting research in applied settings, disseminating ABA through effective and systematic supervision, and building capacity within organizations.

Leah Verkuylen, BCBA

Leah Verkuylen has been a BCBA 4 years, primarily serving children with autism in the Virginia Beach area but has recently moved to Texas. Leah received her master’s degree from Southern Illinois University with the unique opportunity to learn the implementation and utilization of PEAK and ACT under Dr. Dixon. Her interests include language intervention, ACT, derived relational responding and social skills. Outside of work she likes to spoil her dogs and watch trashy television.

Megan Kirby, M.Ed., BCBA

Megan Kirby, M.Ed., BCBA Ph.D. Candidate in Behavioral and Community Sciences Research Areas: Narrative language, intervention design, implementation science, education, social justice, applied behavior analysis (ABA) Megan Kirby, BCBA (pronouns: she/her/hers) is a doctoral candidate and graduate research assistant at the University of South Florida (Advisor: Trina Spencer, PhD, BCBA-D). Having co-founded UncomfortableX in 2017, she engages in personal and professional interests linking the application of behavior analysis to social justice, education, civil and human rights. Her primary research interests involve the measurement of narrative language in early childhood and the design of storytelling interventions as a means of providing education to displaced (e.g., refugees, migrants, persons relocated due to natural disasters) and minoritized populations. Education: B.A. (Flagler College), M.Ed. (University of Virginia)

Megan Miller, Ph.D., BCBA-D, LBA

Megan Miller, Ph.D., BCBA-D, LBA (pronouns she/her/hers) is Chief Clinical Officer of DoBetter Collective. Megan earned her Ph.D. in Special Education and Behavior Analysis at The Ohio State University in 2015. Dr. Miller’s early training in behavior analysis occurred at the Cleveland Clinic Center for Autism as a volunteer/intern in 2003. Since that time, she has provided services to over 100 children diagnosed with autism and other disabilities. Dr. Miller has taught courses in behavior analysis and special education as an adjunct professor for several universities. She has co-authored journal articles published in the Journal of Developmental Physical Disability, Behavior Analysis in Practice, and Teaching Exceptional Children. She also co-authored “The 7 Steps to Earning Instructional Control” with Robert Schramm, BCBA. Megan has provided over 40 presentations to numerous professional organizations around the globe. In 2018, Dr. Miller started the #dobetter professional development movement to improve access to training in best practices in the field of behavior analysis via a free online community, webinars, and a podcast.

Natalie Williams Awodeha, PhD, BCBA, LBA, CRC

Natalie F. Williams is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) and Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC). She is also an Assistant Professor for the Behavior Analysis and Therapy Program at Southern Illinois University (SIU) Carbondale and the Applied Behavior Analysis program at Northcentral University. She has experience providing Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) services to children and adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in Oklahoma, Nevada, Virginia, Texas, Washington, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Natalie has served as a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the Department of Counseling, Rehabilitation, and Psychometric Services at Jackson State University. Before joining the faculty at JSU, she served as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the Advanced Rehabilitation Research and Training (ARRT) Program, situated within the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) on Research and Capacity Building for Minority Entities at Langston University. Originally from Oklahoma City, Natalie holds a B.A. in Psychology from The University of Oklahoma, M.S. in Rehabilitation Counseling from Langston University, and Ph.D. in Counselor Education from Ohio University. Although her clinical, research, and teaching experiences are diverse, they include sexuality education and abuse prevention for children and adults with disabilities, employment for individuals with cognitive disabilities, and culturally responsive behavior change strategies for people of color.

