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OUR TEAM

Get your child on a path toward developmental success today!

MEET OUR FOUNDER

Karelix Alicea is the founder and president of Lotus Behavioral Interventions and co-founder of the Miami Association for Behavior Analysis (MiABA)

Most recently, Miss Alicea founded The Lotus Children (TLC), a non-profit dedicated to allocating ABA therapies and resources to underprivileged children with autism throughout the world. She is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) and Infant Toddler Developmental Specialist (ITDS) who has been working with children diagnosed with autism and other pervasive developmental delays since 2001.

Her mastery of the science combined with her love and compassion for children on the autism spectrum have allowed her to help countless children and families with the highest quality of care.

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Karelix Alicea

M.S., BCBA, ITDS, Founder/President

MEET OUR

MIAMI TEAM

All of our professionals are highly educated and experienced to meet strict national accreditation criteria as outlined by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB). All of our ABA Therapists and Registered Behavior Technicians (RBTs) are closely supervised by our board certified professionals to meet Lotus Behavioral Interventions’ high quality standards of both scientific rigor and therapeutic care, whether services are delivered face-to-face or via telehealth.

Mariam Nawabi

M.A., BCBA

About

Nina Stavrinos

M.S., BCBA

About

Kevin SanJuan

M.A., BCBA

About

Andrew Adasme

B.A., BCaBA

About

Dayanara Rivera

B.A., RBT

About

Natalie Sardinas

B.A., RBT

About

Leonor Antepara

B.A., RBT

About

Nicole Ronquillo

RBT

About

MEET OUR

TELEHEALTH TEAM

The Lotus clinical team has experience rendering ABA therapy services via telehealth since we were established in 2009. We are thankful for the extended telehealth coverage that most private insurance carriers have temporarily extended to their beneficiaries in the midst of the COVID-19 global pandemic. The ability to continue servicing our Lotus children and families using telehealth in a manner that ensures optimal levels of health and safety for all involved is extremely important to us. Using a HIPAA-compliant web portal, our entire clinical team across Miami and Puerto Rico is proficient in delivering high-quality ABA therapy services via telehealth in a manner that is highly private, caring, individualized, professional and effective. With over a decade of experience, you can rest assured that every single member of our Lotus ABA therapy team knows how to rock telehealth!

Kimberly Woolery

M.S., BCBA

About

Laurie Tarter

Psy.D., BCBA, LBA

About

MEET OUR

ADMINISTRATIVE TEAM

Angela Yutsy

B.A., Administrative Director

About

Karelix Alicea

M.S., BCBA, ITDS, Founder

About
Lotus Behavioral Interventions Logo

LET US COME TO YOU!

Proudly servicing Miami, Broward, Puerto Rico and beyond via telehealth!

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CONTACT US

(305)330-4660

Info@LotusBehavior.com

(786)217-1376

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LET US COME TO YOU!

Proudly servicing Miami, Broward, Puerto Rico and beyond via telehealth!

(305)330-4660

Info@LotusBehavior.com

Karelix Alicea

M.S., BCBA, ITDS

Founder / President of Lotus Behavioral Interventions

Miss Alicea received both her bachelor's and master's degrees in psychology with a specialization in behavior analysis under the direction of the esteemed Dr. Jacob L. Gewirtz at Florida International University (FIU), and is currently in the process of completing an Ed.D. in Organizational Leadership and Applied Behavior Analysis from Nova Southeastern University.

Following a period of almost 10 years of experience in the field, she founded Lotus Behavioral Interventions in 2009. Miss Alicea taught undergraduate-level behavior analysis coursework for several years at FIU and Carlos Albizu University, and is a graduate-level intensive practicum supervisor at Simmons College, Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) and University of South Florida (USF), all of which are Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI) accredited programs.

She has presented on the benefits of sign language and telehealth services for children with autism in addition to ethical service delivery, supervision and entrepreneurship at various professional conferences, including the Florida Association for Behavior Analysis (FABA) and ABAI.

Miss Alicea is an active member of the Association of Professional Behavior Analysts (APBA), and can render services in English, Spanish, American Sign Language (ASL) both face-to-face and via telehealth with the use of HIPAA-compliant technology.

