Jen Ferreira, PhD, CCC-SLP
Director/CEO
PhD in Psychology
MS Psychology
MS Speech-Language Pathology
Dr. Ferreira's research focused on using technology to build cognition with children who exhibit complex communication needs.
Dr. Ferreira served as the head of the Brain Sciences/Augmentative Communication Specialty team at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, whose members assess and diagnose complex communication and language based reading and writing disorders.
Dr. Ferreira worked at Tampa General Hospital in acute, rehabilitation, and outpatient settings. She has exceptional experience in the development of short- and long-term clinical, academic, and home-based collaborative plans for children with behavioral disorders, social skills deficiencies, and those that require augmented communication. As a member of several interdisciplinary teams, she has experience with adults and children suffering from progressive neurogenic and neuromuscular disorders, burns, traumatic brain injury, post transplantation, and stroke.
Christjen Madaffari, PCMI, RBT
Director of BYC Learn
Professional Crisis Management Instructor
Registered Behavior Technician
Christjen has been in the education field for over 10 years, including special education, and music education in both a private and classroom setting.
Christjen is certified as a Registered Behavior Technician and currently provides therapeutic intervention to children on the autism spectrum in their classroom settings in Pinellas County and at BYC Learn on campus.
Christjen is a music instructor at BYC Learn and teaches through Bach to Rock: America's Music School with the "Rock City" curriculum.
Christjen is BYC's Professional Crisis Management (PCM) Instructor, certified with the Professional Crisis Management Association (PCMA), providing training to schools in the Pinellas County area and to our own staff.
In his spare time, Christjen is a performance arts instructor for middle schoolers in the Pinellas County area.
Ailyn Menas, OTD, OTR/LOccupational Therapist
I’m Ailyn, a licensed occupational therapist and Therasuit Method ® Certified Therapist. I recently got certified in TheraSuit Method® to help children improve strength, coordination, mobility, and independence through individualized, intensive therapy programs.
I graduated with a Doctorate of Occupational Therapy from the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of South Florida.
I have experience working with children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Rett Syndrome, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Sensory Processing Disorder, and other developmental disorders. Her doctoral capstone focused on creating a culturally tailored program for occupational therapists and Latinx caregivers of children with ASD.
I am passionate about providing exceptional care to patients and families, helping children achieve milestone goals — one step at a time.
Adrianna Rodriguez
MS, CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist
Bio and photo coming soon!
Nicolette Yatros, BCBA
Board Certified Behavior Analyst
Bobbie Vaughn, PhD
BCBA
PhD in Special Education and Rehabilitation
MA Education
Dr. Vaughn has a PhD in Special Education and Rehabilitation from the University of Oregon, and a Masters of Education in School Psychology from Texas State University. She has been a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) for 14 years.
Dr. Vaughn has over 25 years of experience working with children who have autism, ADHD, and other developmental disabilities. She worked at the University of South Florida for 17 years and was an Associate Professor conducting research, writing grants, and teaching and developing courses in Positive Behavior Support and Applied Behavior Analysis. Dr. Vaughn's work there not only included research with children and families, but also consultation with schools.
Dr. Vaughn also worked at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital for 8 years as a BCBA conducting functional behavior assessments, developing behavior support plans in partnership with families, and co-leading social skills groups with speech-language pathologists.
Dr. Vaughn brings extensive experience supporting children with challenging behaviors and their families in home, community, and clinic settings.
Rylee Madaffari,
MEd, CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist
Rylee received her Master's degree from the University of Virginia and her Bachelors degree from Haverford College in Philadelphia. Her areas of expertise include gestalt language processing, augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), autism, and school-age language disorders. She is a certified NLA-trained clinician for gestalt language processors, enabling her to better serve children who primarily communicate through echolalia. In addition to her clinical work, Rylee has conducted research, written a thesis in experimental psycholinguistics, and worked in a childhood language development laboratory at the University of Virginia.
