Professional History 

This showcases my employment and education experiences over the years. I am a believer in hard work and going that extra mile to be where I want to be for my life. In my subpages, I have listed those following pages:
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​1. Volunteer History
​2. Board Memberships
​3. Certifications
​4. Advocacy timeline

Employment 

 Direct Care Worker: FOCUS Center for Autism/ Barkhamsted, Connecticut 
July 2024 to Current 
Part of new responsibilities and wanting to try out direct care in one of my workplaces’ residential homes in a per diem style. I follow all of the DCF rules as I provide life skills training for the residents. That can include going into community places, cooking and so on. 

On December 23rd, 2024, I became certified in Physical and Psychological Management Training by PMT Associates, Inc in Middletown, Connecticut. 

​Teaching Assistant: FOCUS Center for Autism/Canton, Connecticut
January 2023 to Current 
My current job after Driving with Autism is going back to my roots and working for a private autism school this time around. It was much needed, and it has been a amazing experience so far. FOCUS knows how to handle curriculum for social skills and mental health, and they have active job coaching for their transition program, which I am part of. 

Certified with the Connecticut Public Passenger Endorsement "A"/ Activity Vehicles Use as of April 2023. 
​ECHO Autism Team Member: Anderson Center for Autism 
August 2022 to Current  
I always knew about the Anderson Center for Autism for years due to Connecticut autism events and I always wanted to be part of them. When I was offered being a team member for their ECHO Autism program, there was no way I was going to let that go. The program helps promote the best autism practices and to support schools and providers with their individuals through monthly online meetings. I look forward for the next steps with them. 
​Founder: Driving with Autism, West Hartford, CT  
December 2021 to November 2022  
After my time collaborating with The Next Street, I wanted to start my own program and with Planning Across the Spectrum, I created Driving with Autism. it was intended to be an online driver readiness webinar series serving to help autistic individuals and their families navigate driving.  I learned many business and social skills throughout the almost year I operated the program. While aspects of it on the business side could have gone better, it proved that the need was there for driving resources, despite families not being ready for it. Overall, I learned many lessons from this experience. 
​Peer Mentor: Autism Services & Resources Connecticut, Wallingford, CT
September 2019 to October 2020
I always wanted to work for them, and I was able to get my wish by becoming a peer mentor for their young adult groups. I set up social outings in the community and facilitated social interaction with a fellow mentor. 

Numerous settings like mini golf, restaurants, and movies were chosen during my time there. During the months of the pandemic, I went virtual with my group. 
​Event Facilitator/Autism Transition Coordinator/Director of Community Outreach: Planning Across the Spectrum, West Hartford, CT  
February 2019 to November 2022  
This autistic owned financial firm was my introduction to increase my networking skills and learning how to facilitate events and workshops with organizations to represent the firm. It was also them that introduced my love for public speaking and to actively seek out those opportunities. My role there evolved overtime with their collaboration with The Next Street driving schools to do an autism program and to becoming a director of community outreach. Finally, I have worked behind the scenes on The Neurodiversity Index, which I added companies and their inclusive practices in a Excel form. With all the changes to the very end, my time there was impactful to my life. 
​Job Coach/Paraprofessional: Plainville Community Schools, Plainville, CT
September 2018 to July 2020
This was my first major job at the public school system as a job coach/paraprofessional. I learned job coaching skills in their transition program for two years, along with being exposed to team collaboration for students. I worked with my supervisor, a transition coordinator who taught me several special education basics like data collection, fading from jobsite, levels of prompting, and knowing how to support student's needs to create rapport. I also learned on how to use the environment for not scripted independent moments for students at the jobsite. I will never forget my time there. 

Certifications/trainings includes levels of prompting and PMT
​Program Clinician: Autism Families Connecticut, Newington, CT
Mar 2018 -Oct 2020 
My first job interacting with the autism population. I was part of their Lego, track, and teen/young adult programs facilitating the activities and social interactions. I learned the basics of doing one-to-one assignments, behavioral plan, and interacting professionally. 

Education


Manchester Community College
Associate of Science in Disability Specialist
2013-2018
The place where my path started. I wanted to do something to break stereotypes and make a life out of it, despite not knowing how I would fit in with the disability field. With a supportive community however, I made it work and by the end of 2018, I was already making a difference with my degree and networking.

As part of my time at MCC, I received and accepted the honor of the lifelong membership of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society.






Charter Oak State College
Bachelor of Science in Psychology
2020 to 2024
I am over at Charter Oak to obtain my BS Degree in Psychology, which will set myself up for multiple opportunities in the autism/special education field. While I did well over there, the start was very bumpy. Getting used to an 8-week schedule for each course was jarring in comparison to the 15-week schedule. That is not even going over how I started my journey during the COVID-19 pandemic. The journey was not perfect, and my pacing varied due to my changing employment at that time. Thankfully, I made it for good and it is going to change my world. My main goal afterwards is to look at the certificates offered by IBCCES and think my steps beyond 2025. 

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