Judy Reaven, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist and has worked in the field of autism and intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) as a clinician, researcher, and educator since 1985. She is Associate Director and Director of Research at JFK Partners, the University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities in Colorado. Clinical and research interests include identifying and treating mental health symptoms in autism, with a particular interest in the implementation of evidence- based interventions in school settings for individuals with autism and anxiety. Along with her colleagues, she developed the clinic- based Facing Your Fears program (Facing Your Fears: Group Therapy for Managing Anxiety in Children With High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders; Reaven et al., 2011), a cognitive- behavioral therapy (CBT) group intervention. She has been Principal Investigator on foundation (Organization for Autism Research [OAR], Cure Autism Now, Autism Speaks) and federal (National Institutes of Mental Health [NIMH], Health Research Services Administration [HRSA]) and Patient-Centered Outcome Research Institute [PCORI] grants. She has co- authored numerous peer- reviewed publications and book chapters, many related to the co- occurrence of anxiety in autism.
Audrey Blakeley-Smith, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist whose clinical and research interests are mental health conditions in individuals with autism and/or intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). She is also the training director of an APA- accredited psychology internship at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. She is a co- author of the Facing Your Fears program (Facing Your Fears: Group Therapy for Managing Anxiety in Children With High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders; Reaven et al., 2011). She is currently Principal Investigator on a randomized clinical trial examining the efficacy of the adapted Facing Your Fears program for autistic adolescents with IDD and anxiety. This study is funded by the U.S. Department of Defense; previous pilot work in this area was funded by the Organization for Autism Research. She and Dr. Reaven have published a number of papers on the Facing Your Fears program in addition to sharing findings and conducting trainings on Facing Your Fears in university, school, and community settings.
Shana Nichols, Ph.D., Founder and Director, ASPIRE Center for Learning and Development, 63 Old East Neck Road, Melville, New York 11747
Dr. Nichols is a licensed clinical psychologist and researcher and has worked in the field of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and child development since the mid-1990s. She has received research and service grant support for work in sexuality, puberty, healthy lifestyles, and ASDs, and is the author of several peer-reviewed research articles and invited papers.
Dr. Nichols currently specializes in adolescence and growing up, dual diagnosis and mental health, assessment and evaluation, and the experiences of females with ASDs. She is lead author of the book Girls Growing Up on the Autism Spectrum: What Parents Should Know About the Pre-teen and Teenage Years (Jessica Kingsley, 2008), with Gina Marie Moravcik and Samara Pulver Tetenbaum. Dr. Nichols has worked as a clinician, researcher, administrator, graduate training supervisor, advisory board member, trainer, and consultant in a wide variety of settings including outpatient clinics, residential programs, schools, and the community.
