Autism ACCESS Researchers
Dr. Catharine Lory is the Principal Investigator of Autism ACCESS Lab. She is an Assistant Professor of Special Education in the Department of Early Childhood, Multilingual, and Special Education at University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). She is also a Board Certified Behavior Analyst-Doctoral® (BCBA-D®). Dr. Lory enjoys working with individuals with autism and developmental disabilities to help them achieve meaningful goals.
As a researcher, Dr. Lory’s primary goal is to design, implement, and promote access to effective support and services to enhance the outcomes of individuals with autism. It is her belief that centering the priorities and preferences of autistic individuals and engaging their families, educators, and other service professionals promote more sustainable use of research-based practices. Hence, she uses a collaborative approach in her work to address the needs of individuals with autism.
Due to the complex nature of autism, our knowledge about autism remains limited and continues to evolve with scientific research. Dr. Lory is interested in further exploring how autism and the environment interact to shape the behavioral characteristics of individuals with autism. Dr. Lory believes that working with researchers across disciplines will advance our understanding of autism more rapidly and comprehensively. Therefore, she conducts this research with an interdisciplinary lens that integrates perspectives across special education, applied behavior analysis, and health and psychological sciences.
Undergraduate Researchers
Chantal Serrano is an undergraduate student at UNLV. She is pursuing a psychology degree with a minor in neuroscience. Her current research interests include (1) examining the long-term psychological and behavioral impact of negative childhood experiences (e.g., bullying or victimization, negative relationships with peers and adults) of neurodivergent individuals and (2) evaluating the knowledge, attitudes, and self-efficacy of educators and mental health professionals in trauma-informed support. She aims to continue pursuing her research interests at the graduate level.
Lab research: Chantal is currently leading a mixed-methods research study that surveys teachers’ experiences in and attitudes towards trauma-informed care.
Graduate Researchers
Fan Cao is a Ph.D. student in Special Education at Purdue University. Her research focuses on the integration of technology and artificial intelligence (AI) tools in special education, with an emphasis on teacher preparation. She is particularly interested in how emerging technologies can support students with disabilities and enhance the training of future educators through evidence-based practices.
Lab research: Fan is currently leading a research study Examining the Experiences and Perceptions of Pre-service Teachers in Using Generative AI which involves conducting focus groups with teacher candidates.
Jack Padua is the program coordinator of Project FOCUS at UNLV. He has worked extensively across a range of state-funded grants focused on social-emotional learning, mental health, and student wellness for K–5 students throughout the Las Vegas Valley. His work centers on creating and implementing programs that support emotional development, mental health awareness, and safe, inclusive learning environments in elementary education. With a strong commitment to student well-being and equity, Jack has collaborated with educators, administrators, and community partners to promote trauma-informed practices and long-term strategies that foster resilience and success among young learners.
Lab research: Jack is working with Tagalog-speaking families through the SOCIAL-NV project.
Maria Romero is a special education teacher in a self-contained autism classroom in Clark County School District. She earned her Associate of Arts in Special Education from the College of Southern Nevada, her Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education from UNLV through the Paraprofessionals Pathways Program (PPP), and her Master of Education in Special Education with an emphasis in Autism from UNLV through Project CREA:TE.
Maria is passionate about supporting students with disabilities and partnering with families to help children reach their fullest potential. Her work is guided by the belief that every child deserves access to a high-quality, inclusive education where they are valued, respected, and empowered to succeed. She is committed to creating positive learning experiences while advocating for evidence-based practices that improve educational outcomes and quality of life for students with disabilities.
Through her participation in this research lab, Maria hopes to contribute to a greater understanding of the experiences and needs of families of children with disabilities and to help strengthen meaningful collaboration between schools, educators, and families.
Lab research: Maria is working with Spanish-speaking families through the SOCIAL-NV project.
Cindy Villarreal is an Early Head Start Teacher in Clark County, providing early care and education to infants and toddlers. She specializes in partnering with linguistically diverse families to integrate home languages into the classroom, so her emergent bilingual students can continue to develop their home languages as they acquire English, establishing a multilingual-education setting for her students. She naturally implements Spanish and basic sign language into the classroom and has partnered with families throughout her career to implement a variety of home languages, including Mandarin, Farsi, Punjabi, and Bengali.
