The FirstSteps Team includes many talented, dedicated, and caring individuals, committed to guiding kids to greater goals.
Executive Director
Jennifer Harris, Ph.d., LMFT, BCBA-D
Dr. Harris began her work with children diagnosed with ASD in 1991 at the Clinic for the Behavioral treatment of Children under the direction of Dr. Ivar Lovaas while earning her B.A. degree in psychology at UCLA. From 1992-2002 she worked at the Center for Autism and Related Disorders, Inc. where she ultimately became Regional Director of the agency. She received her M.A. degree in 1997 from Pepperdine University with an emphasis in Marriage, Family, and Child Therapy. In 2003, she received her Doctorate in Educational Psychology from the University of Southern California where she was awarded Distinguished Dissertation for her study entitled Starting Out Strong: Early Treatment Intensity Predicts Outcome. In 2004, she became a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. In addition, Dr. Harris is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst.
Dr. Harris has been a guest speaker for local parent groups including L.A.FEAT, the Autism Society of America, and the Autism Coalition for Creative Education and Social Services and has also presented at Parents for Early Autistic Children’s Health in London. In addition, Dr. Harris has presented at national and international conferences including the California Association for Behavior Analysis, the national Association for Behavioral Analysis, and the Geneva Centre Autism Conference in Toronto, Ontario. She specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of pervasive developmental disorders, the training and development of executive functions for children with developmental disabilities, and the development and growth of the parental system in families with children diagnosed with ASD.
Clinical Director
Lisa Stoddard, M.A., BCBA
Lisa Stoddard is thrilled to be a member of the FirstSteps family, where she designs and implements treatment plans for children, trains and monitors instructors and treatment teams, travels throughout the US providing workshops and training, and conducts research on social skills interventions.
Ms. Stoddard began her career in autism treatment in 1994, when she trained as a Jr. Therapist at the Center for Autism and Related Disorders (CARD). During her 10 years with CARD, she enjoyed affecting change in various capacities, including providing intensive in-home behavioral therapy, and traveling throughout the world to provide training and supervision for families and public agencies.
Ms. Stoddard's area of specialization includes ABA as a treatment for Pervasive Developmental Disorders in childhood, and the use of behavioral therapies to increase social behavior and perspective taking. To this end, during her time with CARD she designed, developed, and wrote a comprehensive curriculum for teaching complex social behavior, comprised of defined targets, teaching procedures, and programs for teaching play skills (such as symbolic and imaginary play), theory of mind and perspective taking skills, and social skills (such as responding to social cues, sharing and turn-taking, and conflict resolution). In addition, she has developed and presented trainings on various specialized topics including ABA interventions for teaching complex skills to children with "high-functioning" autism and Asperger's Disorder, play skills, perspective taking development, rule-governed behavior, and social behavior.
Ms. Stoddard is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst, and received her B.A. in Psychology from San Diego State University, and her M.A. in Counseling Psychology, with an emphasis in marriage, family, and child therapy, from Loyola Marymount University. She is passionate about her work with children, and looks forward to continuing to contribute to the field via research and presentations on complex language and social skill development, as well as observing the day-to-day triumphs of the children with whom she works.
Program Directors
FirstSteps Program Directors design, implement and evaluate your child’s individualized program. Your child's Program Director will be your primary contact at FirstSteps, and is always available to answer your questions.
Rosi deDomenico, M.A., BCBA
Rosi deDomenico is also excited to be member of the FirstSteps team, where she designs and implements treatment programs for children, provides parent and school trainings on effective behavior management techniques, travels throughout the US providing workshops and training, and conducts language assessments with young children.
Ms. deDomenico first began her work in the field of Autism in 1999 as a Junior Therapist at the Center for Autism and Related Disorders (CARD). In her 6 years with CARD, she provided intensive behavioral therapy in the home and school settings, trained Junior and Senior Therapists in the principles of behavior, and was responsible for designing and implementing treatment programs for children across the country diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Ms. deDomenico's areas of specialty include functional assessment and interpretation, behavior management training, and the development of school-based interventions. As a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA), Ms. deDomenico conducts descriptive and systematic behavioral assessments in order to design effective behavior analytic interventions, particularly in the school environment. She provides ongoing training and consultation to teachers and school staff in behavior management techniques and is committed to teaching children the skills necessary to succeed in any classroom, including independence, cooperation, and self-regulation.
