In Other Words

Welcome back to another episode! In today's episode, Holly interviews Dr. Ben Schwartzman, a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Special Education at Vanderbilt University and the Principal Investigator for the Tennessee Employment Pathways Project. Dr. Schwartzman specializes in helping transition-aged individuals with IDD and their families navigate the process of connecting to paid employment. Today, Dr. Schwartzman explains his work and how he got started.

For more information, please visit our website: tarjancenter.org

Welcome back to another episode! In today's episode, Holly interviews Dr. Giselle Salinas, a postdoctoral fellow at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior in the Program for Education Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS®) Clinic. Dr. Salinas earned her doctorate at UC Riverside in Special Education, where she studied the high school transition planning experiences of young adults with autism and/or intellectual disability (ID) and their parents. As a graduate student, Dr. Salinas worked closely with Spanish-speaking families at a free autism screening clinic, where she guided families in special education advocacy and autism assessments. Her research interests revolve around the transition to adulthood for young adults with neurodevelopmental disabilities, including the experiences of culturally diverse populations.

For more information, please visit our website: tarjancenter.org

Welcome back to another episode! In today’s episode, Kecia interviews Dr. Joseph “Jojo” Armendarez, a licensed clinical psychologist at Bridges of the Mind in West Sacramento, California. Dr. JoJo is dedicated to helping individuals and families who speak Spanish and English. His expertise is in the assessment and intervention of individuals with autism, intellectual disabilities, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and other co-occurring mental health conditions. 

For more information, please visit our website: tarjancenter.org.

Welcome back to another episode! In today's episode, Kecia interviews Dr. Megan Beardmore, a licensed school psychologist with expertise in assessment and treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders and emotion dysregulation. Dr. Beardmore has received specialized postdoctoral training from The Help Group and UCLA. Currently, Dr. Beardmore works at Spectrum Psych, splitting her time between conducting psychological evaluations and providing outpatient therapy. Her focus in assessment tends to target psychoeducational, social-emotional, and autism-specific referrals. In therapy, she draws upon a flexible, integrative blend of evidence-based and holistic interventions.

For more information, please visit our website: tarjancenter.org.

Welcome back to another episode! In today's episode, Kecia interviews Dr. Kyle Sterrett, a postdoctoral scholar and a clinical psychology trainee at the Semel Institute the UCLA Tarjan Center. His research focuses on understanding the mechanisms of treatment response and how we measure progress for children with neurodevelopmental disorders enrolled in early intervention programs and classrooms. He focuses on interventions developed for children with little to no spoken language. Today, he will be talking about measuring treatment response in children with autism spectrum disorder at risk for long-term spoken language delays. For more information, please visit our website: tarjancenter.org. 

Welcome back to another episode of In Other Words! In this episode we interview Dr. Rolanda Gott, professor of Pediatrics at UCLA School of Medicine. Dr. Gott’s clinical interest and expertise is in evaluation and treatment of children with autism. Dr. Gott is proactive in expanding training for medical students and other trainees on inclusive health for individuals with Developmental disabilities. In collaboration with Special Olympics International, Dr. Gott has developed Healthy Start toolkit funded by CDC. This online toolkit provides information and support for caregivers with a newly diagnosed child with Global Developmental Delay or Intellectual Disability. 

For more information, please visit our website: tarjancenter.org.

Welcome back to another episode of In Other Words! In this episode, Kecia interviews Dr. Kelly Vitzthum about her lecture titled, Special Care Dentistry for Individuals with Disabilities: Changes in Education, Policy & Care Delivery.

Dr. Vitzthum is a dentist, dental public health advocate, and expert. She graduated from UCLA School of Dentistry and completed her residency program at the Special Patient Care Dentistry under Dr. Sung. Currently, she is working on establishing a patient advisory committee with caregivers and patient self-advocates to improve dental care at UCLA. Dr. Vitzthum also hopes to create desensitization videos for the special health care needs populations to use in the Special Patient Care clinics.

For more information, please visit our website: tarjancenter.org.

Welcome to the third episode of In Other Words... We interview Dr. Jamie Barstein a licensed clinical psychologist who specializes in the assessment and treatment of individuals with neurodevelopmental disabilities such as autism across the lifespan. Dr. Barstein leads sex education groups for adolescents and young adults with ASD and is passionate about developing effective sex education programming and supports for neurodivergent adults. In this episode, she reflects on her previous work and her talk, "Let's Talk about Sex... Education! Sexuality and Sex Education for Neurodivergent Individuals." Listen to learn more! 

Welcome to the second episode of the UCLA Tarjan Center's podcast In Other Words! Today, we have invited Dr. Elina Veytsman to speak about her research and recent lecture entitled “Navigating the Road from Adolescence to Adulthood for Youth with and without Developmental Disabilities: Parent Perspectives.”

Dr. Elina Veytsman is a postdoctoral clinical psychology fellow at the UCLA PEERS Clinic, where she facilitates social skills, career skills, and dating skills programs for adolescents and young adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their parents, and trains mental health professionals and educators in the implementation of these programs. 

Dr. Veytsman earned her PhD in School Psychology at UC Riverside, where she studied the experience of parents of youth with developmental disabilities during their transition out of high school and into adulthood. Dr. Veytsman recently completed her Doctoral Psychology Internship at The Help Group, where she conducted individual therapy, parent training, and diagnostic assessments for youth with a range of neurodevelopmental conditions. 

Dr. Veytsman has conducted the PEERS program in both group and individual formats across clinical and school settings, and has researched the efficacy of the PEERS intervention for Latinx teens with ASD in the Inland Empire. In addition to publishing her research in top journals (e.g., the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders), Dr. Veytsman has presented at conferences around the world and has received several awards for her research, including the American Psychological Association’s student research award.

Thank you for listening to the first episode of the UCLA Tarjan Center Podcast, a series where we interview our speakers from the UCLA Tarjan Center Distinguished Lecture Series. Please join Kecia Weller, Self-Advocate for the Tarjan Center, as she interviews our first lecturers Dr. Camille Wilson, Sapna Shetty, and Dr. Jasper Estabillo. In their lecture titled, “Using Silence to Hear the Voices of the AAPI Community in Autism Diagnosis and Treatment,” our three lecturers cover the cultural complexities of working with AAPI families in clinical settings, and describe cultural considerations for diagnosis and treatments of intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In this episode, they explain the motivation for their research, the goal of their talk, and takeaways from the talk that be applied to our lives and experiences.