Lauren H. Hampton, Ph.D., BCBA-D
Principal Investigator
Lauren.Hampton@austin.utexas.edu
Dr. Lauren Hampton is the principal investigator of SibWatch and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Special Education at the University of Texas at Austin. She is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst with over 15 years of experience serving young children with language delays and their families.
Elizabeth (Liz) Rodriguez, M.Ed., BCBA
Graduate Research Assistant
Liz acts as a primary interventionist and graduate research assistant and on Team SibWatch. She is a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst. Over the past decade, she has worked with children with exceptionalities ranging in ages between 1-21. Liz is currently pursuing her doctoral degree at the University of Texas at Austin with a special interest in working with toddlers in early intervention.
Annabel Garza, M.Ed., RBT
Clinical Research Assistant
Annabel Garza is a clinical research assistant on the SibWatch Team. She was born and raised in Laredo, Texas and moved to Austin, Texas in 2013. She received her master’s degree in Special Education with a concentration in Autism and Developmental Disabilities in the fall of 2021. Annabel has been providing ABA therapy services for children and families for over 5 years.
Jerrica Butler, B.A., RBT
Research Assistant Assessor
Jerrica holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Southwestern University. She comes from a lengthy background working with kids in mentoring through after school and summer camp settings before finding a passion for kids with special needs and ABA in 2015. She currently is a Registered Behavior Technician (RBT) and is hoping to begin master’s coursework to work towards becoming a BCBA within the coming year. This is her first time working in a research setting but she looks forward to trying something new and being a part of the SibWatch team.
Younghwa (Young) Noh, M.Ed., BCBA
Graduate Research Assistant
Young is pursuing a doctoral degree in Special Education with a concentration in Early Childhood Special Education at the University of Texas at Austin. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood and Family Studies from the University of Washington and her master’s degree in Special Education from the University of Texas at Austin. With extensive experience as a Registered Behavior Technician in various settings including schools, clinics, and homes, Young recently obtained certification as a Board Certified Behavior Analyst. Her research interests include naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions, feeding therapies for autistic children, and trauma-informed and culturally responsive Applied Behavior Analysis.
Ellen G. Cho, B.S., RBT
Research Assistant Coder
Ellen graduated from Texas Woman’s University with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology with Spanish and chemistry minors and is pursuing her master’s degree in Early Childhood Special Education. She has been working in an early intervention clinic serving young children for over two years and hopes to work for this population as a BCBA. This is her first time working in a research setting, she looks forward to growing with her teammates. She aspires to pursue a Ph.D. and lead her own research team in the future.
Alexis Bacon-Yates, M.S. Ed.
Alexis (she/hers) is a licensed teacher and early interventionist specialist with field, academic, and research experience in Early Childhood Education (ECE), Early Intervention (EI), and Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE).
She is a doctoral student in Equity and Diversity in Special Education, a 2023-2024 ACT LEND fellow, and a LEND Equity Fellow at the University of Texas at Austin.
Her research interests include examining how educational and healthcare systems support young culturally and/or linguistically diverse children, and their families, experiencing a disability. She hopes to use research to develop equitable, meaningful, and accessible EI/ECSE systems for these historically marginalized communities to ensure they have opportunities to benefit from quality intervention services designed with them in mind.
Current LEND Trainees
Kayla Trites. Kayla Trites serves as a graduate research assistant on the SibWatch project. While originally hailing from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, Kayla moved to Waco, Texas in 2021 to pursue her PhD in School Psychology at Baylor University. Concurrently, Kayla is also a 2023-2024 ACT LEND Fellow at UT Austin and is pursuing research to better understand the relationship parenting style and adaptive behavior in school-aged children with autism.
Kari Maddox
Kaelin Rubenzer. As the sister and daughter of people with autism, Kaelin was inspired to pursue a career in disability work. Kaelin graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience, a certificate in Health Science, and a certificate in Nonprofit Fundraising and Management. After graduating, Kaelin worked as a full-time neuroscience researcher at the University of Texas at Austin, leading genetic research about the social challenges associated with autism. Starting first as a volunteer then instructor, Kaelin became Executive Director for Lifelong Learning with Friends, a UT-based non-profit education program aimed at adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Volunteers
Samra Teshome. Samra is an Undergraduate student at the University of Texas at Austin pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Health and Society along with certificate in Spanish for the Medical Professions and a minor in Sociology. She hopes to work within the realm of obstetrics and women’s health. This is her first time working as a volunteer in a research setting and she looks forward to working as part of the team. Her research interests lie in investigating the influence of support systems on participant outcomes.
Farah Kazi. Farah is an undergraduate student at the University of Texas at Austin pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology and a certificate in Elements of Computing. She hopes to work within the realm of adolescent psychology. This is her first time working as a volunteer in a research setting, and she looks forward to being a part of the team.
Previous LEND Trainees
Victoria Arágon. UT-Austin Early Childhood Special Education Master’s student
Sheri Potter. UT-Austin Doctor of Audiology student
Olivia Helm UT-Austin Speech-language Pathology student
Annabel Garza UT-Austin Autism and Developmental Disabilities Master’s student
Learn more about the ACT-LEND program here: https://disabilitystudies.utexas.edu/act-lend
