Kari is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) who has been involved with children with special needs, including autism, for 15 years. She worked as a classroom teacher for students with autism in the public school setting for six years. In this role, she also assisted in training and mentoring other teachers, and her classroom served as a demonstration classroom. She feels that working with children with special needs is “where her heart is,” and she is especially passionate about working with young children with autism and related disabilities.
Kari has a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education from Florida State University and is certified in Exceptional Student Education and Autism. She has a Master’s Degree in Psychology with a concentration in Applied Behavior Analysis from Florida State University. She founded Focus on Behavior in 2010 in order to help increase the availability of evidence-based treatment for children with autism and developmental disabilities in the Panama City area.

In addition to serving as Clinical Director, Kari has worked as a behavioral consultant in schools for over five years and continues to work in this capacity. She considers herself “a teacher at heart” and enjoys working with teachers to help students with challenging behaviors. She also finds great joy in the teaching component of supervising future behavior analysts as they complete graduate school.