Our Team

Jennifer Abbanat

California, United States
She/Her/Hers

Volunteer

Jennifer is a wife and a mom to three neurodivergent kids (ages 21,18, and 15), each with their own unique needs and challenges. Two of Jennifer’s kids are autistic. The two youngest have chronic medical conditions that require daily care. Jennifer has had to learn how best to advocate and support each of them within the different systems of society (esp medical and educational systems) over the years by essentially creating their own individual “playbook.”

Crystal M. Allison

Washington, United States
She/Her/Hers

Volunteer

Allison brings more than 20 years of experience, including as the SVP of Digital Marketing at PersonalRX and as Vice President of Operations at MediaCrossing, along with leading her own marketing consultancy firm. Previously, she led business operations teams through key sales initiatives at Yahoo!, including acquisitions and divestitures. AASR’s mission is close to Allison’s heart as a mom of two, one of whom has Pervasive Demand Avoidance, PDA. She believes in helping children and families experience public school as an equal to all other students, despite disability, and to have access to a safe education.

Lauren Bellon

Massachusetts, United States
She/Her/Hers

Volunteer

As a mother who has navigated special education and acute pediatric mental health care systems in the U.S., Lauren Bellon is passionate about transforming schooling and health care in ways that center human rights, trauma-informed care, and harm reduction. Through her own parenting journey and the activism and advocacy it sparked, she is intimately familiar with the trauma, harm, and abuse that too many young people experience in the name of “discipline” or “therapeutic interventions.” Lauren is also a seasoned fundraising and communications professional with twenty-five years of experience in education, politics, and mission-driven businesses and organizations. She currently works full-time in higher education administration while making progress toward an MA in Educational Studies.

Cassia Griffin Bennett

Washington, United States
She/Her/Hers

Volunteer

Cass Griffin Bennett is an autistic and ADHD self-advocate and parent of multiple young autistic children. Cass is passionate about all things equity, early access to robust high-tech Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC), and anti-behaviorism harm reduction. Her guiding goal in parenting is to raise her children to be their own best self-advocates. Cass has a career background in professional services business development and a degree in Psychology from Smith College.

Karen Bures

Oregon, United States
She/Her/Hers

Volunteer

Karen Bures is a behavioral specialist with an accumulated 15 years of experience supporting neurodivergent kids exhibiting intensive behavior. She began her career post-college working in a residential treatment center and eventually obtained her certification in special education. Karen has worked within her school district’s behavior program for the past 10 years. She currently is working at a nonprofit agency in Bend, OR creating programming for an after-school program that serves neurodivergent kids and provides academic support as well as social-emotional learning and engaging and purposeful play. Karen has begun leaning into advocacy around restraint and seclusion and abbreviated days and has submitted pieces for the alliance!

Pam Collins

British Columbia, Canada
She/Her/Hers

Volunteer

Pam proudly identifies as a neurodivergent parent to two amazing multiply neurodivergent adult sons. She has been providing consulting, coaching, and training services to families and community partners for over 24 years in British Columbia and recently outside of Canada. Pam is super passionate about the most current research in psychology, especially related to neurodivergence (Autism, PDA, ADHD) and neuroscience (Trauma, anxiety, and depression).  Pam lives to share information with others so they make informed decisions, experience joy, and be hopeful.

Danielle Darling

Ohio, United States
She/Her/Hers

Volunteer

Danielle has been an elementary school teacher for 20 years.  She lives in Ohio with her husband and two sons.  She has a passion for teaching and advocating for children.  Her advocacy journey began when her oldest was diagnosed with Autism.  When he was restrained at his daycare, she knew she wanted to do more to spread awareness on the negative effects and dangers of seclusion and restraint.  

Stephanie Davidar

New Jersey, United States
She/Her/Hers

Volunteer

Stephanie is a non-traditional pre-med to-be who is interested in advocating for disability rights. As a former policy fellow around the topic of disability, she understands that there are flaws in the way that the education system deals with its students like her. She also acknowledges the many disparities in the treatment of students based on socioeconomic and other demographic factors. She recognizes that seclusion and restraint can be dehumanizing and traumatizing. She is passionate about using her knowledge of policy and law to advocate for change.