Mariam Nawabi

M.A., BCBA

Mariam has been a valued member of the Lotus clinical team since June of 2015. She originally began her professional career as a pre-school teacher and very quickly became intrigued with the benefits of using applied behavior analysis (ABA) within a classroom setting for children with special needs. This prompted her to go back to school and earn her master's degree in ABA from the Chicago School of Professional Psychology.

She is a BCBA with a well-rounded background in assessments, interventions and parent / staff training. Mariam is a highly motivated and passionate professional who has presented her research on preference assessments at the California Association for Behavior Analysis (CalABA). She feels that helping children with special needs allows her to fulfill her passion of giving back to the community and society at large. Mariam can render services in English, American Sign Language (ASL) both face-to-face and via telehealth with the use of HIPAA-compliant technology.

Nina Stavrinos

M.S., BCBA

Nina has been a valued member of the Lotus clinical team since July of 2015. She has a master's degree in mental health counseling with a minor in applied behavior analysis (ABA) from Nova Southeastern University and is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA).

Nina is a caring, compassionate and dedicated clinician committed to achieving the ultimate goal of enhancing the quality of life of every child and family she works with. Nina can render services in English, Spanish, French, American Sign Language (ASL) both face-to-face and via telehealth with the use of HIPAA-compliant technology.

Kevin SanJuan

M.A., BCBA

Kevin has been a valued member of the Lotus clinical team since May of 2016. He completed a bachelor's degree in psychology with a specialization in behavior analysis at Florida International University (FIU) and a master's degree in professional behavior analysis at Florida Institute of Technology (FIT). He has completed his independent fieldwork hours and has passed the BCBA in 2021.

He is currently a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). Kevin is a highly caring, kind and patient person with a keen attention to detail. He felt a strong attraction to the field of behavior analysis as an undergraduate student and looks forward to implementing the techniques of applied behavior analysis (ABA) to encourage the development of children on the autism spectrum for many years to come. Kevin can render services in English, Spanish, American Sign Language (ASL) both face-to-face and via telehealth with the use of HIPAA-compliant technology.

Andrew Adasme

B.A., BCaBA

Andrew has been a valued member of the Lotus clinical team since April of 2016. He has a bachelor's degree in psychology with a specialization in behavior analysis from Florida International University (FIU) and is a Board Certified assistant Behavior Analyst (BCaBA) with the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB).

Andrew is a very patient and emphathetic individual with volunteer experience with the Special Olympics who looks forward to a fruitful scholastic and professional career in the field of applied behavior analysis (ABA). Andrew can render services in English and Spanish both face-to-face and via telehealth with the use of HIPAA-compliant technology.

Dayanara Rivera

B.A., RBT

Dayanara has been a valued member of the Lotus clinical team since January of 2017. She has a bachelor's degree in psychology with a specialization in behavior analysis from Florida International University (FIU) and is a Registered Behavior Technician (RBT) with the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB). Dayanara is currently working on her master's degree in behavior analysis at Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) in the hopes of becoming a BCBA in the near future.

Her professional goal is to help children in any way necessary for them to lead happy and successful lives. She is a bright, responsible and mature therapist who displays a wonderful sense of creativity when working with children on the spectrum. Dayanara can render services in English, Spanish, American Sign Language (ASL) both face-to-face and via telehealth with the use of HIPAA-compliant technology.

Natalie Sardinas

B.A., RBT

Natalie has been a valued member of our clinical team since September of 2022. She has a bachelor's degree in psychology with a specialization in behavior analysis from Florida International University (FIU) and is currently working toward acquiring enough experience hours to sit for the Board Certified assistant Behavior Analyst (BCaBA) exam in the near future. Natalie is a very caring individual who has loved working with children since 2018. She can render face-to-face services in English and Spanish.

Leonor Antepara

B.A., RBT

Lili has been a valued member of our clinical team since May of 2022. She has a bachelor's degree in psychology with a specialization in behavior analysis from Florida International University (FIU) and is currently working toward acquiring enough experience hours to sit for the Board Certified assistant Behavior Analyst (BCaBA) exam in the near future. Lili is a very creative and vivacious therapist who feels the field of ABA is her calling. She can render face-to-face services in English and Spanish.