Cindy earned her Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education from UNLV and is excited to return for her Master’s degree in Early Childhood Education. Her research interests include topics surrounding the intersection of early childhood education and multilingual education to best support our youngest emergent bilingual population and their families. She is eager to continue developing her research skills as she pursues her graduate studies.
Lab research: Cindy is working with Spanish-speaking families through the SOCIAL-NV project.
Emmanuel Ayitah is a Ph.D. student in Special Education at UNLV. His research focuses on caregiver-to-teacher communication and family-to-school partnerships, with an emphasis on developing evidence-based interventions to improve outcomes for students with disabilities. He is particularly interested in designing structured communication systems that enhance collaboration between caregivers and teachers to support students with emotional and behavioral disabilities.
Lab research: Emmanuel is assisting in the implementation of the SOCIAL-NV project.
Postdoctoral Researchers
Dr. Vanessa Núñez is a sociologist, qualitative researcher, educator, and higher education practitioner whose work focuses on immigration, race and ethnicity, educational equity, institutional change, and how women of color build communities of care and resistance in higher education. She earned her Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where her doctoral research examined how faculty and staff advocate for and support undocumented and DACAmented college students.
Her scholarship draws on Critical Race Theory, Chicana Feminist Epistemologies, and qualitative and ethnographic methods to examine how people navigate institutions, build community, and create spaces of belonging within environments that do not always serve them equitably. Her scholarship has appeared in Current Issues in Education, Sociological Focus, and the Association of Mexican American Educators Journal, and she was the only recipient of the Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship at UNLV.
Her research also extends beyond higher education to community-engaged projects examining migration, behavioral health, gambling-related harms, and access to resources among Latinx communities. Across these projects, she works to translate research into accessible findings and recommendations for academic, institutional, and community audiences.
As an educator and higher education practitioner, Dr. Núñez has experience in sociology instruction, academic advising, student success and retention, program development, interdisciplinary research, research supervision, mentorship, and cross-campus collaboration.
Lab research: Vanessa serves as the project coordinator of the SOCIAL-NV project.
Dr. Ramella Lee completed her doctoral dissertation “The effect of dialogic reading with an adapted reader on narrative reading comprehension of high school students with autism spectrum disorder” in March 2026. Ramella’s dissertation research investigated whether dialogic reading, when used in conjunction with adapted reading materials, can improve the reading comprehension of high school students with ASD. This research study utilized a single-case experimental design to evaluate intervention effect and addressed existing gaps in reading instruction for older students with ASD, considering their unique cognitive and communication profiles.
Lab research: In addition to her dissertation, Ramella was significantly involved in two other projects: Interventions for Challenging Behavior of Autistic Students in General Education Settings: A Systematic Literature Review and Identifying Educators’ Needs in Supporting Students with Autism.
Ramella is also the founder of Stellar ABA and My Stellar Life with Autism. As a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst®, Ramella serves children and adolescents primarily with autism in home, school, and clinic settings. Ramella’s research interests include single-subject research, low-incidence disabilities, applied behavior analysis, organizational behavior management, non-profit and philanthropy, and entrepreneurship. In her free time, adventures await with her husband and pets.
Dr. Travis Hammond completed his doctoral dissertation “Goals, Properly Technical: Special Education Teachers Using ChatGPT to Develop Individualized Student Goals” in April 2026. Travis’ dissertation research investigated whether generative AI tool ChatGPT can be used to reduce teachers’ paperwork burden and improve the quality of behavioral goals written in IEPs. Using a pretest-posttest design, the study compared AI-assisted goal writing with traditional methods, measuring both the quality of the goals and the time required to create them.
Lab research: Travis contributed significantly to two studies, Identifying Educators’ Needs in Supporting Students with Autism and a systematic literature review on noncontingent reinforcement, and provided assistance on additional projects.
