Clarissa has been a Georgian since 2007, and a member of GABA since 2016. She received her BS in Biology from Georgia Tech, and a passion for supporting children with special needs lead to a position as behavior technician in the Severe Behavior clinic at the Marcus Autism Center. As a member of that team, she grew from the entry-level position to a team leader, from behavior data analyst to clinical specialist to clinical specialist 2. During this time, she also chose to continue her education at Georgia State, ultimately completing her masters degree in ABA and becoming a BCBA in fall of 2020. She joined the Marcus School Consultation team as a BCBA in spring of 2021. This lead to an opportunity to join the early intervention team at Dogwood Autism Services in Fall of 2021.  She is now part of their clinical team as a case manager, supporting their clinic in East Point, Atlanta.
 

Clarissa’s research interests include identifying preferred items and activities among individuals with autism and identifying the function(s) of challenging behavior among individuals with autism in the clinical, home, and school environment.

In addition to her behavioral work, she lives in Decatur with her husband and two bad dogs (after all, her clinical focus is in human, not animal, behavior!).