About
Our program founder, Tara Bertone, has worked with children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in ABA programs since 1996. Her training and experience in ABA and autism treatment began in the University of Nevada's Early Childhood Autism Program through the Behavior Analysis Program in the Department of Psychology. It was through this experience that she became passionate about making a difference in the lives of children and families affected with ASD.
After earning her Masters degree in Communication Disorders at the University of Minnesota in 2001, she started her career as a Speech-Language Pathologist providing one-on-one intervention, in addition to social-communication groups for children with ASD. Over the last decade, she has been a Behavior Therapist, Speech-Language Pathologist and private consultant in a wide variety of autism programs throughout the U.S. and UK. She has worked with hundreds of children on the autism spectrum in multidisciplinary clinics, as well as Verbal Behavior (VB) and traditional ABA programs.
Throughout all of her education and experience, Tara witnessed the striking impact of ABA and VB programs for learning and behavior in children with ASD. However, she was often disappointed
and puzzled by the minimal, if any, collaboration between ABA professionals and Speech-Language Pathologists. Although ABA professionals were proficient in teaching new skills, rarely did a
Speech-Language Pathologist play a significant role in the development of curriculum and/or program management, which are primarily speech, language and communication-based.
Autism Matters was founded to address the disconnection between these two disciplines by incorporating both ABA principles (HOW to teach) and Speech-Language Pathology expertise (WHAT to teach). It is our firm belief that these two disciplines combined offer the BEST OF BOTH WORLDS for children with ASD to develop speech, language, communication, social skills and more.
At Autism Matters, professionals work side-by-side
so that children with ASD can:
Learn... the way they learn best.
Speak... through evidence-based speech-language therapy
designed by a licensed professional.
And
Communicate... with family and friends to their full potential.
Learn. Speak. Communicate.
