Justin Leaf, Ph.D., is the Executive Director for Autism Partnership Foundation and the Executive Director for Contemporary Behavior Consultants. Dr. Leaf received his doctorate degree in Behavioral Psychology from the Department of Applied Behavioral Science at the University of Kansas. His research interests include Progressive ABA, improving behavioral intervention, social behavior, and methodologies to improve the lives of autistic individuals diagnosed with ASD. Dr. Leaf has more than 175 publications in either peer-reviewed journals, books, or book chapters and has presented at both national and international professional conferences and invited events. He has served on numerous editorial boards for behavior analytic and autism journals. Dr. Leaf’s career has been dedicated to improving the field of Applied Behavior Analysis and lives of autistic individuals.
Julia Ferguson, Ph.D., is the Senior Researcher and Director of Assessments for Autism Partnership Foundation and Adjunct Faculty at Endicott College. Dr. Ferguson received her bachelor’s degree and her master’s degree in Behavior Analysis from the University of North Texas and her doctorate degree in Applied Behavior Analysis from Endicott College. She has over a decade of experience working with children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in home, school, community, and clinical settings. Her research interests include evaluating social skills interventions for individuals diagnosed with ASD, evaluating best practice interventions and comparing different teaching methodologies for individuals diagnosed with ASD, and evaluating progressive and responsive ABA interventions. Dr. Ferguson has published more than 80 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and books and has presented at numerous national and international conferences.
Joseph H. Cihon, Ph.D., is Director of Research at Autism Partnership Foundation and adjunct faculty in the University of North Texas Behavior Analysis Online program. He earned a B.S. in special education from Fontbonne University, an M.S. in behavior analysis from the University of North Texas, and a Ph.D. in applied behavior analysis from Endicott College. Dr. Cihon has more than two decades of experience supporting autistic individuals and individuals with other developmental disabilities in home, school, and community settings. His scholarship focuses on progressive approaches to ABA and autism intervention; the training and supervision of interventionists, behavior analysts, and clinical supervisors; comparative evaluations of instructional procedures and teaching arrangements; conceptual and ethical issues in ABA practice; social validity, quality of life, compassionate and learner-centered intervention; and mealtime intervention and food selectivity. He has served on the editorial boards of Behavior Analysis in Practice and the International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education and has more than 90 publications across peer-reviewed journals, books, and book chapters.
Melissa Saunders, EdD, is the Chief Operating Officer for Creative Interventions, an organization providing home, school, and clinic-based ABA services from birth through early adulthood in Connecticut and Massachusetts and the Chief Executive Officer and Co-owner of King’s Speech and Learning Center. Since 2004, she has provided direct and consultative services in private and public schools, in homes, as well as center and clinic-based facilities. Dr. Saunders received her doctorate degree in Organizational Leadership and Applied Behavior Analysis from Nova Southeastern University. She has a special interest in the role behavior analysts have as leaders. Her research has been focused on supervision, leadership, employee turnover, workplace satisfaction, burnout, reinforcement in the workplace, and treatment fidelity in applied behavior analysis services. Dr. Saunders has served as an elected officer for MassABA (2013-2014) and participated on MassABA’s Contracts Committee tasked with promoting practice standards for ABA. In addition, she was actively involved with both Massachusetts’ and Connecticut’s grassroots efforts for the establishment of licensure for Behavior Analysts. Dr. Saunders has served as the CTABA Member at Large (2013-2015), Applied Representative (2015-2017), Chief Executive Officer (2018-2019), President (2021-2022) and has chaired both the Organizational Membership committee (2013-2017), Conference Committee (2016-2019), and Professional Issues Committee (2020-2022), and the CTABA CEU Coordinator. She was also actively involved with the Connecticut Autism Action Coalition (CAAC; 2015-2020) and its mission to support the development and improvement of service access and quality for all individuals who are affected by autism spectrum disorder. In addition to her committee work and role as Chief Operating Officer for CI, Dr. Saunders has been an Adjunct Professor in the Special Education Department at Southern Connecticut University (2020-2023) and the Applied Behavior Analysis Department at Bay Path University (2021-present).
