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meet the team

As a well-trained speech-language pathologist skilled in a transdiciplinary approach, Lynette has worked with children and families in a multitude of ways. She has experience in creating early intervention, school, and home programs for children with difficulties in relating and communicating as well as providing direct services in the form of individual and group sessions. Her specialty is assessing what individual needs a child may have that impede their relationships with their families, friends, and ability to participate in their community. This varied experience enables her to train the staff and parents at TCS in the most effective method that suits a child’s particular learning style while supporting the child’s individual needs.

Lynette’s goal in working with a family is to give them the tools they need help establish and maintain a fulfilling relationship with their child and to provide the child with skills to reach their lifelong potential.

Erica is a passionate special educator. She is currently pursuing her masters degree in psychology with the focus of child and adolescent development. She uses her years of experience, education, and training to provide multi-sensory and experienced based learning opportunities for her students. Erica strives to build a strong relationship with students, families, staff, and friends to promote a positive learning environment throughout the day. She intuitively reads each child’s cues and instinctively supports their individual needs so they can be as independent as possible.

Rita has played an important role in the lives of children with autism. She brings a warm smile, upbeat attitude, natural talent, and years of experience around autism to the classroom. Her role in class is to support the teaching staff in providing experience-based learning activities while assisting the children to maintain a regulated, attentive state to better enable them to participate throughout the day. She intuitively reads each child’s cues and instinctively supports their individual needs so they can be as independent as possible.

As an Occupational Therapist on the classroom team, Hana integrates her knowledge and expertise in sensory integration and other areas of Occupational Therapy into the classroom in order to enable the students to participate in their school day as fully and independently as possible. Prior to joining the team, Hana worked at a nonpublic school for students with autism in New York City and as a supervisor at a nonpublic school for students with autism in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Nova is an enthusiastic and energetic Speech Therapist on the classroom team. Nova received her undergraduate degree in the area of communication disorders from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and her graduate degree in communicative disorders from San Francisco State University. She brings six years of experience working with children and adolescents with autism. Working with children has always been Nova’s passion. She considers her role in facilitating communication with children with autism both a privilege and a blessing. Nova specializes in both high tech and low tech Augmentative Alternative Communication strategies.

Anne is the school’s executive assistant who brings more than a decade of experience in a variety of industries including high-tech, hospitality, and nonprofit. She uses her organizational and administrative skills to support the team and user her writing skills to secure grants to financially support the school.

Sara is an Educational Consultant in private practice in the San Francisco Bay Area and utilizes the DIR Model® to support special needs children and their families. She capitalizes on each child's unique strengths, individual differences, and specific learning styles to support growth, development, and learning potential for children with special needs with a range of abilities. Sara also has experience in various early intervention, school, and home-based settings.

Barbara Kalmanson, Ph.D., Clinical Psychology, Special Education, DIR® Faculty
Barbara is a psychologist, special educator, and founder of the Oak Hill School for children with special needs in California. She has extensive experience working with schools, children, and their families, and lectures on topics related to children on the autism spectrum. Her publications focus on affective development, early intervention with children who have difficulties in relating and communicating, and the importance of family-provider relationships.

Lisa deFaria, MSW, LCSW, BCD, DIR® Faculty
Lisa is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Psychotherapist, and Child Development Specialist. She has trained and worked extensively using the DIR® Model to provide a child and family centered approach for supporting the growth, development and learning of young children with special needs, as well as those with emerging emotional, behavioral and learning challenges. She is in private practice in Monterey, CA and speaks both regionally and statewide on Floortime™ and child development, education and inclusion.

Marjorie Cases, B.S. OTR/L SIPT, SQL, IMC, DIR® certificate DIR® Facilitator
Marjorie is an Occupational Therapist and owns and operates a private outpatient clinic utilizing DIR® and Floortime™ in Pennsylvania. She offers the latest treatment approaches to meet the specific needs of children diagnosed with developmental delay, sensory processing disorder, learning disabilities and autistic spectrum disorder, and motor dysfunction.

Michele Ricamato, M.A., Speech Therapy, DIR® Faculty
Michele is a cofounder of Soaring Eagle Academy and a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist in Illinois. Michele has been in private practice since 1997 and worked in an early childhood school setting prior to that. She has utilized DIR®/Floortime™ methodology in her therapy since 1993.