Florida Institute of Technology
High Tech with a Human Touch
Meet the Co-Instructors
Co-instructors are listed alphabetically by last name.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
William “Tim” Courtney, M.S., BCBA
Tim Courtney graduated with a Masters of Science in Applied Behavior Analysis from Florida Institute of Technology in 2006 and became a Board Certified Behavior Analyst that same year. He has worked as a behavior analyst since 2003 with different organizations such as the Brevard County Public Schools, The Transformations School of Autism, and currently, the Columbus Organization / Outreach Services of Indiana. In addition to his work as a behavior analyst, Tim has a plethora of instructional experience. He has been a co-instructor for Florida Institute of Technology since 2007, created a one-hour Autism curriculum for first responders and law enforcement throughout the state of Indiana, provides a two-day training in Positive Behavior Support throughout the state of Indiana, and is a BCBA Remote Supervisor, providing international supervision based on BACB standards. Tim’s research interests include functional assessment, medical and dental avoidance and escape behavior, verbal behavior, and dissemination of the science of Applied Behavior Analysis. He recently began working with the Indiana University’s dental program training dentists and dental hygienists how to behaviorally address avoidance and escape-maintained behavior. Serving as a co-instructor allows him the opportunity to stay on top of the latest innovative information, while sharing his experiences and teaching students best practices in the field of ABA.
Han-Leong Goh, M.S., BCBA
Han-Leong Goh graduated with a Philisophical Doctorate in Psychology with experimental analysis of behavior from the University of Florida in 1997 and received his BCBA in 2001. He first got interested in applied behavior analysis when he worked as a clinical specialist at the Children’s Seashore House in Philadelphia. He pursued his interest in ABA by enrolling as a graduate student at the University of Florida under the tutelage of Brian Iwata. After receiving his doctorate, Han worked as a post doctoral fellow at the Kennedy Krieger Institute with Cathleen Piazza. Most recently, Han was a Senior Behavior Analyst with the University of Florida’s Behavior Analysis Services Program where and he and 63 other Behavior Analyst enjoyed indoctrinating ABA into Flordia’s Child Welfare System. He is a guest reviewer for the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis and Research in Social Work Practice and has acted as assistant editor for Self-Injury News and Abstracts. Han has produced numerous publications, and frequently presented papers and posters at conferences. Within ABA, his specialty is functional analysis of problem behaviors, and he is most interested in functional analysis, child welfare, and developmental disabilities. Han feels motivated knowing that he can help students learn something very practical and useful to everyday life.
Andrew J. Houvouras IV, M.A., BCBA
Andrew Houvouras graduated with a Masters of Arts in Clinical Psychology from Marshall University in 1997 and became a Board Certified Behavior Analyst in 2000. Andrew has worked as a behavior analyst since 1998, and has worked for Brevard County Public Schools since 2001. In his current role he is responsible for students’ functional behavior assessments and behavior intervention plans, provides faculty inservices on various disabilities, participates in child study meetings as part of multi-disciplinary teams, and trains and models interventions for teachers, teaching assistants, students and parents. Additionally, he developed the emergency procedures section of the County Plan Manual, is an annual presenter for special inservices on autism spectrum disorders, and serves as an expert witness for county due process cases. In addition to his work as a behavior analyst, Andrew instructed a graduate-level Applied Behavior Analysis course approved as a preparatory course for the national Board Certification Examinations for Behavior Analysts (BCBA) and Associate Behavior Analysts( BCaBA), and co-authored and presented continuing education courses for behavior analysts. His interests lie in behavioral medicine, social skills, and functional analysis, and he has been involved in research regarding reducing safety vests for students and teaching fire safety to children. He looks forward to every class that he teaches and cites ABA as his way of contributing to a better world.
Michael E. Kelley, Ph.D., BCBA
Michael Kelley graduated with a Philosophical Doctorate in Psychology from the Louisiana State University in 2003 and received his BCBA in 2005. His specialties are assessment of preference, function analysis, assessment and treatment of severe behavior problems, and he is most interested in Translational research – research that both adds to our understanding of basic principles and also informs practice. The majority of Michael’s research has been in the area of assessment and treatment of severe problem behavior, and more recently he has been interested in verbal behavior and motivating operations. Michael has held a number of professional positions including Post-doctoral Fellow at the Marcus Institute and Emory University School of Medicine, Director of the Severe Behavior Outpatient Program at Marcus Behavior Center, and is currently the Co-Director of the ACHIEVE Program in Bath, ME. While at the Marcus Institute in Atlanta, he conducted clinical evaluations of children who were displaced from Louisiana due to Hurricane Katrina, and helped one child progress from no discernible vocal behavior to over 100 words in six months. Michael is motivated to learn all that he can by consuming all available research and sharing his knowledge with his students.
