Kathleen Sammer

Kathleen Sammer is a board certified behavior analyst, BCBA, licensed behavior specialist, LBS, and Senior Clinical Director of Behavior Supports and Assessments at Access Services. In that capacity, she supports BCBA’s and behavior consultants in training across counties as far north as Schuylkill and as far south and east as Bucks and Montgomery. She is a former teacher and parent to special needs children. For close to three decades, she has worked to individualize what her students, clients, and families needed in a way that supports healing and growth within treatment. She has practiced within in-patient settings, schools, homes, and non-profits. She has taught in schools in North and West Philadelphia that were deemed “behavior schools.” Through these experiences, Kat recognized that there was interaction between autism, mental health, trauma, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.  This drove her to build a team of BCBA’s that could work within the spaces where all 4 parts of her client’s narratives met. In her role as Senior Clinical Director of Behavior Supports and Assessments, across multiple counties in Pennsylvania, she has championed supporting her team members’ work towards their application of ABA becoming trauma-informed while simultaneously recognizing how DEI must be at the forefront of their daily clinical work. Kathleen has had the honor of presenting at the Association for Teacher Educators around DEI. She has been a part of RCPA’s advocacy towards equitable access to ABA services as well as Netsmart’s Leadership Summit. She has coordinated with the Office of Children and Youth to provide support around autism to the court system.  More importantly, Kathleen goes by Mom to her special needs children, who have taught her more about living with multiple disabilities than any other experiences ever could. They are her inspiration and a source of endless learning opportunities to do better each day.