Alma Rodriguez graduated from UC Davis with a
degree in Agriculture and Environmental Education.
Azeema Yahya is currently a High School English
Teacher in the Bay Area, CA. After graduating from UC Davis and
getting her BA in English and Minor in Education, she earned
a Single Subject Teaching Credential and MA in Education. She
stated that her time with the lab helped her immensely
with teaching and creating a more inclusive learning environment
for all students.
Carina Webster graduated from UC Davis with
a BA in Psychology. She has been working as an Early
Interventionist for children with exceptionalities at an
inclusive child developmental center in San Francisco, CA since
2018. She provides individualized intervention for children
ages 0-3 and home-based coaching for their families as
well as inclusion support and reflective training for teachers.
As a clinician, Carina is certified in the Developmental,
Individual Differences, Relationships-based model (“DIR
Floortime”) and uses strategies from the Early Start Denver
Model with support from an ESDM certified trainer. Outside of
her work in early intervention, Carina is participating in a
post-baccalaureate program pursuing a MA in Speech-Language
Pathology. Carina will soon be launching her own community
dedicated to embracing neurodiversity and reframing inclusion in
collaboration with families and educators. Carina stated, “I
hold so much gratitude for my experience as the lab’s
first undergraduate employee! Dr. Sparapani
introduced me to the concept of neurodiversity, encouraged
me to learn more about developmental approaches for supporting
individuals with autism, and shared a vision that both resonated
with and inspired me to integrate these foundational ideas
into a career path.”
Cecilia Williams graduated from UC Davis in
2018 with a BA in Psychology and Minors in Education and
Human Development. Following graduation, she started to work as a
Registered Behavior Technician (RBT). Currently, Cecilia lives in
CO, where she works as a Lead RBT at Autism West Behavior
Partners. She is also pursuing a MA in Special Education -
Applied Behavior Analysis at Arizona State University. Cecilia
intends to apply to become a Board Certified Behavior Analyst in
2022.
Chloe Amaryllis Rankin Chloe is pursuing
higher education with the pursuit of obtaining a graduate degree.
She graduated from the UC Davis in 2019 with a BA in Psychology
and Minor in Education. One of her career aspirations is to
be a motivational speaker and to help bring awareness
about the invisible brilliance in autism, bring change to
mind about the issues people with exceptionalities face, and
share her story about overcoming adversity. Living with autism,
Chloe speaks about finding her potential to succeed, getting
ahead of disability stigma, and augmenting her abilities to take
on the challenges of new opportunities. She states, “autism is
not a hindrance in my life but rather something to inspire with.
Autism reflects my true meaning in life, which is to achieve
my greatest self, live out my purpose, stay devoted to my
passions, and courageously prove my capability to
others.”
Jacquelyn Rodriguez was in the UC Davis
Human Development Department.
Jennifer
Yang graduated from the UC Davis with a
BS in Human Development and a Minor in Psychology. She is
currently working as a visitation coach specialist as well as a
youth counselor within the community. She will be starting her
graduate work at Boston University in School of Social
Work in the fall 2021.
Jocelyn Elias graduated from UC Davis June 2020
with a BA in Psychology. Since then, she has been working as
a Registered Behavior Technician, providing Applied Behavioral
Analysis (ABA) services to children with autism and their
families. Jocelyn is currently working on a community engagement
project with their current company at EasterSeals NorCal. Jocelyn
also is a graduate student in a Master’s program in
Counseling Psychology.
Josh Traser graduated with his BA in
Cognitive Science and Linguistics. He is currently working as a
lab technician in a dental lab and is interested in attending
graduate school in Speech-Language Pathology in the future. In
addition, Josh is also pursuing his life’s work as a writer
during his free time.
Kanwardeep Singh graduated from UC Davis
with a BA in History and Minor in Education. She
is currently in her second-year of teaching computer
science/electives following her Master’s program. She is also on
the Ethnic Studies Task Force and is leaning how to implement
more inclusive education practices. Kanwar will be starting a
doctoral program in fall 2021 to become an effective leader for
her students. She is also hoping to gain the knowledge and skills
needed to be an advocate for educational equity. Kanwar
stated that she is grateful for the lab and the work Dr.
Sparapani is doing to help educators.
Kirsten Daugherty was an undergraduate
researcher in the UC Davis CARE Lab from March 2019 to September
2020. She coded classroom videos of student productivity.
She continues to volunteer. Kirsten graduated in the
spring of 2020 with a BA in Psychology and a Minor in Education.
After UC Davis, she began graduate school at Brandman University,
pursuing a MA in Teaching (MAT), with Preliminary Education
Specialist and Mild/Moderate Credential with the English
Learner and Autism Authorizations. After she receives her
MA and special education credential, Kirsten aspires to
become an elementary school special education teacher. In
addition to graduate school, Kirsten is currently employed with
the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District. She is a
paraeducator in the RSP (Resource Specialist Program) at
Anna Kyle Elementary School. She looks forward to gaining
more experience as a paraeducator as she feels it will prepare
her to be a great special education teacher in the future!
Maggie Wu graduated from UC Davis in 2020
with a BA in Psychology and Minor in Education. She is
currently enrolled in the UC Davis Teacher Education Program,
working on her Single Subject Teaching Credential.
Mi-Ni Liu graduated from UC Davis with a
degree in Communication in 2018.
Olivia Kelly graduated from UC Davis with a
BS in Human Development and Minor in Psychology.
Regine Lasam graduated from UC Davis with a
BS in Human Development. She is currently attending Alliant
International University School of Nursing.
Sana Karimi graduated from UC Davis in 2020 with
a BA Sociology and Minor in Psychology. She is currently working
as a research assistant at the Center for Mindfulness and Human
Potential at UC Santa Barbara and a case manager at PATH, a
homeless shelter.
Yelizaveta Belomyttseva (Liza) graduated from UC
Davis in 2019 with a BS in Biological Sciences. She is
currently in graduate school.
Zaina Khoury graduated from UC Davis with a
BS in Human Development and Minor in Human Rights. She
is currently at Columbia University in New York. working on a MA
in Speech-Language Pathology.