Meet The
Assent CONFERENCE presenterS

Alexandra Elfers is a queer, deaf, autistic, and multiply disabled behavior analyst. They are a doctoral student at TCS, where their dissertation focuses on seeking feedback from learners. Al is passionate about dismantling ableist structures within behavior analysis and empowering clients to access accommodations. Their research investigates the behavior of practitioners to address historical harms, grounded in disability justice. They aim to reorient the field toward curiosity and a more humane, trauma-informed approach. In their private practice, they use ABA not as conventional "autism therapy," but as a measurement tool for a collective, humanistic support model.

ACE Presenter Criteria:
Alexandra Elfers and Dr. Robin Arnall are the authors of the Empowering Autonomy assessment protocol. They have each presented on this assessment protocol together and alone for private organizations and conferences previously.

ACE Presenter Disclosures:
Alexandra Elfers and Dr. Robin Arnall are the authors of the Empowering Autonomy assessment protocol. Alexandra Elfers is also affiliated with Perspectives Behavior Consulting, LLC, NeurABA Inc, The Chicago School, and University of West Georgia.

Dr. Awab Abdel-Jalil is the Vice President of Applied Research at Upstate Caring Partners, and an adjunct professor at Endicott College. He is a coauthor on the book Nonlinear Contingency Analysis, and the upcoming edited book Case Studies and Applications in Nonlinear Contingency Analysis.

ACE Presenter Criteria:
Dr. Awab Abdel-Jalil has published 2 peer-reviewed articles on assent, 2 book chapters on assent, and multiple publications on nonlinear contingency analysis and the constructional approach. He also has an MS and PhD in ABA and a BCBA-D.

ACE Presenter Disclosures:
Dr. Awab Abdel-Jalil receives royalties from sales of the NCA book and the Case Studies book.

Presenter information coming soon!

​Presenter information coming soon!

Katie Gibson is a behavior analyst at Vanderbilt University Medical Center's Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital in Nashville, TN and TRIAD at Vanderbilt Kennedy Center where she is working to establish behavior analytic services to the hospital setting serving kids with complex behavioral and medical health needs access necessary health care. Katie previously worked at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, providing care for patients with severe problem behavior with a focus on intensive parent training. She earned her Master’s of Education in Applied Behavior Analysis from the University of Cincinnati and became a board-certified behavior analyst in 2019. Currently pursuing her doctorate at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology in Applied Behavior Analysis, Katie focuses her dissertation on incorporating Goldiamond’s constructional approach and non-linear contingency analysis in parent training for children with severe behavioral disorders. Katie has presented at local and international conferences on innovative data collection for parent training, using the constructional approach with children with severe problem behavior, PFA & SBT, the enhanced choice model, constructional exposure treatment (CET), and compassionate and assent based approaches to building successful treatment programs for autistic youth with OCD. Her interests include the constructional approach and non-linear contingency analysis, the treatment of autism and co-occurring OCD, suicidal and homicidal ideation and attempts in autistic youth, and developing best practices for working with children with severe problem behavior and their families.

ACE Presenter Criteria:
Katie Gibson, M.Ed., BCBA, LBA is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt with expertise in severe behavior, caregiver training, and behavior analysis in healthcare settings. She has received advanced training in Goldiamond's Constructional Approach and Nonlinear Contingency Analysis through doctoral mentorship with Dr. T. V. Joe Layng and has presented on constructional behavior analysis, parent training, and applications of behavior analysis in medical settings. Her clinical and scholarly work focuses on translating constructional principles into practical strategies for behavior analysts and caregivers.


ACE Presenter Disclosures:
Katie Gibson has no disclosures related to this presentation. 

Dr. Malika Pritchett is an Assistant Professor of Practice in the Department of Applied Behavioral Science at the University of Kansas. She is the director of Tidepools Ecobehavioral Laboratory, an applied research lab dedicated to the understanding and improvement of the human condition through conducting research about prevention of challenging behaviors, stimulus control and designing optimal environmental arrangements, and human empowerment and agency. Dr. Pritchett received an AS degree from Collin College, a BS in Communication Sciences and Disorders from Texas Woman's University, a MS in Behavior Analysis from the University of North Texas, and a PhD in Health Services Research with a concentration in Behavior Analysis from the University of North Texas. Dr. Pritchett’s research interests include human rights, ethics, collaborative research practices, ecobehavioral analyses and interventions, and prevention of challenging behaviors. Her research investigates oppressive, colonial research practices in the science of applied behavior analysis and the impact these practices have on establishing and perpetuating researcher-participant power imbalances. Dr. Pritchett utilizes a behavioral systems science approach to inform collaborative policies, strategies, and research practices that are interwoven with a commitment to social justice, including racial justice. Dr. Pritchett is a licensed and board certified behavior analyst, her clinical experience spans various human services sectors including private practice, residential institutions, nursing facilities, municipalities, public schools, colleges, and universities.

ACE Presenter Criteria:
Dr. Malika Pritchett is an Assistant Professor of Practice in the Department of Applied Behavioral Science at the University of Kansas. She is the director of Tidepools Ecobehavioral Laboratory, an applied research lab dedicated to the understanding and improvement of the human condition through conducting research about prevention of challenging behaviors, stimulus control and designing optimal environmental arrangements, and human empowerment and agency. Dr. Pritchett received an AS degree from Collin College, a BS in Communication Sciences and Disorders from Texas Woman's University, a MS in Behavior Analysis from the University of North Texas, and a PhD in Health Services Research with a concentration in Behavior Analysis from the University of North Texas. Dr. Pritchett’s research interests include human rights, ethics, collaborative research practices, ecobehavioral analyses and interventions, and prevention of challenging behaviors. Her research investigates oppressive, colonial research practices in the science of applied behavior analysis and the impact these practices have on establishing and perpetuating researcher-participant power imbalances. Dr. Pritchett utilizes a behavioral systems science approach to inform collaborative policies, strategies, and research practices that are interwoven with a commitment to social justice, including racial justice. Dr. Pritchett is a licensed and board certified behavior analyst, her clinical experience spans various human services sectors including private practice, residential institutions, nursing facilities, municipalities, public schools, colleges, and universities.