Rebecca Engle

Texas, United States
She/Her/Hers

Volunteer

Rebecca is a graduate student at Texas Tech University passionate about educational policy and leadership. Rebecca made history in Texas politics at 19 and is devoted to advocating for positive change. Alongside her studies, Rebecca is a Neurodivergent public speaker and creative writer. She actively serves her community, support women in business, and nurture young minds as a dedicated nanny and future teacher. Rebecca’s goal is to inspire and collaborate for a brighter future.

Erica Evans

Indiana, United States
She/Her/Hers

Volunteer

Erica is passionate about helping neurodivergent learners find success in educational settings. As a parent, Erica has a firsthand understanding of the importance of appropriate support and accommodations. Her most valuable insights come from her own lived experience as someone that went undiagnosed for decades. Erica earned a high school equivalency credential as a young adult before pursuing a BS in physics from Indiana University. Erica serves as a researcher for PDA North America, support group leader, IEP advocate, and lived experience specialist. Through her outreach, Erica hopes to identify and remove barriers, challenge ableism, dismantle deficit-based frameworks, promote awareness and acceptance, and organize for system change.

Braden Flax

Virginia, United States
He/Him/His

Volunteer

Braden brings a background in accessibility advocacy to the Alliance. An avid writer and a graduate of Princeton University, Braden also serves as a community experience advisor for the Blindmuse Foundation, and is a certified instructor of First Aid and CPR through the American Red Cross. He sees all of this, and his work with AASR, as part of the same overall mission: to empower everyone to thrive together, keep each other safe, and understand how to educate without doing harm.

Ann Gaydos

Colorado, United States
She/Her/Hers

Volunteer

Ann worked in the software industry in a previous life but decided to home-school her four children after her oldest child was repeatedly hurt by inappropriate and abusive restraints and seclusions in public school, and she could get no help from the administration or school board. Ann enjoys reading, traveling, cooking, writing, and spending time with her family and pets.

Emma Gaydos

California, United States
She/They/Them

Volunteer

Emma is a research coordinator at Stanford with a background in psychology and gender, women’s, and sexuality studies (GWSS). In her experience tutoring children, she recognized the importance of creating a safe and inclusive environment for all. Emma brings a multidisciplinary, intersectional, and inclusion-centered lens to AASR research and community-building projects.

Jennifer Garzia 

Florida, United States
She/Her/Hers

Volunteer

Jennifer has a degree in Psychology & Education from Widener University. Her first son was diagnosed at birth with Prader-Willi and XYY. After nearly a decade of the school-based restraints and seclusion, Jennifer felt an obligation to bring awareness and change to outdated laws to ensure that every student’s educational experience is met with safety & dignity.

Carly Griffin

Washington, United States
She/Them/Theirs

Volunteer

Carly is a Masters in Social Work student at the University of Denver. She is passionate about advocating alongside the neurodivergent community to ensure all students have access to a safe education. As a survivor of seclusion and restraint, she recognizes the dehumanizing and traumatizing effects of these interventions. Carly hopes to combine her lived and academic experience to spread awareness and create change.

Lisa Hernandez 

New Jersey, United States
She/Her/Hers

Volunteer

Lisa is an attorney in NJ representing students and employees with disabilities. Her education law practice is dear to her heart and began as a result of navigating her own autistic son’s struggles in the public school system. While Lisa’s family has not been personally impacted by R&S (thankfully), she sees it far too often in her work, and it is one of the most gut-wrenching aspects of special education law. Lisa believes if there were a ban on R&S, school districts would be forced to (1) become trauma-informed, which would benefit the entire student population, and (2) provide appropriate and effective supports and placements for students with disabilities.

Chantelle Hyde

New Brunswick, Canada
She/Her/Hers

Lead Canadian Volunteer

With the support of her husband Sheldon, Chantelle became an active advocate against restraint and seclusion after learning that their daughter was being locked in a room at school in rural New Brunswick. Chantelle’s path to advocacy was paved by her desire to be a part of a community of support for other families. Chantelle hopes to bring positive change to the systems in Canada.

Sarah Johnston-Waugh

New York, United States
She/Her/Hers

Volunteer

Sarah is a bookkeeper and a mom of 5. When her youngest, who is nine and autistic, was repeatedly restrained in his special education program, she decided to learn as much as possible about ways to prevent this from continuing to happen in our school system. Sarah is a firm believer in Dr. Ross Greene’s work and hopes to see a change toward a more collaborative approach in the classrooms in the future. 

