Dr. Schaefer founded Collaborative Autism Resources and Education (CARE, LLC) in 2002 in Nevada. Dr. Schaefer has been a Board Certified Behavior Analyst- Doctoral (BCBA-D) level since 2003. She has supervised numerous professionals who have fulfilled the requirements of the BACB and have become BCBAs. Dr. Schaefer received a doctoral degree in Special Education from the University of Nevada at Las Vegas (UNLV) in 1999; a master’s degree in Special Education from California State University at Dominguez Hills in Carson, CA in 1991 and completed the administrative program at the university in 1993. She became a Strategic Intervention Model (SIMs) Implementer in 1996 through the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas and completed coursework in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) from the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas in 2001 and at the State University of Rutgers in New Brunswick, New Jersey in 1999. She also completed a summer internship at the Douglass Developmental Disabilities Center while taking coursework at Rutgers in 1999. Additionally, she holds two undergraduate degrees from the University of Saskatchewan in Canada including a Bachelors of Arts degree in sociology and a Bachelor of Education degree.
Dr. Schaefer has worked as a teacher in large suburban districts across the USA and coordinated the preschool program for 2600 students with disabilities while employed with Los Angeles Unified School District. She has previously worked as a preschool teacher as well as a special education teacher on several elementary campuses and in an inclusive preschool environment on a university campus. She was the teacher trainer of one of the four model demonstration sites in Nevada that was designed to utilize principles of ABA with young children from 1999-2001. Dr. Schaefer has also worked in other district level positions including: autism program specialist on a Low Incidence Team, federal programs coordinator, special education coordinator and as an assistant principal in a public school.
Dr. Schaefer has worked with public school districts to develop programming for high school students with ASDs and related disorders that focus on transition planning for independent living, employment and other post-school options that focuses on improving their overall quality of life be creating meaningful relationships and an increased level of independence. She has provided trainings to groups on various models of person-center planning such as the McGill Action Planning System (MAPS) and the Planning Alternatives Tomorrow with Hope (PATH) by Pierpoint, O’Brien, & Forest. She has facilitated person-centered planning activities with individuals with disabilities as well as with organizations seeking a strategic plan with clearly identified goals.
Under the leadership of Dr. Schaefer, CARE has successfully implemented multi-year initiatives with school districts and state agencies. Additionally, she has worked as a consultant on a multi-year federal grant designed to provide professional development in Autism. Dr. Schaefer and her team of highly qualified professionals continue to provide consultative services to public school districts and state agencies throughout the United States.
