Shariffah Azzaam, M.A., BCBA
Director of Family and Clinical Services, RethinkCare 

Shariffah Azzaam is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) with 9 years of experience and a certified math and special education teacher with over 20 years of teaching experience. Shariffah specializes in supporting parents and neurodiverse individuals through personalized strategies and approaches. With extensive experience working both domestically and internationally, she is dedicated to empowering children and adults to reach their full potential through effective, individualized interventions.

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Louis Chesney
Neurodiversity Program Manager, RethinkCare 

Louis Chesney is the Program Manager of Neurodiversity for RethinkCare, overseeing the day-to-day operations and expansion of RethinkCare’s neurodiversity course content and consultation approach. Before joining RethinkCare, Louis championed and led a hiring program for autistic adults at a global technology company. He continually aims to make a positive impact on those who are underserved. As an individual who experienced selective mutism first-hand, Louis inspires and actively contributes to the current work. He co-authored “ECHO: A Vocal Language Program for Easing Anxiety in Conversation,” a Plural Publishing book designed to help older children and teens needing social communication support. 

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Kelly Deacon, M.A., BCBA, LBA
Director of Family and Clinical Services, RethinkCare

Kelly Deacon has been a Behavior Expert with RethinkCare since 2019 and has been in the field for more than 25 years. In addition to Rethink she previously worked as the Senior Behavior Analyst at a clinic in Hawaii for 15 years. Here she worked directly with children, created curriculum, behavior plans and provided supervision for junior level supervisors pursuing their education. Kelly supports families who have children with autism, ADHD and anxiety disorders as well as typically developing children. She currently works with a wide spectrum of age ranges from 18 months to 18 years old. Kelly has a master’s degree in Professional Behavior Analysis from Florida Institute of Technology and is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). She is a mother and makes an effort to embed compassion into everything that she teaches her daughter. 

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Adrienne Leduc, M.Ed., BCBA
Director of Family and Clinical Services, RethinkCare

Adrienne is a clinician with over 10 years of experience working with children, adolescents and adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD, executive functioning and social skills challenges. She has worked in homes, providing direct therapy, modeling and coaching to parents dealing with challenging behaviors. Additionally, she has worked in clinic settings with clients with severely challenging behaviors. She recently completed a volunteer trip to Kenya where she helped provide coaching to clinicians working at the country’s only dedicated school for autism. 

Adrienne has experience with Acceptance and Commitment Teaching and is passionate about helping clients expand their cognitive flexibility so they can live a values-driven life. Adrienne received a Bachelor’s Degree from Columbia University, and a Masters of Education with a focus in Applied Behavior Analysis from Arizona State University.

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Jennifer Wilkens, M.A., BCBA
Senior Director of Family and Clinical Services, RethinkCare 

Jen is responsible for the strategic leadership and management of RethinkCare’s clinical services. She provides leadership and oversight to the development, implementation, and coordination of Rethink’s service and content development to maximize the impact on core outcomes for clients served. She supervises and manages Rethink’s consultation services and clinical team, as well as oversees Rethink’s quality assurance model. Jen has experience working with individuals with various learning, social, and behavioral challenges. Jen specializes in working with individuals with intellectual disabilities, Down syndrome, autism, ADHD, and other specific learning disabilities such as dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia. Jen also leads workplace consultations for Rethink’s Neurodiversity program, where she provides strategies to employees, managers, and supervisors to best support the workplace experience. 