Deborah Jollimore

New Brunswick, Canada
She/Her/Hers

Volunteer

Deborah Jollimore lives in New Brunswick, Canada with her husband and three autistic sons. She has been advocating for evidence-based, trauma and neuroscience-informed interventions for her three children since 2007. She is currently fighting four provincial human rights cases against the AESD, where her Children attend. Deborah is a strong, resounding voice against seclusion and restraint and a relentless advocate for inclusion and the Universal Design for Learning.

Erin Joseph

Delaware, United States
She/Her/Hers

Volunteer

Erin Joseph M.Ed has been a jackie-of-all trades in the education world. A nearly 20-year teaching veteran before becoming a disabled person in her own right, she has worked across educational placements spanning from adult education to elementary in both special and general education in public and private settings. She is also the parent of an autistic child who is the victim of a compliance-based educational system and restraints in school. Her vision for the future is a world in which parents and schools work together using best practices and understanding of disabilities to meet the needs of children without the trauma of restraint and seclusion. She spends her time advocating for children and disability rights in Delaware and beyond.

Amy Kriewaldt

Connecticut, United States
She/Her/Hers

Volunteer

Amy Kriewaldt is a writer, podcaster, and autistic activist. A mother of three school-aged children with learning disabilities, she is passionate about protecting their rights. After her daughter experienced restraint in both Washington and Connecticut, she decided to get involved in taking action for positive change. She is working on an M.S. in Psychology, researching body language and nonspeaking communication.

Linda Kryvoruka

Virginia, United States
She/Her/Hers

Volunteer

Linda Kryvoruka is a retired Nurse Anesthetist who was always interested in Social Justice issues relating to disadvantaged populations, especially regarding school systems and their methods of enforcing behavior. Linda is an alumnus participating in the Transitional Justice Lab at the Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, with a special focus on carceral spaces and the school-to-prison pipeline.

Emily LaMarca

Massachusetts, United States
She/Her/Hers

Volunteer

Emily began her advocacy work when her son Cole was born fifteen years ago with Down syndrome. At the age of ten, Cole was repeatedly restrained and secluded in his Massachusetts Elementary School. When learning that Cole’s story was not his alone, Emily knew it was important to focus her advocacy efforts on working to eliminate these dangerous and traumatic practices.

Linnea Lowe

Arizona, United States
She/Her/Hers

Volunteer

Linnea is an Ohio independently licensed social worker and currently works as a teleheath therapist primarily with children and youth while living in Arizona. Her three years of working as a school-based therapist in a variety of public schools led to a passion for creating and cultivating educational settings where children are relationally and physically safe.

Val Luther

New Jersey, United States
She/Her/Hers

Volunteer

Val is a mother of 2 Neurodivergent children, ages 7 and 8, and an Elementary Music Teacher of 18 years. Her children’s school challenges have propelled her to learn about Neurodivergence, listen and learn directly from Autistic voices, and delve into understanding the Neuroscience that will better support her children and students. The works of Dr. Mona Delahooke, Dr. Lori Desautels and Dr. Bruce Perry have inspired a complete paradigm shift in her understanding of behaviors and how to best support kids.

Amy Mason

Florida, United States
She/Her/Hers

Volunteer Coordinator

Amy spent her occupational therapy career in public school special education, academia, and at Islands of Brilliance, a non-profit serving autistic youth and young adults. Now retired, she is looking to re-engage in spaces that enable her to give back in communities that are important to her. In her free time, Amy enjoys swimming, biking, and going on big adventures with her husband by car, boat, or motorcycle.

Sidney McGillicky

Saskatchewan, Canada
He/Him/His

Volunteer

Sidney is an Approved EMDR Consultant and also a Certified EMDR therapist who specializes in the treatment of complex and developmental trauma with 20 yrs experience working as a therapist. Sidney also is a Certified NMT(c) Level One Practitioner utilizing advanced knowledge and understanding of neurological development resulting from adverse and traumatic experiences through the lifespan. Sidney is client-centered and integrative, with an understanding of the consequences of trauma and developing interventions that focus on healing and recovery.

Amer Moosa

Maryland, United States
He/Him/His

Volunteer Committee

Amer has a master’s degree in Bioinformatics from Johns Hopkins University. He is a native of Washington DC and lives in Potomac, Maryland. He believes that all students with disabilities should be treated with respect, compassion, and dignity. Amer is committed to bringing change in legislation that will abolish restraints and seclusion.