Ryan O'Donnell, BCBA

Hey, I'm Ryan. I usually go by Ryan O or RYANO. I’m a digital nomad that hails from northern Nevada in the grungy, yet surprisingly classy, and newly renovated city of Reno. I wake up daily trying to fill the gap between this amazing science of behavior and the billions of people that it could impact for the better. I do this by creating content for behavioral science enthusiasts via The Daily BA and The Controversial Exchange and CHATTcon, while I prepare for my next big venture (TBA in 2020). I am a master of science; that is, I have an M.S. in Applied Behavior Analysis, however, my interests have grown to include many other areas, from entrepreneurship, artificial intelligence, reinforcement learning, social media, podcasting, and vlogging. These interests and skills have allowed me to work with a lot of great people, travel the world a bit, and share it with the world at large. I've started three businesses, numerous joint venture agreements, a behavioral think-tank, two podcasts, a professional development movement, and helped organizations that support people with various disabilities. I focus outside this role on building a community of thought leaders and doers to create content that increases the transparency of behavior analytic technologies with the hopes of creating a platform that truly saves the world. In my spare time you can find me consuming social media, prepping/climbing a giant mountain, or walking around with my camera in my hand (and, occasionally, all simultaneously). Connect with me personally on most all social platforms via @TheDailyBA and let me know what drives you to pursue the Behavior Analysis vision.

Sarah Trautman, BCBA

Sarah has been in-love with Behavior Analysis since she took her first intro to ABA class as an undergraduate student at Gonzaga University. Sarah has been a Board Certified Behavior Analyst since 2004 (she even took the exam using real paper and a pencil). Sarah founded and was President of an ABA services business, STE Consultants, from 2004-2019. During that time STE Consultants worked to provide quality ABA services to individuals with ASD and developmental disabilities throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, Sacramento and Washington state. Sarah is the past-president of the California Association for Behavior Analysis (CalABA) and was a founding Board Member of the Council of Autism Service Providers (CASP). Sarah has presented at over 30 professional conferences throughout the United States. Sarah has provided consultative services for ABA providers in Belize, Kenya and Brazil. Sarah currently works as a Development Consultant for the CalABA, is a founding partner of On Location, a media company, and provides consultation to ABA associations and businesses throughout the United States. Sarah loves to workout, drinks far too much coffee and enjoys public speaking (really).

Steve Ward, BCBA

Steve Ward has 25 years of experience in the field, and has benefitted from the generosity of pillars in the field (e.g., Vince Carbone, Jim Partington, Mark Sundberg, Kent Johnson, Elizabeth Haughton, etc). Steve has particular interest in learner repertoires…repertoires that form the foundation for how students learn and dramatically improve the efficiency of instruction. He has authored several books and articles relating to social development and learner repertoires.

Tommy Parry, BCBA

Tommy is a behavior analyst, counselor, research collaborator, and organizational consultant. His private practice is geared towards helping: parents of children with autism and special needs children, teens, and adults with autism/Asperger's adults with anxiety and body-focused repetitive behavior individuals with chronic health conditions (fatigue, stress, grief, cancer) In the world of research, Tommy is supervising an interventionist delivering Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to Dementia caregivers as funded by Regenstrief Institute and IU School of Medicine. Tommy co-wrote the ACT manual for this intervention with Dr. Shelley Johns. He is also an ACT interventionist in a study being conducted at IUPUI working with individuals with advanced-stage GI cancer and their caregivers. Tommy has extensive training in ACT and fACT (Focused Acceptance and Commitment Therapy). He enjoys delivering ACT training and usually conducts at least 6 or 7 presentations/workshops a year.

Victoria Farris, EdD, MA, BA

I am a dedicated student affairs and higher education leader with more than 12 years of progressive experience serving students at traditional and specialized arts institutions. A skilled problem solver with a knack for working strategically across teams to drive change and enhance the student experience, I launched Farris Consulting in 2017 with the goal of supporting student affairs and higher education with equity and inclusion consulting and training. Previous positions include: Associate Dean of Students at the New York Institute of Technology, Dean of Residence Life at Saint Peter's University, and Assistant Director of Student Life at The School of American Ballet at Lincoln Center. Prior to that I served in several residence life positions.