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Jessica Paez, M.S., BCBA
Director of Family and Clinical Services, RethinkCare

Jessica has been working with individuals diagnosed with ADHD, developmental delays, selective mutism, and ASD since 2016. Jess was previously a clinic director in Chicago, IL, and focused heavily on the implementation and education of assent, trauma-informed care, and neurodiversity. During her time as clinic director, Jess created and presented trainings to clinicians, families, and educators on Neurodiversity highlighting a strengths-based approach in which differences are celebrated and neurodiverse voices are empowered. Jess is passionate about thinking outside the box while exploring different tools to support a variety of learning needs that can be used in home, community, and work settings. Her expertise focuses on teaching skills to individuals of all ages, including communication, social, executive functioning, and work life balance skills using both structured and naturalistic approaches, in a highly individualized manner. Being raised in Brazil in a trilingual household, Jess values and embraces different cultural backgrounds and enjoys being able to provide services in Spanish, English, and Portuguese. Jess received her Bachelor of Science in Early Childhood Development and Psychology from Florida International University and a Masters of Science in Developmental Disabilities and Applied Behavior Analysis from Nova Southeastern University. 

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Masumi Oki, M.A., BCBA
Director of Family and Clinical Services, RethinkCare

Masumi Oki is a Director of Family and Clinical Services at RethinkCare. Masumi started her career working in both public and private schools as a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst. She enjoyed working in school settings, connecting with families, and collaborating with educators and other specialists. Masumi also has worked in early intervention clinics and home-based settings in Seattle, Washington where she supported clients across the developmental age span, as well as an assistant clinical director at a private company in Seattle. She enjoys connecting with people, listening to their stories, and learning how best to support them with their needs. Masumi is originally from Japan and speaks both English and Japanese fluently. She is also a mom of a teenage son. 

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Andrea Martinez, M.A., BCBA
Senior Director of Family and Clinical Services, RethinkCare 

Andrea Martinez is responsible for both the workplace and parenting solutions at RethinkCare. She has worked with neurodivergent children, teens, and adults with ADHD, Autism, and other developmental and intellectual disabilities since 2008. She has assisted in supporting their behavioral, social, and emotional needs. Andrea conducts consultations with employees and managers in the workplace looking to develop and maintain skills to boost their productivity and motivation, improve focus and attention, establish a healthy work-life balance, increase self-advocacy and communication skills, and ways to best support their team. Andrea’s role also includes creating clinical content and resources for the RethinkCare website, hosting webinars and parent discussion groups, and conducting consultations with parents and caregivers to provide strategies to support their children’s needs. Andrea has been in the field of behavioral sciences since 2008 and holds a master’s degree in applied Behavior Analysis from the University of South Florida, a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in Child Development from Florida State University and is a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). 

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Kristin Bandi, M.A., BCBA
Senior Director of Family and Clinical Services, RethinkCare

Kristin Bandi is a Senior Director of Family and Clinical Services at RethinkCare, A Rethink Division. Kristin creates clinical content, hosts learning sessions on various topics, is a co-host on RethinkCare’s podcast titled “Behaviorally Speaking”, and began consulting with families in her current role in 2016. Kristin specializes in working with parents/caregivers who have children and teens with various learning, social, and behavioral challenges such as autism, ADHD, Down syndrome, and more. Kristin received a master’s degree in Applied Behavior Analysis and a bachelor’s degree in Psychology, both at the University of South Florida and is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). 

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Vivian Escobar, MAT., BCBA
Director of Family and Clinical Services, RethinkCare 

For over a decade, Vivian has been a supervisor in the field of applied behavior analysis and her expertise includes, providing quality behavioral services to children and adolescents with ASD and other related developmental disabilities such as ADHD and anxiety, support to their families, and collaboration with school teams. Vivian has had the pleasure of working with multiple ABA agencies and has had the privilege to work with various school districts in Southern California, as well as non-public schools. Outside of the workplace, Vivian’s passion for learning continues as she meets quarterly with a group of experts researching and brainstorming ways to continue helping families in their abilities to communicate and grow together. She earned her master’s degree from the University of Southern California in Teaching- Secondary education, and bachelor’s degree from Cal State Northridge in Child & Adolescent development. 