Chad E. L. Kinney, M.S., BCBA
Chad Kinney graduated with a Master’s of Science Degree in Applied Behavior Analysis from Florida Institute of Technology in 2007 and received is BCaBA in 2004 followed by his BCBA in 2007. He completed his research thesis on how conditioned reinforcement might alter the preference of young children diagnosed with autism, and is most interested in education. Chad has collected a varied background of experiences and accomplishments. He developed and conducted a research study that employed a single-subject reversal design used to evaluate the utility of conditioned reinforcement with young children diagnosed with autism. Chad developed open-enrolment course for groups of teenagers court ordered to receive anger management classes and negotiated time and location of the course, and the rewards and response costs for its participants while working with the Palm Bay Police Athletic League. Currently the Program Director for the STAR Center, Inc., he helps guide and set policy and shape the future of the school. In his spare time, Chad has developed a relationship with the Humane Society in Melbourne toward teaching his clients to train the Humane Society’s adoptable dogs.
Melissa Knoll, M.S., BCBA
Melissa Knoll graduated with a Master’s of Science Degree in Applied Behavior Analysis from Florida Institute of Technology and received her BCBA in 2007. She has experience working in the field of autism and other related disabilities, and is most interested in working with clients with severe behavioral disorders and rare diagnoses, and has been privileged to work with a few rare cases including Prader Willi and Phelan Mcdermid Syndrome. Melissa has researched stimulus-stimulus pairing procedure on a 3-year-old autistic male and also has worked to develop a hand-held computer used to assist caregivers of patients with Alzheimer’s Disease in their daily living. She has worked as a behavioral analyst working with children with developmental disabilities for organizations such as Florida Tech Behavioral Services, Quest Kids, Inc., and PRBAI. Melissa loves woring and teaching parents, so that everyone can have a more enjoyable life and students to help them become confident and knowledgeable behavior analysts.
Richard E. Laitinen, Ph.D., BCBA
Richard Laitinen graduated with a Philosophical Doctorate in Education with an emphasis in Special Education from the University of California in Santa Barbara in 1992 and received is BCBA in 2004. He has produced numerous publications, manuscripts, educational material, and reports and given professional presentations for organizations such as The Association for Behavior Analysis, California Association for Behavior Analysis, and YAI: National Institute for People with Disabilities. Richard has served many varied roles during his career as a behavior analyst. As the Clinical Director of Tucci Learning Solutions, Inc., Richard developed Competent Learner Model (CLM) curriculum, oversaw classroom and in-home implementation of the CLM, assisted in staff training, including teaching all five required for the BCBA exam to qualified staff, as well as support and coach staff in case review and management. He also provided technical assistance n special education services for special needs students attending Head Start Grantee operated programs and Delegate agencies and oversaw the development of individualized Education Programs and transitions serves, and promoted parent training and advocacy on special education rights and responsibilities. Richard finds the validation of curriculum, instructional procedures as determined by their impact on the acquisition, generalization and application of new skills by the learner a very satisfying career.
Paula Leonardo, M.S., BCBA
Paula Leonardo graduated with a Master’s of Science Degree in Applied Behavior Analysis from Florida Institute of Technology in May of 2003 and received her BCBA in 2004. Since 2001 Paula has worked as a Behavior Analyst for three consulting firms and served on the faculty of the University of South Florida for five years as a Behavior Analyst with the Behavior Analysis Services Program (BASP), in partnership with the Department of Children and Families. In this capacity, Paula’s role included providing services to families experiencing behavior issues with their children or foster children who were living with them. Paula has experience working with children with mental health issues or developmental issues, and has assisted in the development of behavior management programs for local group homes and mental health facilities. Paula also has five years of experience providing parenting trainings for caregiver’s in the community. She currently holds the additional duties of assisting in developing curriculum for parent trainings, providing behavior management trainings for parents, teenage mothers, and inmates in jail awaiting re-entry into the community. Paula is motivated by the fact that as a CBA, she can make a huge difference in people’s lives and the world.