Travis is a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst® and serves children and adolescents with autism in the home, school, and clinic settings. Travis’ research interests include applied behavior analysis in the school setting, applied behavior analysis for students with emotional and behavioral disorders, and special education teacher preparation.
Rozana Ateeq received her Master’s degree in Special Education in May 2026. She was Fulbright scholar at UNLV. As a graduate assistant in the lab, she was engaged in research-informed practice and committed to advancing inclusive education for autistic learners. She brought six years of teaching experience in English language instruction, having taught beginner-level adult learners as well as school-aged students whose first language is Arabic. Her professional interests center on evidence-based intervention, early childhood development, and culturally responsive support for students with disabilities. She is currently working toward her Registered Behavior Technician (RBT) certification to better support autistic students through applied behavior analysis and direct, individualized intervention. Building on her extensive teaching background, tutoring experience, and service in diverse educational settings, she aims to contribute to high-quality autism education and to promote equitable access to meaningful learning opportunities for all students.
Lab research: Rozana implemented the intervention sessions in the study Supporting Postsecondary Students with Autism/Intellectual Disability Beyond College Classes.
Collaborators
Dr. Emily Gregori is an Associate Professor of Special Education at the University of Illinois, Chicago, and a Board Certified Behavior Analyst-Doctoral® (BCBA-D®). She serves as the Director of the Clinic for Assessment and Responsive Educational Support (CARES) at the University of Illinois, Chicago. Her work seeks to improve access to and quality of behavior-analytic services for individuals with autism and intellectual and developmental disabilities from historically underserved groups, including adults with youth from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Specifically, her work examines values-driven behavioral assessment and intervention and the identification of research-supported practices to improve behavioral care.
Dr. Qingli Lei is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Special Education at the University of Illinois Chicago. She earned her PhD in Educational Studies from Purdue University, with a focus on special education. Dr. Lei coordinated a multi-year model-based mathematics problem-solving program funded by the National Science Foundation. Her research interests include developing effective mathematics interventions for students with disabilities and diverse language needs, analyzing teacher-student discourse to empower mathematics reasoning and problem-solving skills, and exploring cognitive and non-cognitive factors that influence mathematics learning.
Dr. Di Liu is a Professor of Mathematics Education in the School of Mathematical Sciences at East China Normal University. Dr. Liu’s research focuses on instructional methods to promote mathematics learning for students with developmental disabilities. She works with undergraduate and graduate students to develop and evaluate strategies for teaching meaningful mathematical skills.
Dr. Jennifer Smith is a Clinical Associate Professor of Special Education in the Department of Educational Studies in the College of Education at Purdue University. She has 19 years of experience as an educator at the elementary level and in higher education. Her areas of interest focus on teacher preparation, creativity/creative self-efficacy for students with disabilities, twice-exceptionality, and developing positive teacher-student-family relationships. She also serves as a Founding Co-Director of the Center for Resources and Equipment for Assistive Technology in Education (CREATE).
Dr. Jasmine Begeske is a Clinical Associate Professor of Educational Studies in the Special Education Program at Purdue University. She is a former P-12 special education and art education teacher. Dr. Begeske serves many roles in her commitment to special education and art education, including a Founding Co-Director of CREATE: Center for Resources and Equipment for Assistive Technology in Education, Membership Chair and the Indiana ambassador for Division of Visual and Performing Arts Education (CEC-DARTS), and the Co-Editor of the Journal of Arts and Special Education. Both as a teacher educator and researcher, she focuses on inclusive, equitable, and accessible opportunities in education. Her research centers on measuring access and accessibility to arts education for vulnerable populations and developing and individualizing creative assistive technology solutions for improved accessibility to learning. Her artistic practice includes experimental printmaking and participatory arts projects that include individuals with disabilities as makers.
Dr. Soyeon Kim is a researcher at the University of Illinois, Chicago and Board Certified Behavior Analyst-Doctoral® (BCBA-D®). She is a former special education teacher with extensive experience in teaching students with autism. Dr. Kim’s research focuses on identifying effective instructional strategies to improve the academic and behavioral outcomes of students with autism spectrum disorder.