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Pasha Bahsoun, M.A., BCBA
Director of Family and Clinical Services, RethinkCare

Pasha Bahsoun is a Director of Family and Clinical Services at RethinkCare, where he conducts 1:1 parent consultations with families around the world as a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). He has developed a passion for implementing a holistic approach to supporting individuals with various mental health and behavioral challenges as a result of his research at UCLA and Columbia, and throughout his career. He has had the privilege of working with neurotypical and neurodivergent children, teens, and adults, in homes, schools, group homes and the community, and collaborated with parents, educators and service providers in the implementation of treatment plans. Pasha also developed a social skills curriculum and had the opportunity to present his research at two international ABA conferences in 2019, titled, “The Value of Curriculum-Based Social Skills Training.” He has worked in the realm of education and mentorship in some form for all his life. 

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Dr. Angela Nelson
Executive Director of Clinical Services, RethinkCare 

Dr. Angela Nelson is the Vice President of Operations & Executive Director of Clinical Services for RethinkCare. Dr. Nelson oversees RethinkCare’s consultation services and content generation for the Parenting and Professional solutions. She began at Rethink in 2011 and specializes in working with parents raising children and teens with learning, social, and behavioral challenges, as well as organizations motivated to expand their neurodiversity efforts. Dr. Nelson holds a doctorate in education from the University of Southern California (USC), master’s degree in counseling from California State University, Northridge, a bachelor’s degree in psychology from UCLA, and is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). 

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Katie Curran
Chief Wellbeing Officer, MAPP 

Katie has over 20 years of clinical experience working with individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders. She held tenure at three of the world’s leading behavioral institutions (i.e., Sheppard Pratt Mental Health Institute, Kennedy Krieger Institute, and Princeton Child Development Institute). She’s widely recognized as a creative force when it comes to autism intervention, developing strategies and tools that fuse Positive Psychology with Applied Behavior Analysis to improve wellbeing. Katie has authored articles on the topics of Goals Setting, Hope Theory, and Learned Happiness. She has served on numerous advisory boards, is a Global Representative at the International Positive Education Network, was a founding board member at The Global Autism Project, and holds a seat on the MAPP Alumni Board at U of Penn. Katie holds a Masters of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelors of Psychology from Towson University. Her unique use of and passion for both the evidence-based findings of positive psychology and principles of behavior allows her to draw out the best in all she works with.    

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Patricia Wright, Ph.D., MPH
Executive Director, Proof Perfect 

Dr. Patricia Wright’s commitment to ensuring all individuals with autism have access to effective services and supports has guided her work for more than 30 years, from her earliest responsibilities as a special educator, to state and national-level program management. Specific examples of her advocacy include the management in the design of a statewide system of support for children with autism for the state of Hawaii, several years as the National Director of Autism Services for Easter Seals, her industry positions leveraging technology, and her current role at Proof Positive spreading the science and skills of happiness. Dr. Wright has held advisory roles, has been asked to provide expert testimony at Congressional Hearings and is a frequent contributor in the media, raising awareness of effective intervention for those living with disabilities.  Dr. Wright completed her Ph.D. and Master of Public Health from the University of Hawaii. Her research focuses on the delivery of evidence-based interventions in community-based settings and healthcare access for people with disabilities.   

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Danielle Godish, M.A., BCBA, Pn2
Director of Family and Clinical Services at RethinkCare 

Danielle Godish has over a decade of experience supporting individuals in optimizing their personal and professional well-being. As a late-diagnosed neurodiverse professional and mother of three neurodivergent children, Danielle brings both her clinical expertise and lived experience to help individuals navigate workplace challenges with a strengths-based, neuro-affirming approach. Danielle specializes in empowering employees and leaders to enhance executive functioning skills, improve time management, and maintain balanced work-life boundaries. She collaborates with professionals to foster effective communication, manage stress and emotions, and build sustainable strategies for productivity and focus in the workplace. Her approach emphasizes whole-person wellness, helping clients align their actions with their values and goals. 

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