Rick Schroeder has been a staff member of Autism Partnership since its inception in 1995. Rick began his career implementing intensive Applied Behavioral Analysis programs with children with Autism Spectrum Disorder at the UCLA Autism Project directed by Dr. Ivar Lovaas. He spent several years with the project finishing as a senior therapist. Since his time at Autism Partnership, Rick has provided direct intervention to children, behavioral and curricular program development, and staff training. During this time, Rick has participated in the development of new teaching strategies in the effort to enhance social skills training to children, foremost being the Cool/Not Cool and Teaching Interaction Procedures. His other experience includes consultation and staff development to school districts nationally. He has worked extensively with parents of children with ASD in the home, known as the RESQ intervention, one of which had been featured on CNN. His other experiences include; developing and teaching an ABA classroom as model for teacher training, assisting the creation of an Autism Partnership site office in Japan, and serving as a national and international presenter at various workshops, trainings, and conferences.

Mom, volunteer, and advocate. I am a proud mom of an exceptional, 11-year-old MVUSD 5th grader. I am a volunteer with multiple organizations and committees within the Moreno Valley Unified School District and was recently elected as our Community Advisory Committee (CAC) Chair/President. Working with our school district and SELPA, advocating for equity in education is my greatest passion. My autistic son is my greatest inspiration.

I am Marie Tan, mother of two children who were both diagnosed with mild to moderate Autism - namely Keane who is turning 16 and Kalvin turning 13 years old this year. I am a full time mom presently working in our district as a Substitute Instructional Assistant in a Special Day Class - Moderate to Severe program. Our family is a work in progress as we take the path journeying the world of Autism. Both of my kids are attending school at Moreno Valley Unified School District Special Education under Moderate to Severe class. Keane and Kalvin are also receiving their Speech and OT services from the school; however in addition to that Keane received additional speech therapy from a private provider which ended last year. Moreover, both boys received an In-Home service of Applied Behavioral Analysis program where I acquired my skills in handling behavioral strategies through our ABA providers’ parent training for almost 11 years. Likewise, I also took an online Autism Training Workshop with Dr. Mary Barbera’s Verbal Behavior Approach to increase my skills in handling my two boys.

As a parent of these two exceptional individuals, I am their chief caretaker and their devoted advocate. I am also like other parent with kids in the spectrum who has been a “Gung ho” warrior constantly learning for more outside the box strategies, keep discovering my children’s abilities and developing a positive perspective in understanding their world. I am very much honored to share our Autism journey to bring awareness to our society.

Lindsay Argiro has been working in the field of Autism and Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) for over 10 years. She has a Masters degree in School Psychology and is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). She has dedicated much of her professional life fine tuning her craft and applying ABA across settings. She enjoys working collaboratively with various team members within the district to provide Evidence Based approaches for students with Autism and Intellectual Disabilities. It's Lindsay's goal to provide effective programs for students so they can achieve greater independence, vocational training and build meaningful relationships with others. Lindsay is married with two children ages 5 and 7. She enjoys spending quality time with her children and often applies what she has learned in ABA to help her children grow and succeed academically and socially.

Julie began her career as an Educational Specialist with the MVUSD at Towngate Elementary. She has a Masters Degree in Teaching with specialization in autism and is currently working toward a Masters of Science in Applied Behavior Analysis. She has received extensive and ongoing training from Autism Partnership. She moved into the position of Program Specialist-Autism in 2014. In this role she provides training and consultation in Evidence Based Practices to staff and parents and she works with teams to develop learning and behavioral goals and programming for students. Currently MVUSD educates 618 students with ASD and Julie aims to provide the best support for internventions that will benefit students leading to a successful and fulfilling life.

Julie is married, has three adult children, and a dog. Her oldest daughter has spina bifida and was her inspiration to pursue a career in special education. Her mission is to provide students a meaningful education with an emphasis on skills leading to independence, autonomy, and the value-of-self for a happy and successful life.

Clara Garcia is the Director of Programs for the Autism Society Inland Empire. She has been active in the field of social services for the past 21 years in the areas of mental health and drug treatment counseling, gang prevention/intervention programs and has spent the last 9 years serving those in the disability community by promoting inclusion, advocating and educating.

Clara has created and implemented inclusive programs for special needs children and their typical peers which include a Summer camp, play dates, outings in the community. Clara has appeared on PSA’s promoting inclusion and advocacy for the disability community.

Angelina has worked for Department of Rehabilitation (DOR) over ten years as counselor. Her specialties include working with system impacted individuals, youth at risk, and community college student population. In 2018, DOR introduced Student Services which quickly developed into Angelina’s passion! Reaching individuals with disabilities at a sooner age has proven to be an effective tool to facilitate better growth opportunities. In her spare time, Angelina loves camping, cooking, exercising with her husband and keeps up with her three and one year old!

I have been working at Inland Regional Center for almost sixteen years. The first twelve years I worked as a Consumer Services Coordinator and the last four years as an Employment Specialist. I absolutely love what I do and making a difference in our consumer’s lives. I have two beautiful teenage daughters that keep me extremely busy. I enjoy working out and any outdoor sports and work hard to maintain a healthy and active lifestyle.

My name is Shunna Bradford. Being employed with the Moreno Valley Unified School District for almost 30 years has allowed me to gracefully embrace the privilege of being a teacher of students who have unique learning needs. Humbly, I am still learning new skills, accepting challenges, and enjoying opportunities for adventures with our excellent and exceptional students. Watching our students blossom to their fullest potentials is my passion. Opening doors for inclusion is my desire. Working with our parents through communication, workshops, and meetings is my strength. As a teacher, I have received numerous honors, more recent are: California Department of Education- Teacher of the Year-Finalist, Riverside County-Teacher of the Year, Moreno Valley Unified School District-Teacher of the Year, Moreno Elementary School Teacher of the Year, Altura Cares for Teachers-Classroom Makeover Award and Riverside County Office of Education-Heart of Extraordinary Service Award. My favorite mottos are, “If a child can’t learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn," as stated by Ignacio Estrada, and "Love is Kind!"

Greetings! My name is Diana Horner and this is my 7th year as a special education teacher at Towngate Elementary School. Currently, I teach 1st through 3rd grade students with moderate-severe disabilities. I have a B.A in Psychology and Social Behavior from UC Irvine, and I obtained my teaching credentials from California State University, Fullerton. I am currently working towards my master’s in Applied Behavior Analysis through National University. Students with autism are so diverse, and there is always something new to learn from our students, which is something I always remember when working with my students. One of my favorite parts about teaching is developing a strong partnership with the families of my students because I believe that is the key to an enjoyable, meaningful, and successful school experience.

Since 1997 I have worked with many amazing children. Previously, I was a preschool teacher and teacher for after school programs for 6 years. I was an instructional assistant for students with disabilities for 12 years and taught at an after-school learning center as an English and Writing teacher. Then I became an education specialist and I'm working on my 9th year of teaching individuals with moderate/severe disabilities. I enjoy what I do and hope to continue to assist students to be highly included throughout our campus while teaching them skills of independence.

My name is Pam Plascencia and you’ll most likely find me sitting at the kids table during a family dinner. I grew up in a rough neighborhood and my parents didn’t have much money. I played soccer, basketball, tennis, swim and played the flute and guitar. My family and I are very close. I remember playing teacher with my stuffed animals and enjoyed tutoring students in both academics and music from a young age. I have some extended family members that have autism and I always enjoyed teaching them social skills. It was like trying to decipher a puzzle! My heart has always been with children and students and their happiness and curiosity inspire me everyday.