Team

Project Director: Dr. Cindy Gevarter, BCBA-D is an associate professor in UNM’s SHS department. She received her PhD in early childhood special education from the University of Texas at Austin. Her research and teaching interests center around ASD with a focus on early naturalistic communication interventions, family centered and culturally relevant approaches, augmentative and alternative communication, graduate clinician instruction, and interprofessional collaboration. Since 2020, Dr. Gevarter has been the director of the OSEP funded Project SCENES training grant. As a former special education teacher and early interventionist working in New York City and Texas, Dr. Gevarter has extensive experience working with culturally and linguistically diverse families. In her research, she has used ethically responsible methods to be inclusive of individual differences and actively center power inequities. Dr. Gevarter has basic knowledge of Spanish and has worked with monolingual Spanish-speaking families through the help of interpreters. As the SHS graduate admissions chair and advisor to the student equity group, Dr. Gevarter has worked to improve equitable access to our master’s degree program for underrepresented students.

Bilingual Program Director: Dr. Carlos Irizarry Pérez CCC-SLP is an assistant professor in UNM’s SHS Department. He received his PhD in Communication Disorders from the University of Texas at Austin and holds a certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology (CCC-SLP). His research interests are primarily aimed at investigating intervention approaches for bilingual children with speech disorders, preparing clinicians to work with bilingual children, and providing equitable services to bilingual children with communication differences. Dr. Irizarry Pérez has published multiple peer-reviewed articles in the area of bilingualism, presented nationally on bilingual topics, teaches graduate courses on bilingualism and bilingual intervention, and is a bilingual, Latino individual himself. Dr. Irizarry Pérez has also chaired the Diversity Equity and Inclusion Committee within his department, published on diversity, equity, inclusion, and power within the profession, and teaches the department’s course on cultural responsivity. He has been instrumental in the creation of the department’s bilingual concentration area.   

Bilingual Clinic Instructor: Andrea Martinez-Fisher, MA, CCC-SLP is a bilingual SLP with licensure in the state of New Mexico for 18 years. She specializes in providing culturally and linguistically appropriate services to families from diverse backgrounds with medically complex needs. As a member of a minority culture, she prides herself on treating the client to the best of her abilities, always considering how it will impact the client and family within their culture. She has been privileged to work in a variety of settings with clients from birth to 100, collaborating in multidisciplinary teams for complete care of the client and family. Recently she has collaborated with Dr. Irizarry Pérez on research related to intervention approaches for bilingual children with speech disorders, preparing clinicians to work with bilingual children. Additionally, she heads an international collaboration between the UNM SHS program and Comunidad Crecer, a school for individuals with multiple disabilities in Mexico City. Annually, she takes SHS graduate students to Mexico City to work and collaborate with their faculty and students, in Spanish. Each fall she also instructs a class focused on cultural responsivity for undergraduate and graduate students at the University of New Mexico. 

Summer Clinic Instructor: Mary Hartley, MS, CCC-SLP is an SLP with licensure in New Mexico and 36 years of experience in the field providing culturally and linguistically responsive services to New Mexican families. As a Hispanic service provider, her focus is on providing strengths-based, client and family-centered services to children, adolescents and adults with complex communication needs. Ms. Hartley has spent most of her career serving on interprofessional teams in early intervention, school-based and private practice settings providing co-therapy and coaching with families, occupational therapists, physical therapists, teachers, and social workers. Ms. Hartley also has almost a decade of experience in clinical instruction at the graduate level. Recently, she has provided clinical instruction and supervision for SLP and special education students as part the Project SCENES training grant. Her clinical focus is on addressing and advocating for the communication and learning needs of individuals on the autism spectrum and those with social communication needs and working with families to provide them with information about children’s strengths and needs.    

Jessica Nico M.A., CCC-SLP, TSSLD, ASD-CS is a 1st year PhD student in the SHS department. She is an SLP with dual licensure in New Mexico and New York, and almost a decade of experience in the field providing culturally and linguistically responsive services to families from Hispanic, Bengali, Pakistani, Indian, Russian, Chinese and African backgrounds. As a Hispanic, neurodiverse professional, she provides strengths-based, client-centered, and neurodiversity-affirming speech-language services to children and adolescents in the greater Albuquerque area. Holding an Autism Spectrum Disorder Clinical Specialist (ASD-CS) certification, her clinical focus is on understanding, addressing, and advocating for the unique communication styles and needs of individuals on the autism spectrum. As a graduate-level clinical supervisor, she aims to create inclusive learning environments for aspiring SLPs, fostering collaboration and empowering future professionals. As a doctoral student, her research aims to contribute to the advancement of effective assessment, intervention, and collaboration when serving neurodiverse populations. Jessica is dedicated to the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and is committed to advocating for the rights and well-being of neurodiverse individuals.   

Lend Training Director: Alyx Medlock, MS, CCC-SLP has worked with interdisciplinary, family-centered teams throughout her career. She is a life-long New Mexican with deep family and cultural ties to the state. She was the director of the Early Childhood Evaluation Program (ECEP) and continues to work clinically, providing interdisciplinary, developmental and diagnostic evaluations for children under three. Her previous experience, in running a private practice, fostered varied professional and personal experiences throughout the state and across the lifespan. She has experience working with families of children with prenatal drug and alcohol exposure, individuals with ASD, and other populations. Alyx has also trained and consulted internationally. 

Rosario Roman, MS, CCC-SLP founded the interdisciplinary related services agency Bilingual Multicultural Services, Inc (BMSI) in 1992. BMSI provides a range of therapy services to support children and adults with different abilities within their families and communities and employs over 100 providers. BMSI provides NM Family Infant Toddler Services and has contracts with local school districts to provide related services in education settings. In addition to being the founder and CEO of BMSI, Ms. Roman provides SLP clinical supervision and provides workshops in multiple multicultural topics. She is the author of "Unwrapping the Gift: How a Mother and Deaf Daughter Redefined Reality".

Jessica Meese, MS CCC-SLP is from Tohlakai, NM on the Navajo reservation.  She is Naaneesht’ézhi Táchii’nii (Charcoal Streaked of the Red Running into the Water) and born for Tł’ááshchí’i (Red Bottom People). Her maternal grandfather’s clan is ‘Áshįįhi (Salt People) and her paternal grandfather is Bilagáana. Jessica lives in Albuquerque and is a research coordinator for the Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health. She helps coordinate the Language is Medicine pilot study on the Navajo Nation. She previously worked as an SLP at a Native American charter school providing services for K-12 students, and in early intervention in NM and on the Navajo reservation. Growing up on the reservation, she was able to see firsthand the lack of resources and education about language development, communication, and access to SLP services. Jessica received her master’s degree from UNM.

J. Alex Douglas received a late-life diagnosis of ASD, which helped to steer him down the path of becoming an advocate for neurodiversity. His self-advocacy truly began in childhood, as he learned to speak up for himself and his needs both in and out of the classroom. He continues to apply his advocacy skills as an adult and as a parent of a neurodiverse son. J. Alex has worked in a diverse range of fields, including advertising design, telecommunications, and film and television. J. Alex was also a NM-LEND fellow in 2020-2021. His area of focus was aimed at supporting adults and teens transitioning to adulthood, who seek to lead a more independent lifestyle. He is currently employed as a community support worker for GD Psych Services, where he assists individuals and families who are undergoing the process of evaluation for autism.