F. Charles Mace, PhD, BCBA
Dr. F. Charles Mace graduated with a Philosophical Doctorate in Psychology from the University of Arizona in 1983 and received his BCBA in []. He is currently the Professor of Psychology and the Director of Research for the Psychology Program at the University of Southern Maine, as well as the Director of the ACHIEVE laboratory school for children with emotional disabilities. Prior to joining the USM faculty in 2005, Professor Mace held faculty positions at Lehigh University, Rutgers University, the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and the University of Wales. At each university, Professor Mace developed clinical programs for children with developmental disabilities that served as nationally recognized sites for research and post-graduate training. He has published over one hundred research papers and book chapters, two of his papers are ranked as citation classics, having been cited well over one hundred times each. Dr. Mace’s research has concentrated on the functional analysis of severe behavior disorders, behavioral momentum, and the Matching Law, and he also serves on the editorial boards of several leading research journals and was the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA) from 1999-2001.
Jan Montgomery, M.S., BCBA
Jan Montgomery graduated with a Master’s of Science Degree in Psychology with an emphasis on Applied Behavior Analysis from North Dakota State University in 1988 and became Board Certified in 2000. Her career has included behavior analytical work at a head injury rehabilitation program, where she directed a secure locked unit for violent offenders, chairing LRC committees, consulting with group homes, and providing behavior training via workshops for caregivers and professionals. For the last eleven years, Jan has worked with dependent children and caregivers beginning with a pilot project with the Positive Parenting group under Dr. Michael Stoutimore based on Dr. Glenn Latham’s work. Having had the opportunity to work in the areas of developmental disabilities, traumatic brain injury and also with children, caregivers and professionals in the child welfare system has given Jan a wide range of experience in training. Her specialty area in ABA is working within the child welfare system with children and biological and adoptive parents as well as other alternative caregivers including relatives and residential situations. Jan finds it particularly exciting to teach Behavior Analysis to students who will go on to use the knowledge to change lives.
Kristin K. Myers, M.S., BCBA
Kristin Myers graduated with a Master’s of Science in Applied Behavior Analysis from Florida Institute of Technology in May of 2005 and received her BCBA the same year. She has worked for the University of Florida Behavior Analysis Services Program, providing training on Behavior Intervention Plans to caregivers, as well as writing Behavior Intervention Plans and overseeing their implementation. Kristin has also acted as a liaison for dependent children receiving treatment in DCF programs, community providers and other partners to develop, access, and network behavioral resources for children and families. She has been a co-instructor for the ABA Online Program since 2007 and also currently works as the Director of Curriculum Evaluation and Improvement. Her research interests include behavior analysis in education through educational programs, including maximizing effectiveness of education through curriculum design. Kristin’s love for behavior analysis is paralleled only by her passion for teaching.
Byron Neff, M.S., BCBA
Byron Neff graduated with a Masters of Science Degree in Applied Behavior Analysis from the University of North Texas in 1997. He has been with the Department of Child and Family Studies at the University of South Florida’s Mental Health Institute since 1997. While at the Mental Health Institute, he has served a number of roles, including, Behavior Analysis Services Program (BASP) Senior Behavior Analyst, BASP Program Coordinator, and currently, Behavior Analysis Research Team Coordinator. Among his many contributions, Byron has developed a training curriculum, “Tools for Positive Behavior Change”, taught proactive childcare techniques to caregivers, staff, teachers and teenage parents in foster care, and developed and implemented interventions to stabilize and improve behavior of high-risk foster youth. Additionally, he chaired a Local Peer Review Committee and has had a key role in contract negotiations for Florida’s Department of Children and Families (DCF), including, reviewing behavior analysis practice standards for Florida’s child welfare system and providing recommendations for legislative changes. Currently, in his role as Behavior Analysis Research Team Coordinator, he is responsible for grant writing, curriculum development, designing research projects, and collaborating with child welfare agencies. Furthermore, Byron has published a number of publications and presented papers regarding foster care and child welfare.