Nicole Ronquillo

RBT

Nicole has been a valued member of our clinical team since October of 2022. She is currently working on a bachelor's degree in psychology with a specialization in behavior analysis from Florida International University (FIU). Nicole is a Registered Behavior Technician (RBT) and is earning her fieldwork hours in order to be eligible to sit for the Board Certified assistant Behavior Analyst (BCaBA) certification exam upon graduation. She is bright, energetic, and creative with a fun-loving personality that our kids just love. Nicole can render face-to-face services in English.

Kimberly Woolery

M.S., BCBA

Kimberly has been a valued member of the Lotus clinical team since March of 2017. She received her bachelor’s degree in Philosophy with a minor in Psychology from Florida International University (FIU) and then her master’s degree in Counseling with a concentration in Advanced Applied Behaviour Analysis from Nova Southeastern University.

She is a Board Certified Behaviour Analyst (BCBA) and Registered Mental Health Counselling Intern (RMHCI) who has been working with neurodiverse children and families since 2012. She has an extensive background in assessments, interventions, treatment planning and caregiver consultation. Kimberly specializes in providing behavioural telehealth services for children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

She was born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica and has been dedicated to implementing culturally responsive treatments. Kimberly is a highly motivated professional who has presented her research on Achieving Cultural Competency and Sensitivity, Identifying Cross-Cultural Barriers, Best Practices in Culturally Responsive Treatment, the benefits of Telehealth in ABA and on Caregiver Consultation at the Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI) annual conventions. She is an active member of the Cultural Diversity SIG (ABAI), FABA’s Multicultural SIG and the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS). She chose a career in behaviour analysis to help children reach their full potential. Kimberly can render services in English both face-to-face and via telehealth with the use of HIPAA-compliant technology.

Laurie Tarter

PSYD, BCBA, LBA

Dr. Laurie Tarter has been a valued member of the Lotus clinical team since June of 2020. She earned her doctorate degree from Alliant International University and her master's degree from Pepperdine University. She is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) who has been working with special needs children, adolescents and adults for over 20 years.

Dr. Tarter specializes in conducting autism specific diagnostic and cognitive assessments. Her experience also includes being the Executive Director of EnCompass Behavioral Health, founder of the San Diego chapter of Global Autism Project, and forming a team for Developmental Disabilities Crisis House. Dr. Tarter is a Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS®) certified group provider for adolescents and young adults. She can render services in English both face-to-face and via telehealth with the use of HIPAA-compliant technology.

ANGELA YUSTY

B.A., ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR

Angela Yusty has been a valued member of the Lotus administrative team since October of 2017. She joined us with much passion and enthusiasm to be a part of a company that serves such a great purpose. Professionally, she has more than 15 years of experience working in the clinical field, including 8 years in administration and 5 years in management.

She has a bachelor's degree in health administration from the University of Phoenix. Due to her love for children, she loves immersing herself in a project whose sole mission is the betterment of their lives. Angela is a wife and mother to two beautiful girls and is fascinated by people and all the good they can do in the world. Angela is bilingual and can communicate fluently in English and Spanish.

Karelix Alicea

M.S., BCBA, ITDS, Founder / President

Karelix Alicea founded Lotus Behavioral Interventions in 2009. She is also the co-founder of the Miami Association for Behavior Analysis (MiABA) and the Executive Director of The Lotus Children (TLC), a non-profit dedicated to allocating ABA therapies and resources to underprivileged children with autism throughout the world. She is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) and Infant Toddler Developmental Specialist (ITDS) who has dedicated her life to working with children on the autism spectrum since 2001.

Miss Alicea received both her bachelor's and master's degrees in psychology with a specialization in behavior analysis under the direction of the esteemed Dr. Jacob L. Gewirtz at Florida International University and is currently in the process of completing an Ed.D. in Organizational Leadership and Applied Behavior Analysis from Nova Southeastern University with an anticipated graduation date in 2020.