Officers
Chair – Judah B. Axe, Ph.D., BCBA-D
Judah B. Axe is an Associate Professor of Education and Behavior Analysis at Simmons College in Boston, MA. He received his M.A. and Ph.D. in Special Education and Applied Behavior Analysis at The Ohio State University. Judah’s research is on evaluating procedures for teaching verbal behavior to children with language delays, examining motivational variables influencing social behavior, and manipulating motivating operations to reduce escape-maintained problem behavior. Judah serves on the editorial boards of The Analysis of Verbal Behavior and the International Journal of Behavior Analysis and Autism Spectrum Disorders. In addition to serving as Chair of the VB SIG, Judah is a Trustee and the Continuing Education Coordinator of the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies and the Student Relations Chair of the Berkshire Association for Behavior Analysis and Therapy.
Secretary – Tina M. Sidener, Ph.D., BCBA-D
Tina M. Sidener is an Associate Professor in the Applied Behavior Analysis Department at Caldwell University. She received her doctorate in Psychology with a specialization in Behavior Analysis from Western Michigan University and completed a predoctoral internship at Kennedy Krieger Institute. She currently serves as the Director of Training in the Caldwell University Center for Autism and ABA. Dr. Sidener is a board member of several journals, including the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, Education and Treatment of Children, and Behavior Modification. Her current clinical and research interests include verbal behavior, establishing conditioned reinforcers, teaching play skills to children with ASD, assessment and treatment of stereotypy, and pediatric feeding disorders.
Treasurer – April N. Kisamore, Ph.D., BCBA-D
April N. Kisamore is an assistant professor in the Department of Applied Behavior Analysis at Caldwell College and the Director of Curriculum Development in the Caldwell College Center for Autism. She received her master’s degree in Behavior Analysis from Western Michigan University in 2009 under the supervision of Dr. James E. Carr and her Ph.D. at Western New England University under the supervision of Dr. Amanda M. Karsten. April has served as a guest reviewer for the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis and The Psychological Record and is on the board of editors for The Analysis of Verbal Behavior. Her research interests include verbal behavior, problem-solving strategies, and social skills training.
Grant Competition Coordinator – Rocío Rosales, Ph.D., BCBA-D
Rocío Rosales earned her Ph.D. in Rehabilitation with an emphasis in Applied Behavior Analysis from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale under the mentorship of Dr. Ruth Anne Rehfeldt. She currently serves as Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Prior to joining the faculty at UMass Lowell, Rocío was Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Youngstown State University (2009-2013). Her research interests include the application of verbal behavior and derived stimulus relations, including acquisition of a second language for children with and without disabilities; and the evaluation of teaching strategies for caregivers working with individuals with special needs.
Research Competition Coordinator – Alice Shillingsburg, Ph.D., BCBA-D
Dr. Shillingsburg obtained her doctoral degree and training in clinical child psychology and behavior analysis at Auburn University. She is licensed to practice psychology in the state of Georgia, and is a board certified behavior analyst at the doctoral level. Currently, she is the Director of the Language and Learning Clinic at the Marcus Autism Center and an assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Autism and Related Disorders, at Emory University School of Medicine. Dr. Shillingsburg provides supervision and training to pre-doctoral interns as part of an APA-accredited internship at the Marcus Autism Center and has mentored numerous doctoral and master’s level practicum students and post-doctoral fellows. She has also served on thesis and dissertation committees and mentored student research projects. Dr. Shillingsburg’s research and clinical work focus on the theoretical and practical applications of the analysis of verbal behavior to the assessment and treatment of language skills specifically strategies to promote language and social relatedness in children with autism. Dr. Shillingsburg’s work is frequently presented at regional and national conferences and she has published numerous papers in peer-reviewed journals on various topics specifically within the study of verbal behavior and ASD. In addition she serves on the editorial boards of the Analysis of Verbal Behavior and the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis.
Newsletter Editor – Amber Valentino, Psy.D., BCBA-D
Amber Valentino received a doctoral degree in clinical psychology in 2008, from Xavier University in Cincinnati, OH. She completed a predoctoral internship and postdoctoral fellowship at the Marcus Autism Center/Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Her training focused on early intensive behavioral intervention for children with autism and other developmental disabilities with a particular focus on verbal behavior. She currently serves as the Assistant Director of Clinical Services and Research for Trumpet Behavioral Health and resides in San Jose, California. Dr. Valentino’s clinical and research interests include the assessment and treatment of language deficits, primarily in children with autism. Her specific interests include the behavioral analysis of alternative and augmentative communication systems, novel strategies to develop vocal verbal behavior, and the development of methods to overcome barriers in verbal behavior acquisition. Dr. Valentino has served as a guest reviewer for the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, a guest associate editor for Education and Treatment of Children and currently serves on the editorial board of The Analysis of Verbal Behavior. She has also had recent peer-reviewed publications in the Journal of Behavioral Education, Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, Behavior Modification, The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, and the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis.
Website Coordinator – Amanda P. Laprime, Ph.D., BCBA-D
Amanda P. Laprime obtained her doctorate degree in Applied Behavior Analysis in 2014 from Simmons College under the advisement of Dr. Ronald Allen and Dr. Judah Axe, and her master’s degree in Applied Behavior Analysis in 2008 from Northeastern University under the advisement of Dr. Gary Pace. Currently, Dr. Laprime serves as a Senior Behavior Analyst at the Center for Children with Special Needs in Glastonbury, CT, as well as a faculty member in the Northeastern University graduate program in Applied Behavior Analysis. Amanda is also an Advisor to the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies, and was appointed to the role of Assistant to the Executive Director, Dr. Rob Holdsambeck, in May 2015. She has served as a guest reviewer for the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, Behavior Analysis in Practice, the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disabilities, and The Analysis of Verbal Behavior. Her research interests include the analysis of verbal behavior as it relates to the role of motivating variables when reducing problem behavior, the role of functional analyses in school-based settings, and instructional methodology to establish complex discriminations.
Editor of The Analysis of Verbal Behavior – James E. Carr, Ph.D., BCBA-D
James E. Carr, is the Chief Executive Officer of the Behavior Analyst Certification Board. His professional interests include behavior analyst credentialing, behavioral assessment and treatment of developmental disabilities, verbal behavior, and practitioner training. Dr. Carr has published over 120 scientific articles on these and other topics. Dr. Carr is a Fellow of the Association for Behavior Analysis International. He is the editor-in-chief of the journal The Analysis of Verbal Behavior and has served on the editorial boards of 10 other behavior analysis journals, including 4 appointments as associate editor. Dr. Carr is past president of the Mid-American and Alabama Associations for Behavior Analysis. He received his doctorate in 1996 from Florida State University under the mentorship of Dr. Jon Bailey and previously served on the behavior analysis faculties at University of Nevada-Reno (1996-1999), Western Michigan University (1999-2008), and Auburn University (2008-2011).
Student Group Liaison to the Board – Catherine Taylor-Santa
Catherine Taylor-Santa serves as the Student Group Liaison to the Council. Cat is also a PhD candidate in Applied Behavior Analysis at Caldwell University under the supervision of Dr. April N. Kisamore. Her research interests include perspective taking, listening and listener behavior, tacting non-visual stimuli, bidirectional relations, learning history and its effect on skill acquisition, advanced intraverbals, and conditioning reinforcers.
Our officers are committed to the verbal behavior community and the dissemination of verbal behavior research to clinical and educational outlets. Officers serve a 3-year term and are voted in by current members. We welcome you and look forward to the opportunity to collaborate with you!