I obtained my Specialist in School Psychology (SSP) degree from Illinois State University (ISU) in 2009 with a perfect 4.0 GPA. ISU's competitive program is approved by the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), the Council for Accreditation of Teacher Educator Preparation (CAEP), and the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE). My excellence in assessment was recognized in graduate school, when I was given the honor of training other graduate students in assessment practices.

 

​After completing graduate school, I became a district school psychologist in Chicagoland. My focus has always been in completing comprehensive, individualized evaluations. I am experienced in evaluating various types of exceptionalities including:

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• Bilingual (Spanish-English) students - I have the bilingual special education approval from ISBE. I have studied Spanish in Mexico, Guatemala, and Spain. My evaluations are guided by Steve Gill's ELL Critical Data Process, Olvera and Gomez-Cerrillo's work grounded in the CHC Theory, and the work of Criselda Alverado. 

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• Learning Disabilities - I have experience evaluating learning disabilities using both a discrepancy model and a Response to Intervention (RTI)/MTSS model. My strong preference is to use the research-backed RTI/MTSS model. I have a rich history and training in MTSS including serving as an educational consultant for the MTSS platform Branching Minds. To see some of my work in this area, see the article "Is MTSS and Special Education the same thing?" I have also coauthored an article with Wikihow called "How to Know if You Have a Learning Disability".

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• Autism - I have worked for The Autism Program (TAP) of Illinois and am also trained in using the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, 2nd Edition (ADOS-2). I have also coauthored two articles on Autism on Wikihow, including "How to Recognize the Signs of Autism" and "How to Understand Autism".

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• ADHD and social-emotional challenges - Through observations, interviews, and rating scales, I am adept at weaving together many data points for a complete understanding of a child's needs.