Kat Moosa

Maryland, United States
She/Her/Hers

Volunteer Committee

Kat has a graduate degree in Public Health from Yale University and has seen the consequences first hand of seclusions and restraints. The devastating and traumatic effects of abuse in classrooms led her on a journey to find solutions to eliminate the practice in all schools. She is a strong believer in mainstreaming students with disabilities. Kat is also fiercely passionate about passing legislation to stop restraints and seclusion.

Teresa Olafson

North Dakota, United States
She/Her/Hers

Volunteer

Teresa is an amazing parent, professional nurse, and advocate. Teresa is guided by the belief that we should not have to change our children to fit the world. Teresa believes that we must change the world for our children. Teresa believes that it is our responsibility to empower and advocate for our children’s needs through collective and purposeful actions. 

Ande Quercus

Minnesota, United States
They/Them/Theirs

Volunteer

Ande is a disabled activist and artist who is passionate about social justice. They are a survivor of mistreatment in adolescent psychiatric care facilities. They learned in their late thirties that they weren’t alone in these experiences. This has brightened their life and fueled their desire to raise public awareness of how people with disabilities get treated behind closed doors.

Grace Raymond

Illinois, United States
She/Her/Hers

Volunteer

Grace Raymond is a passionate advocate for the just treatment of children worldwide. In higher education, Grace is pursuing innovative solutions to the United States education crisis, particularly solutions for underprivileged and disabled children. She hopes to specifically highlight the discrimination those with unique differences in cognition face. Grace believes that all children, by nature, are curious learners; we just have to create the environment to cultivate that curiosity.

Kim Renninger

Pennsylvania, United States
She/Her/Hers

Volunteer

Kim Renninger has worked in the behavioral health field for over a decade, previously working as the Director of Advocacy at a mental health peer advocacy program, and is a strong advocate for harm reduction, human rights, and trauma-informed care. She is currently working as a substitute teacher while pursuing a Master’s degree in Critical Psychology and Human Services. Kim has experience working with adults and children from diverse backgrounds in various settings and has been active in the psychiatric survivor and troubled teen industry survivor communities. As a survivor of institutional trauma in her youth, she has a passion to affect systemic change within behavioral health systems and to advocate for the rights of others who have historically not been given a voice in their own lives. She lives with her husband, autistic stepson, son, and Australian Shepherd, and enjoys spending time with her family and close friends and in nature. 

Jenni Reynolds

Connecticut, United States
She/Her/Hers

Volunteer

Jenni is a physical therapist, wife and mom. She has two daughters, one with Down syndrome who experienced significant in-school trauma in her early elementary years. Jenni is a passionate advocate for inclusion, belonging and safety in our schools and society. She is a strong voice for students and teachers and believes that education in current neuroscience research combined with more empathy will result in the elimination of restraint, seclusion and other harmful practices in schools.

Michelle Reynolds

Pennsylvania, United States
She/Her/Hers

Volunteer

Michelle Reynolds, an experienced educator in the Philadelphia region for over 20 years, is currently studying Applied Educational Neuroscience at Butler University. Committed to sharing regulatory practices and advocating for policy changes, she focuses on enhancing behavioral interventions and supports in our schools.

Christopher Ripke

Nevada, United States
He/Him/His

Volunteer

Christopher Ripke is an advocate for people with Developmental Disabilities in Nevada. Christopher is also against the use of restraints and seclusion. Christopher is a survivor of restraints and seclusion. As a person with a disability and an advocate, Christopher for the “Keeping All Students Safe Act.” Currently, Christopher works with a non-profit “People first of Nevada” to provide training to our local school district to provide alternative practices.

Gail Quigley

Gold Coast, Australia
She/Her/Hers

Volunteer

Gail has been a passionate educator for 35 years and has worked in a multitude of roles. Gail is fiercely passionate about shaping our schools to ensure that every student is understood, safe, and able to succeed no matter what their needs. Gail is currently completing a Doctorate Candidature, researching the intersection of complex trauma and disabilities in school aged children.

Imene Bouziane Saidi

Massachusetts, United States
She/Her/Hers

Volunteer

Imene is a recent graduate from the Social Impact MBA program at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University concentrating in Child, Youth and Family Services. Through advocacy, Imene seeks to create impactful systemic changes to better serve and support the disability community’s needs by centering their voices every step of the way.

LaShonda Scott

Maryland, United States
She/Her/Hers

Volunteer

LaShonda Scott has an Associate’s Degree in Psychology from the University of Phoenix and is a Board Certified Mental Health Coach through Light University. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her children, fishing, and cooking or baking. LaShonda is a member of her local SECAC, Maryland SESAC, American Mothers INC., and an active member of COPAA.