Stacie Neff, M.S., BCBA
Stacie Neff graduated with a Master’s of Science Degree in Behavior Analysis from University of North Texas in 1997 and received her BCBA in 2001. While working for the University of South Florida/Department of Children and Families, she was one of six behavior analysts involved in developing and implementing Florida’s child welfare Behavior Analysis Services Program, and participated in creating the training curriculum “Tools for Positive Behavior Change.” Stacie has also participated on the Multidisciplinary Committee through the Department of Children and Families while working for Families First of Florida. Also, while working with the Department of Children and Families, she revised and created new materials for four curricula used statewide by the Behavior Analysis Services Program, and created and conducted statewide recertification for all members of the program. She has taught teachers, parents, foster parents, adoptive parents, residential staff, behavior analysts and both graduate and undergraduate students. Stacie currently teaches parenting skills to a variety of audiences, and has conducted several workshops and presentations in her area. Teaching is one of Stacie’s favorite things to do, and she considers teaching and training her specialty.
Melissa R. Nosik M.S., BCBA
Melissa Nosik graduated with a Master’s of Science Degree in Applied Behavior Analysis from Florida Institute of Technology in 2004 and became a Board Certified Behavior Analyst that same year. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Behavior Analysis at the University of Nevada in Reno, and is a lead consultant on the HIS ABA autism project. Melissa worked as a full time clinical consulting behavior analyst for five years in various roles. She has served as the chair of the East Tennessee Regional Office Behavior Intervention Committee, executive committee representative of the Tennessee Association for Behavior Analysis, and student representative for the Nevada Association for Behavior Analysis. Melissa has worked as a private consultant for intensive early intervention programs for children with autism and has experience training in behavior chaining procedures for similar units. She has led an interdisciplinary team to create effective and appropriate treatment at an MR/DD facility for adults with medical and behavioral challenges. [add something personal]
Corey L. Robertson, M.S., BCBA
Corey Robertson graduated with a Masters of Science in Applied Behavior Analysis and Organizational Behavior Management from Florida Institute of Technology in 2006 and became a Board Certified Behavior Analyst in 2007. He began his career in 1998 as an exceptional education teacher for the Orange County Public Schools, working two years at the elementary level and two years at the middle school level. He has since worked as a behavior analyst for a number of organizations and is currently responsible for developing, training staff, and supervising implementation of skill acquisition and behavior programs for adults with developmental disabilities. His areas of specialty include adults and children with autism and developmental disabilities, and collaborating with parents and teachers to deliver services in-home and in-school. He is also interested in Organizational Behavior Management as it applies to human services. Corey is passionate about teaching and enjoys interacting with students from all types of backgrounds, from all over the world. His experiences in different applications and settings of applied behavior analysis has given him a well-rounded perspective and has contributed to his knack for explaining things in a way that is easy to understand and remember.
Robert J. Ryan Jr., M.S., BCBA
Robert Ryan graduated with a Master’s of Science Degree in Applied Behavior Analysis from Florida Tech in 2007 and received his BCBA in 2008. He has experience in verbal behavior, functional assessment and analysis, behavior support plans, discrete trail training, natural environment teaching, precision teaching, direct instruction, and assessment of basic language and learning skills, but considers verbal behavior his specialty and the area he is most interested in. Robert has held various positions as a behavior analyst including District Behavior Analysis for the Osceola County Public Schools where he developed programs and training for school and district level staff, and administrate district cases for implementation of programs and student placement changes. He has also been the CEO and President of Behavior & Communication Therapy, Inc., a Behavior Analyst company consulting with individual families and institutions specializing in individual student and employee goals, providing training, management and organization for those who are working with individuals with autism and other developmental disorders. Robert has always thought that ABA is a critical component of teaching; it defines, describes, and prescribes what good teaching is.
Sharin Smolenyak, M.A., BCBA
Sharin Smolenyak graduated with a Master’s of Arts Degree in Psychology from the University of Florida in 1974, became a Florida Certified Behavior Analyst in 1987 and received her BCBA in 2003. She worked at the Children’s Mental Health Autistic In-patient Unit at the University of Florida Shands Hospital, and has had 33 years experience working at a Florida Developmental Services Institution with individuals juvenile to geriatric. Sharin was a Certified Behavior Analyst On-call for behavior emergencies for seven years for an institution of 550 residents. She provided behavioral services in Florida District 3 for ten years in group homes, foster homes, schools, ARC’s, and aging and adult services placements. She has worked for the past two years as a Clinical Behavioral Specialist F/C at the Seguin Unit male forensic facility for the Florida Agency for Persons with Disabilities. Sharin is proud and enthused to be a co-instructor, and to have a role in contributing to the quality of Applied Behavior Analysis services that are provided.
