Administrative Staff

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Clinical Supervisor 

Mariel Shaw is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst a Master of Science in the Applied Behavior Analysis field, receiving her credential in 2014. Having attended Rollins College and Simmons University on the East Coast, her professional passions are functional communication training, caregiver training, and social skills training. She has implemented ABA therapy for individuals between the ages of two years old through adulthood within the school, center, and in-home settings.

At Special Explorers Center, Mariel completes intake assessments including the VB-MAPP, Assessment of Functional Life Skills, and functional analyses. She creates programming for individuals with autism spectrum disorder to teach skills in areas of communication, behavior management, daily living skills, and academic skills for ages 3-14 years. Mariel trains behavior therapists to carry out programming and supervises staff in ABA therapy in the home setting. She consults with parents in order to reduce problem behavior and increase communication, social skills, and daily living skills. Data collection and data analysis are an integral part of her indirect work with clients.

In her free time, she enjoys beach volleyball, arts & crafts, and taking her rescue pup Lily to the beach. She is excited to be a new member of the Special Explorers family!

Clinical Supervisor

Charles Gageby is a BCBA and Clinical Supervisor at Special Explorers Center. 

He earned his Master of Science in Applied Behavior Analysis from California State University, Northridge. 

He has been working with neurodiverse individuals for 17+ years and in the field of behavior analysis for 8 years. 

Charles hopes to continue to support families and staff to meet their professional and personal goals.

Clinical Supervisor

Amara Torres is a BCBA and Clinical Supervisor at Special Explorers Center.

She earned her Master of Science in Applied Behavior Analysis from California State University, Los Angeles.

She has been working in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis for 8 years, providing services to individuals ranging from 2 years old to adulthood in home, school, and community settings. Her experiences include data analysis, building client rapport, parent education, assessments such as the VB-Mapp, AFLS, and vineland, and focusing on overall behavior change. 

Amara hopes to continuously work to improve her consumers socially significant behavior. 

 Case Manager

Arielle San Antonio is a Case Manager and Behavior Instructor at Special Explorers Center. She earned her Bachelor’s of Science in Public Health from UC Irvine. She is currently working on her Master’s of Science in Psychology with a specialization in Applied Behavior Analysis from Capella University.

She has a professional background working in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis since 2019. Arielle’s experiences have included working directly with individuals diagnosed with ASD and related disorders as a Behavioral Therapist and Case Manager. 

She finds the field of ABA thoroughly rewarding as her purpose is to assist her consumers reach their goals, which creates a ripple effect in positively impacting families. Her goal is to obtain a license as a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst to continue her passion in advocating for individuals diagnosed with disabilities.

Case Manager

Austin Toerner is Case Manager at Special Explorers Center. He earned his Bachelor of arts in Psychology degree from CSU Northridge.

He has been working at Special Explorers Center for the past three years. Austin’s experiences have included handling severe challenging behaviors, discrete trial teaching (DTT), natural environment training (NET), social skills, functional communication training (FCT), parent trainings, and errorless learning among many other ABA strategies. 

Austin hopes to provide growth to the consumers he works with as well as doing his best to set them up for continued success even after they graduate the program. “I enjoy my job and fill like the work we do here changes our consumers lives for the better.”

Case Manager

Eduardo Castro is one of the Case Managers and Trainers at Special Explorers. He has earned a bachelor’s degree in Child, Adolescent, and Family Studies (C.A.F.S) from Cal State-Bakersfield. He also holds a General Business Certificate from Bakersfield College and is fluent in both English and Spanish. He is currently working towards enrolling into a Master’s Program to further his education and development as a Case Manager. 

Eduardo has 4 years of experience applying the methods of ABA to children with Autism or other developmental disabilities. Furthermore, he contains experience collaborating with supervisors and BCBA’s to properly implement ABA strategies to improve functional communication, cognitive skills, fine motor skills, daily living skills, and other areas where deficits are present.

He hopes to provide a positive impact on consumers, families, and Special Explorers. Eduardo aims to continually improve the skills of his consumers to be able to increase the quality of life for themselves and families. 

Case Manager

Josh Hernandez is a Case Manager at Special Explorers Center. He earned his Master’s of Science in Special Education with an emphasis in ABA from Arizona State University and his Bachelor’s from Cal State University Bakersfield. He is also currently our Safety Care trainer. He is currently working on earning his BCBA certificate, and he has a background working in the field of ABA. 

Josh’s experiences have included working through severe challenging behaviors, early intervention, social skills, behavior skills training, parent training, and staff training. With his consumers, Josh hopes to help build functional and important skills to increase quality of life. He is passionate about making sure that his staff, consumers, and their families feel supported.

Case Manager

Mileena Rodriguez is a Case Manager at Special Explorers Center. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from California State University, Channel Islands. She currently plans to continue her education and work towards receiving her Master’s of Science in Clinical Psychology. 

She has a background and experience working in the field of ABA as a Behavior Technician prior to becoming a Case Manager in the school, community, and residential settings. Mileena’s experiences have included challenging behaviors, early intervention, social skills, functional communication training and daily living skills. 

With her consumers, Mileena hopes to bring meaningful and beneficial behavior change that is functional and important to increase the quality of life for her consumers by collaborating and communicating with parents and other professionals. She is passionate about helping others and making productive, as well as beneficial, change to individual’s daily lives with positive interactions.

Case Manager

  Lydia Provencio is a Case Manager for Special Explorers Center. She has been with the company for 5 years. She was initially hired as a Behavior Technician and was promoted to Case Manager. Lydia earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from the University of Phoenix. 

She has an extensive background working in the field of Special Education and Deaf Education. Her experiences have allowed her to be a Non-Certified ASL Sign Language interpreter for Elementary and Jr High School DHOH Students. Along with one year field work as an Itinerant Deaf and Hard of Hearing Teacher and working in the Infant Development Program with DHOH infants and toddlers. 

Lydia also has many years’ experiences working with a variety of students with disabilities. She has worked alongside Educators to support difficult behaviors, early intervention, social skills, and functional communication. Currently she enjoys collaborating with Special Explorers staff, consumers, and parents to provide quality service and enrich the individual lives of each child and family. Her passion is to bridge the gap of communication and support a positive outcome to have each individual child to feel heard and understood.