Ms. deDomenico received her B.A. in Psychology from Santa Clara University and her M.A. in Psychology with an emphasis in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) from the University of Nevada, Reno. She strives to educate parents and educators on the principles and applications of ABA to ensure the success of each child. She loves working with children and is devoted to helping each child achieve his or her greatest potential.
Laurie Deurmier, M.s., BCBA
Ms. Deurmier began her work with children diagnosed with autism in 2003 at the Center for Autism and Related Disorders, Inc. (CARD). While at CARD, Ms. Deurmier provided behavioral intervention to young children with autism in the capacity of both a junior and senior therapist. Not only did she serve on numerous therapy teams locally, but she earned the opportunity to represent the agency abroad where she was part of a two member therapy team for an agency client. With expertise in behavior management of challenging behavior and the use of the verbal behavior approach to teaching language to children with ASD, she joined the FirstSteps clinical team in 2004.
Ms. Deurmier is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) who received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology with a minor in Communication from the University of California, San Diego, and earned a Master of Science Degree in Counseling with an emphasis in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) from California State University, Los Angeles. While attending CSULA, Ms. Deurmier studied under the guidance and direction of Roy Mayer, Ph.D, BCBA, receiving extensive training in methods of observation, schedules of reinforcement, and behavior management strategies as well as instruction on multiple modes of assessment, including indirect, descriptive, and functional assessments.
As a Program Director at FirstSteps, Ms. Deurmier designs and implements treatment plans for children, trains and monitors instructors and treatment teams, assists in intake assessments and baseline skill observations, and provides parent trainings on effective behavior management techniques. She is a regular presenter at ABA national conferences, including the California Association of Behavior Analysis convention and the Association of Behavior Analysis Autism conferences.
Ms. Deurmier is dedicated to the children with whom she works and has an aspiration to see each child flourish. She looks forward to being part of each FirstSteps child’s educational and social development today and for years to come.
Kristen Carmi, M.A., BCBA
Kristen Carmi is proud to have joined the FirstSteps family as a Program Director, where she designs, implements and evaluates treatment plans for children, assists in intake, provides home and school consultation for parents and teachers, and conducts developmental assessments.
After earning a B.S. in Psychology with a second major in Theatre Arts from Towson University, Ms. Carmi embarked on a career that combined her two passions through her work with developmentally disabled children and adults. Under the guidance of Sally Bailey (MFA, MSW, RDT/BCT), Ms. Carmi developed self-advocacy programs for adults with disabilities in the D.C. area and facilitated social development with children and young adults through the course, “Act for Yourself: Social Skills Through Drama,” through the Continuing Education Division of Montgomery College.
In 1999, she ventured from Maryland to California, where she found a new passion waiting for her. Ms. Brennan began work as an Instructor applying intensive behavioral strategies with children with Autism, using Discrete Trial Training, Natural Environment Training, Picture Exchange Communication System and Social Skills Training.
In her over 8 years of experience in the field of ABA as applied to the treatment of Autism, she has developed a broad range of skills and interests. Ms. Carmi's areas of expertise include social skills training through the use of behavioral strategies, generalization of learned skills to multiple settings, feeding issues, motivation strategies and management of challenging behaviors across a broad age range, from early childhood to adulthood.
Ms. Carmi earned her M.A. in Psychology from California State University, Los Angeles, and is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst. She is, at the end of every day, grateful for the opportunity to work with the most amazing children and looks forward to life-long learning within the field of Autism.
Courtney Lanagan-Tarbox, M.S., BCBA
Courtney Lanagan-Tarbox began her career in autism by working with young children in home-based behavioral intervention programs, while working toward her bachelor's degree in psychology, with a minor in child development. Ms Tarbox's early work in developmental disabilities included working in respite, therapeutic, residential, and educational settings, with individuals with a variety of developmental disorders and ranging in age from early childhood to adolescence.
Ms Tarbox joined the FirstSteps team in 2005 and has worked in a variety of positions, culminating in her transition to the position of Program Director. As a Program Director at FirstSteps for Kids, Ms Tarbox is responsible for designing and supervising the implementation of comprehensive intervention programs for children with autism and related disorders. These responsibilities include creating intervention plans for teaching skills across all educational, social, and adaptive domains, as well as training and supervising staff in their implementation. While working at FirstSteps, Ms Tarbox earned her masters degree in counseling, with a specialization in applied behavior analysis. In addition, Ms Tarbox is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and is actively engaged in treatment evaluation research. Among Ms Tarbox's interests are language acquisition and the assessment and treatment of stereotypy and phobic behaviors.