Karin Torsiello, M.S., BCBA
Karin Torsiello graduated with a Masters of Science in Applied Behavior Analysis from Florida Institute of Technology in 2000 and became a Board Certified Behavior Analyst that same year. She is the President of Behavior Basics Incorporated, a consulting firm in Florida and is the Director of Operations for Advantage Behavioral Group. She has worked as a behavior analyst for three consulting firms and served on the faculty of the University of South Florida for seven years as the Senior Behavior Analyst with the Behavior Analysis Services Program, in partnership with the Department of Children and Families. Karin’s role including supervising a team of behavior analysts who provides direct services to families who were experiencing behavior issues with their children. She was also responsible for curriculum development and revision, research activities specific to parent training, and providing training for caregivers in the community. Additionally, she has developed behavior management programs for local group homes and mental health facilities. She currently conducts behavior management training for parents, teenage mothers, and prisoners awaiting re-entry into the community, provides in-home consultation services for caregivers and children, and consults with multi-disciplinary committees to review cases of children who are displaying maladaptive behaviors. One of her favorite duties across all of her positions is teaching, as she loves to experience new people on a regular basis.
Carole M. Van Camp, Ph.D., BCBA
Carole Van Camp received her BCBA in 2001 and graduated with a Philosophical Doctorate in Psychology from the Louisiana State University in 2004. She has research, teaching, and clinical experience and has presented numerous papers and posters at national conferences. Carole has served on the Board of Editors for the Journal of Early and Intensive Behavior Intervention, and has been a guest reviewer for Research on Social Work Practice, Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, and Behavior Analysis in Practice. In her clinical work, she currently conducts assessment and function-based treatment of developmentally-delayed individuals’ behavior problems at Behavior Analysis Support Services, and has worked on functional analysis of aberrant behavior displayed by adults with disabilities, development of behavior plans, and staff training while at the Wallace Center in Alabama. [insert something personal]
Angelique Walsh, M.S., BCBA
Angelique Walsh received her BCBA in 2002, and graduated with a Master’s of Science Degree in psychology with a specialization in Applied Behavior Analysis from the University of Nevada at Reno in 2003. She joined with the University of South Florida to work on a granted statewide project to increase the safety and stability of children in foster care placements. During the first six years with the University, Angelique focused on training numerous caregivers and professionals to use behavior management techniques to improve their children’s behavioral problems and cope with mental health disorders. While with the University, she worked on several research pr0ojects and a program re-design project for group homes. As a Senior Behavior Analyst, Angelique has supervised other behavior analysts working in the community with caregivers of children in foster care and built relationships with other agencies in the community. For the past five years, she has been working with Behavior Basics Incorporated as a behavior consultant and the Director of Instructional Design. Behavior Basics has offered her the opportunity to design curriculum, train teenage mothers and train prisoners re-entering the community from a jail setting. Angelique finds her work fulfilling and important; she is always researching something and usually reads several books at one time because there are just too many interesting books out there to just choose one.
Elizabeth Walsh, M.S., BCBA
Elizabeth Walsh graduated with a Masters in Applied Behavior Analysis from Florida Institute of Technology in 2008 and received her BCBA certification the same year. Elizabeth has practiced behavioral therapy since 1997 in a variety of clinical and educational settings. She has provided center and home-based ABA therapy to children with autism and other disorders and provided counseling and behavioral support to adults ages 18 through 60 with a dual diagnosis of mental retardation and autism or mental retardation and schizophrenia in a community-based residential setting. In 1997 she served as the lead behavioral specialist at the Scott Center for Autism Treatment at the Florida Institute of Technology, assisting with the start up of the Center, including the development of the Center’s services and scope of treatment, and working hands on with clients. In 1998 she developed and implemented a new Social Skills Group program at the center targeting a different demographic of clients than those currently served by the University. Currently, Elizabeth is the Assistant Program Director/Lead BCBA at the STAR Center in Melbourne, FL, a school-based ABA program for 16 children with developmental disabilities including autism, aspergers, Prader-Willi Syndrome and Phelan-McDermid Syndrome (22q13 deletion). In this role she uses the principles of ABA to implement strategies to meet the needs of each child in a classroom setting, including verbal behavior procedures, small and large group pre-social/social skills groups, NET and ITT, precision teaching, and direct instruction.