Michelle Sebak

Connecticut, United States
She/Her/Hers

Volunteer

As a school counselor and mother to neurodivergent children, Michelle has experienced the harm and trauma caused by seclusion and restraint. Michelle is dedicated to spreading awareness of the harm and trauma caused by seclusions and restraints, and is passionate about advocating for safe and proactive practices in schools that are both trauma informed and rooted in the latest neuroscience research. Michelle is currently working towards licensure to provide neurodiversity- affirming counseling services to families.

Emily Sherman

Virginia, United States
She/Her/Hers

Volunteer

Emily is a 24-year-old with BPD and PTSD with a heart dedicated to helping others. Her dream has always been to be the voice for those who are voiceless, as she once was. She has personal experience with restraint and seclusion and is passionate about change.

Dr. Arielle Silverman

Virginia, United States
She/Her/Hers

Volunteer

Arielle is a disabled activist and a social scientist who is passionate about improving public understanding of life with disabilities. Professionally, she has spent fifteen years conducting research on the social psychology of disability. Personally, she has spent a lifetime learning and teaching with fellow members of the disability community.

Stephanie Streck

Wisconsin, United States
She/Her/Hers

Volunteer

Stephanie is a Board Certified Public School Educator of 15 years. She is currently an instructional coach in a suburban school district. She lives in Wisconsin with her husband and two children. She has a passion for advocating for both children and educators. Her journey as an advocate began when her son was restrained in her classroom. Her experience of helping her son process the trauma of that year AND helping her neurotypical students wrestle with the way kids are handled in school drives her to create change. Stephanie’s perspective as an educator and a parent fuels her passion for enlightening everyone how dangerous seclusion and restraint is: physically and emotionally. .

Elizabeth Tarantino-Thorson

Idaho, United States
She/Her/Hers

Volunteer

Elizabeth works as a middle school special education resource teacher. Elizabeth believes that it is our sole responsibility to protect children’s civil rights as children’s emotional well-being and safety should never depend on their disability nor the location of their school’s zip code. Elizabeth hopes to bring systematic change in our education system by accelerating new legislation to ban the heinous use of restraint and seclusion in all schools.

Jen Trumbauer

New Jersey, United States
She/Her/Hers

Volunteer

Jen lives in southern New Jersey with her husband and son. Her son has Autism Spectrum Disorder and ADHD. She found out while looking into schooling for her son about the seclusion and restraint practices currently taking place and knew she had to help with the efforts to get this eliminated. She loves spending time with her loved ones and enjoys music, concerts, everything horror/spooky and comedy.

Trisha Thompson

Indiana, United States
She/Her/Hers

Volunteer

Trisha Thompson is an Autistic and ADHD early childhood education consultant and a parent of an Autistic child. Trisha has a Master of Science in Psychology and is currently working towards a certificate in Applied Educational Neuroscience. She is passionate about educating others on neurodiversity-affirming practice, which she believes is an integral part of anti-bias practice and trauma-informed practice.

Angie Vigliotti

Maryland, United States
She/Her/Hers

Volunteer

Angie and her family reside in a small Maryland community. Her husband, whom is a local politician and activist, and she have undergone battles with their local school district due to a Department of Justice investigation that revealed their child was illegally secluded and restrained hundreds of times over the course of most of his school career. She is currently a behavior technician under her state’s autism waiver and has 15 years experience in the field of ASD. She currently is active at the local and state level trying to create change and get funding for special education and IDEA.

Heathyr Watson

Indiana, United States
She/Her/Hers

Volunteer

As a young child, Heathyr always knew she would go into the helping profession, whether it was medicine, teaching, or social work. Heathyr has a bachelor’s degree in History Education and a Master’s in Social Work. Heathyr is working on licensing so that she can become a clinical social worker. Heathyr hopes to achieve a Ph.D. in the near future. Heathyr has worked in residential since 2017 and as someone who is trained in restraints, she believes there are better ways of handling crisis situations for youth. Heathyr believes that if schools, hospitals, residentials, or any place that claims to be a safe spot for children and youth should be just that. Reducing and eliminating seclusion and restraints will build more resilient youth and caregivers in the long run. In her spare time, Heathyr enjoys reading, research, playing video games with her husband, and taking the most random picture of her pets that she can.

Anna Weber