Debra Malmberg, PH.D., BCBA
Debra Berry Malmberg is excited to be part of the FirstSteps team where she continually develops the parent education program, provides individual and group consultation with families, and conducts research projects on treatment approaches. She recently completed her dissertation on a collaborative parent education program for parents of children with autism.
Dr. Malmberg began her career working with children with autism and their families while an undergraduate student at Davidson College in North Carolina. In her ten years in the field of autism treatment, Debra has received training in the United Kingdom, in the Early Learning Program at the New England Center for Children in Massachusetts, and at the Claremont Autism Center in California.
Dr. Malmberg is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Psychology at Claremont McKenna College. In this capacity, Dr. Malmberg teaches behavioral psychology and clinical practicum courses and conducts research on developing behavioral treatments for children with autism and their families. She is currently the Interim Director of the Claremont Autism Center. Dr. Malmberg regularly presents her research at national and international conferences, and her work has involved traveling to Armenia to help establish the first center for children with autism in that country. She has presented testimony at a legislative hearing on autism, and she strongly believes in disseminating research information about autism to the community.
Dr. Malmberg received her B.A. from Davidson College with a specialization in child psychology and her Ph.D. in Applied Developmental Psychology from Claremont Graduate University. In 2005, she became a Board Certified Behavior Analyst.
Program Managers
Janine Strack, M.S., BCBA
Janine Strack began her work with children diagnosed with autism at FirstSteps in 2005, immediately after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles. As part of the FirstSteps clinical team, she has provided 1:1 behavior therapy across both home and school settings to a wide variety of clients, been responsible for leading multiple therapy teams, and trained staff in the methods of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA).
While working at FirstSteps, Ms. Strack completed her master’s degree in counseling, with an option in ABA, from California State University, Los Angeles. During her time at CSULA, she was trained extensively in data collection, behavior management, and functional assessment procedures. Ms. Strack is also a Board Certified Behavior Analyst.
Ms. Strack now holds the position of Program Manager, where she continues to apply her clinical skills in the field to include providing consultation services in the home and school settings, as well as assisting FirstSteps instructors in program implementation and behavior management strategies. She is also responsible for program supervision, in which she designs and implements individualized treatment plans targeting skill deficits and behavioral excesses.
Ms. Strack has adored every position she has held throughout her years at FirstSteps, and loves being a positive part of the lives of the children and families with whom she works. She is excited to continue to apply her clinical skills in the capacity of Program Manager, and looks forward to many more years of helping families at FirstSteps.
Elizabeth Monday, M.A.
Elizabeth Monday started on her path to working with children diagnosed with autism in 2002 as an undergraduate in San Diego, CA. Little did she know at that time that this would be not only be her career, but would become something that she has a true passion for. As a Behavioral Therapist, Ms. Monday was trained in various teaching methods beased on Applied Behavior Analysis including DTT and PECS. However, in order to gain research experience, Ms. Monday left this position and joined the Child Language Lab at San DiegoState, directed by Dr. Soonja Choi as a Research Assistant. Ms. Monday remained in this position throughout her graduate work at San Diego State in the Linguistics department. While there, Ms. Monday was responsible for conducting studies that examined cross-linguistic differences in the acquisition of spatial relations and had the honor of presenting these research findings to graduate level classes and at the International Conference on Infant Studies.
Upon moving to the Los Angeles area in 2006, Ms. Monday began working at FirstSteps for Kids as an Instructor. Over the course of the next three years, Ms. Monday would hold the position of Lead Instructor, complete her thesis on the syntax and discourse of maternal input, and take 30 units in the Communicative Disorders department at CSULB. Now, as a Program Manager at FirstSteps she is in the process of completing her coursework in Applied Behavior Analysis and looks forward to sitting for the BCBA exam within the next year.
In this position Ms. Monday loves designing new and innovative treatment plans that target skill deficits and behavioral excesses. She is especially interested in language development and the acquisition of executive functioning. She is also looking forward to pursuing ABA research on these topics, and applying these findings in the clinical setting. Overall, Ms. Monday is proud to be a part of such a wonderful team and work with many children who continue to amaze her daily.