Rylee started her journey with BYC as a graduate intern in August 2022 and never left! After completing her Clinical Fellowship, she chose to stay with BYC to continue working as part of a welcoming and collaborative multidisciplinary team. Prior to BYC, Rylee has worked in a special education elementary school as well as both adult and pediatric outpatient facilities.
Kristen Gavern, MS, CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist
Kristen received her Bachelor of Science in Communication Disorders from SUNY Geneseo and a Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology from The College of Saint Rose.
Over the past 35 years, Kristen has had the pleasure of working with individuals across the age continuum, addressing their communicative, cognitive, and feeding/swallowing needs. She has enjoyed professional opportunities across a variety of settings including acute care, home care, long-term care, rehabilitation, early intervention, preschool-aged children, and clinics.
Kristen has valued her time teaching and mentoring aspiring clinicians as they prepare to begin their therapeutic careers.
Kristen has prioritized professional cross-disciplinary consultation and collaboration in addition to family/parent/caregiver participation and engagement to enhance and accelerate intervention outcomes.
Allison Benson, PT
Bio and photo coming soon!
Nicholas Hamilton, PTA
Bio and photo coming soon!
Nicolette received her Bachelor's degree from the University of Central Florida in Communication Sciences and Disorders. Following this, she received her Masters in Applied Behavior Analysis and Clinical Sciences from Rollins College.
Nicolette has been in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis for over 10 years and has experience with clients with a variety of diagnoses. Prior to passing her board certification test, Nicolette was a Registered Behavior Technician for 5 years where she worked one-on-one with clients from the ages of 2-56 years old. Nicolette has experience with providing services in various locations including in-home, clinic, and school. Nicolette specializes in behavior management and skill acquisition. Nicolette has participated in conducting and assisting in published and peer reviewed research to help expand the field of Applied Behavior Analysis.
In her free time, Nicolette loves to spend time with her family and traveling to new places!
Kendall Miller
Registered Behavioral Technician
Bio and photo coming soon!
Kyle Rafferty
Registered Behavioral Technician
Bio and photo coming soon!
Juliana Miano, BCaBA
Board Certified Assistant Behavioral Analyst
Juliana graduated with a Bachelor’s in Psychology from the University of Tampa as well as her Master’s in Special Education. She has worked as an RBT for 3 years and is excited to be working towards her BCBA certification!
In her free time, Juliana loves to watch movies!
Amanda Shay
Registered Behavioral Technician
Bio and photo coming soon!
DiMarco Santiago
Registered Behavioral Technician
Bio and photo coming soon!
Patty Khammanivong
Administration
Bio and photo coming soon!
Claire Harpole, MS
BYC Learn Admin
Claire has a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics Education from the University of North Dakota and a Master of Science in Mathematics Education from Nova Southeastern University.
Claire has over 15 years of experience tutoring and teaching all levels of mathematics. While Claire has primarily taught high school math, she also has experience teaching for Hillsborough Community College, Keiser University, and the University of South Florida—St. Petersburg.
Claire has worked with students of all ability levels but has spent many years focusing on those for whom math was a particular challenge or who had been diagnosed with a variety of learning challenges.
Claire has a passion for teaching math and believes the key to success in any math class is building confidence in her students. She has a knack for taking difficult concepts and explaining them in a way that is comprehensible to all.
Michelle Yingling, MA
Early Education
Michelle earned her Bachelor of Arts in English from the Albany State University of New York and her Master of Arts in Education from the University of South Florida, Tampa.Michelle has been an educator for 20 years and maintains current certification for grades K–6 elementary and grades 6–12 for English. She has taught in both elementary and secondary environments.
Currently teaching at the high school level, with courses ranging from college prep to advanced placement, she has also tutored extensively for students of all ages and abilities in reading and writing.Michelle firmly believes that everyone should have experience teaching kindergarten to really understand the complexities and challenges that go into students building their foundations of literacy.