ACE Presenter Disclosures:
Dr. Malika Pritchett has no disclosures related to this presentation. 

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Presenter information coming soon!

​Robin Arnall, Ph.D., BCBA-D, LBA (she/her), started her professional career as an autism specialist and implementer for behavior analytic services. Throughout her field experience, she has worked with varied ages (aged 2-elder adult) and diagnostics such as autism, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, ADHD, etc. She has also implemented and created therapeutic interventions in specialized school settings, educational settings, clinics, community locations, homes, residential settings, volunteer sites, vocational settings, and others. She has also been an instructor and professor in multiple behavior analysis programs for several years, teaching a wide range of subjects. Dr. Arnall is diagnosed with Autism and ADHD, which has helped shape her practice and teaching significantly. Dr. Arnall has research experience in the areas of TAGteach, sports research, stimulus equivalence, visual impairment, social justice and behavior analysis reform, political behavior, and others. She is passionate about incorporating compassionate practice to research, aiming for better standards of care and practice. Dr. Arnall has experience presenting at both regional and national conferences on varied topics and serves on varied committees to help reform research practice and support student research projects. Her hobbies include video games, watching television, playing with her cats, Broadway musicals, and going to Comicons with her spouse.

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​ACE Presenter Criteria:
Dr. Robin Arnall and Alexandra Elfers are the authors of the Empowering Autonomy assessment protocol. They have each presented on this assessment protocol together and alone for private organizations and conferences previously.

ACE Presenter Disclosures:
Dr. Robin Arnall and Alexandra Elfers are the authors of the Empowering Autonomy assessment protocol. Dr. Robin Arnall is also affiliated with The Chicago School, and NeurABA.

Worner Leland is a past collaborative writer and educator with the Assent Lab. They are a co-founder and owner of SECE and Collab Lab which provide values-aligned continuing education and professional development, and is one of the co-founders of the annual Assent Conference. They are an autistic, agender behavior analyst whose work focuses on ethics, consent and assent education, sexual health and wellness and relationship education, harm reduction education, restorative justice, and harm mitigation and accountability in behavior analysis.

ACE Presenter Criteria:
Worner Leland a former Adjunct Professor at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology and at National Louis University. They are a current Editorial Board Member for Behavior Analysis in Practice, and a past Peer Reviewer for Behavior and Social Issues and for the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, and they have been both an Invited Presenter and an Invited Panelist at the Association of Behavior Analysis International (ABAI) Annual Conference. They have also been an Invited Presenter on the topics of Assent and Consent at the Ohio Applied Behavior Analysis (OHABA) Annual Conference, the British Columbia Applied Behavior Analysis (BC-ABA) Annual Conference, the Upper Peninsula Association of Behavior Analysis (UPABA) Annual Conference, the Louisiana-Mississippi Association for Contextual Behavior Science Conference, the Nebraska Association for Behavior Analysis (NEABA) Annual Conference, the California Association for Behavior Analysis (CALABA) Annual Conference, the Autism Conference of Utah Valley University, and the Florida Association for Behavior Analysis (FABA) CoFABA Annual Conference.

Their assent education and training work began as a part of their work at Upswing Advocates with Dr. August Stockwell, which was directly shaped by the research and data of the Organization for Research and Learning (ORL) with support from Michael Fabrizio, M.A., BCBA, LBA, CCEP, CHC, CHPC, CHPSE & Kelly Ferris, M.Ed., BCBA, LBA, as well as from direct work with and supervision by Brigid McCormick, MA, BCBA, LBA of Precision ABA. Their work has continued to be shaped by direct collaboration with Fabrizio, Ferris, & McCormick, as well as Janani Vaidya, MS, BCBA, IBA and Liz Lefebre M.A., BCBA- LBA on writing, education, and the inaugural Assent Conference. Their work and perspectives have also been shaped by all former Assent Conference Presenters, Dr. Cas Breaux, MA, MS, PhD, BCBA, LBA-NY, LBA-LA; Dr. Mari-Luci Cerda BCBA, LBA, Michael Fabrizio, M.A., Kelly Ferris, M.Ed., BCBA, LBA, BCBA, LBA, CCEP, CHC, CHPC, CHPSE, Jeff Gesick, MS, BCBA, Dr. Faris Kronfli, PhD, BCBA-D, Dr. Michelle Kuhn, Ph.D., BCBA-D, LBA, Liz Lefebre M.A., BCBA- LBA, Lizbeth Vega Lopez, BS, RBT, Brigid McCormick, MA, BCBA, LBA, Brittney Pauli, BS, RBT, Dr. Malika Pritchett, PhD, BCBA, LBA-TX, Melisa Santacroce, M.S. CCC-SLP, BCBA, Dr. Cayenne Shpall, Ph.D., BCBA-D, LBA, Janani Vaidya, MS, BCBA, IBA, and Kai Williams, B.S., as well as assent and consent researchers and educators within and outside of behavior analysis. They highly recommend you follow all of their work, and seek out ongoing consent and assent education.

ACE Presenter Disclosures:
Worner Leland is the owner and ACE coordinator for Collab Lab CEU. They co-organize the Assent Conference and benefit financially through the organization of this and other continuing education events, including education events for Sex Ed Continuing Ed. Worner Leland is affiliated with Collab Lab CEU, Sex Ed Continuing Ed, and Endicott College.