Administrative Staff

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  Clinical Director of ABA Services 

Suzanne Schwartz is the Clinical Director at Special Explorers Center. She earned her Master’s of Science in Special Education from CSU Fullerton and her Bachelor’s from UC Berkeley. She holds a teaching credential, a school psychologists’ credential and has been a Board Certified Behavior Analyst since 2011. She is currently working on her dissertation for her Educational Doctorate in Educational Psychology from La Sierra University. 

She has an extensive background working in the field of general education, special education administration, ABA, non-public schools, public schools and residential facilities. Suzanne’s experiences have included severe challenging behaviors, early intervention, social skills, functional communication training, parent training, verbal behavior training, staff training and functional analyses. Suzanne has also taught as an adjunct professor in the graduate school of education and psychology at La Sierra University in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis. 

With her consumers, Suzanne hopes to bring meaningful behavior change that are functional and important to increase quality of life by collaborating with parents and other professionals. She is passionate about social justice and the rights of individuals with disabilities.

Operations Director of ABA Services 

Veronica Felix is the Operations Director of ABA Services, a Clinical Supervisor, and Board Certified Behavior Analyst at Special Explorers Center. She is a graduate of Arizona State University with a Master’s in Applied Behavior Analysis with a focus in Special Education. She has over 12 years of experience working with individuals with Autism and related disabilities of various needs. Moreover, Veronica is bilingual in Spanish. 

Her experience in Applied Behavior Analysis ranges from working with consumers and families in the home, clinic, community, and school settings. She has had the pleasure with working with individuals ranging from 2 years of age to adulthood. Where she has been able to teach skills in various areas that include but are not limited to communication skills, social skills, play skills, cognitive skills, self-help skills, executive functioning skills, and cognitive skills.

Veronica brings her passion for teaching skills, targeting behavior reduction goals, along with working in collaboration with parents/caregivers, and families to reach and meet individualized goals to increase independence. 

 Clinical Supervisor 

Jamie Hostetter has been a Board Certified Behavior Analyst since 2014. Since then she’s worked as a program manager then senior program manager at an ABA clinic in Indiana. Jamie began her journey with Special Explorers Center in 2020 as a Clinical Supervisor. She’s had over two decades of experience working with children with a variety of diagnoses (i.e., ADHD, ODD, ASD, and Down Syndrome) in various settings including clinics, schools, and in home/community as support staff, behavior technician, and as a BCBA. Prior to working with SEC, Jamie served children with ASD, provided supervision to behavior technicians, Registered Behavior Technicians, BCBA candidates, and other BCBAs as the Senior Program Manager.

Jamie’s career with children with special needs started following graduation from the University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown (B.S. in psychology) in 2001. She graduated with a master’s degree in School Counseling in 2011 from Liberty University and earned a certificate in behavior analysis in 2014 from Ball State University. 

Jamie has extensive experience with augmented communication, including PECS, various speech generating devices and apps, as well as sign language and training in Verbal Behavior. She’s also participated in trainings in Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS), PEERS (social skills curriculum), VB-MAPP, and Pivotal Response Training. 

Clinical Supervisor

Yesenia Felix is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and clinical supervisor at Special Explorers Center. She earned her master’s degree in Applied Behavior Analysis from Arizona State University. She has over 12 years of experience working with individuals with autism and related disabilities. 

She has worked with individuals ranging from 2 years to adulthood in the home, community, school, and clinical settings. Yesenia’s goal for her consumers is to assist them in reaching their highest developmental ability by reaching measurable goals and benchmarks. She is bilingual in Spanish and is dedicated to ensuring that all families have access to ABA therapy and improving socially significant behavior and independence in her consumer’s daily lives.

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 

Jimel Mutrie has been working in the field of ABA since June 2019. She began working at a center but has also provided services in-home and via Telehealth. Jimel worked as a midlevel supervisor for almost 2 years before joining SEC and was a behavior technician before that. She received her Bachelor's degree in Psychology from UC Merced and my Master’s Degree in Special Education with an emphasis in ABA from Arizona State University. She recently became a BCBA in October 2022. 

Jimel has loved working in the field of ABA and has learned so much from each family she has had the opportunity to work with. “I am excited to work with SEC

 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.