ACT - Who We Are

Introduction:

The Autism Consultant Team (ACT) has played an important role supporting school teams and their Autistic students for the past 15 years. It has recently grown to include now 5 staff members that work across elementary, junior high, high school, communication disorder classrooms, and multi- needs classrooms in all of the districts LADSE serves.

Nancy Goodner

LADSE Autism Consultant

A speech-language pathologist with over 20 years of experience, Nancy has been providing Speech-Language services in a variety of intervention settings from medical, clinical, and most- recently, the public school environment. She has been a LADSE employee for the past 10 years and has worked with students placed in the Early Childhood Special Education and Multi-Needs classroom settings. As a result of her clinical experiences throughout her career as well as her continuing education opportunities, Nancy has experience working with children through adolescence demonstrating a wide variety of developmental disabilities and has gained expertise in the following areas:

Autism Spectrum Disorder
Pragmatic/Social Communication Assessment and Intervention Assistive Technology Suppor
Visual Language Systems & Supports
Language (Auditory) Processing
Curricular Adaptations & Modifications (Academic and Social) Modulation and Sensory Integration Deficits

Nancy received her master’s degree in Speech Pathology at Porland State University and completed her Clinical Fellowship at the Child Development and Rehabilitation Center of Oregon Health Sciences University. As a component of her fellowship, Nancy completed specialized

Kari Gough

LADSE Autism Consultant

A licensed clinical social worker with over 20 years of experience, Kari Gough has worked in a variety of settings, including clinical, private consulting, and public schools to name a few. Kari has worked with LADSE in the past as a Behavioral Interventionist and has recently returned this year to work with the high school and junior high level teams. Kari brings with her strong expertise in working with children ages birth to 18, specializing in the following areas:

Autism Spectrum Disorder
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Instructional Coaching in the area of Social-Emotional Learning Curriculum Development and Adaptations
Psychodynamic and Family Systems Theory
Mental Health Disorders, Assessment, and Treatment
Modulation and Sensory Integration Deficits

Kari received her Master’s Degree in School Social Work from Loyola University and has been a Licensed Clinical Social Worker since 2001. She has worked in the Early Intervention system as both an evaluator and provider and is a credentialed Infant/Early Childhood Mental Health Consultant for the state of Illinois. Kari has completed extensive training in Autism programs and frameworks such as Social Thinking and SCERTS, instructional coaching methods, and behavioral intervention techniques.

Additional Unit Team Members

Laura Woods, SLP
Autism Consultant, 103

Erin Miller, BCBA
Autism Consultant, LADSE Multi-Needs

Andrea Yaeger, SLP
Autism Consultant, District 103