Jonathan is a Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Professor at the University of Manchester and an Honorary Child Psychiatrist at the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital (RMCH). A clinician with over 30 years of experience working with children and adolescents with autism and their families, both in the context of community outpatients and in complex inpatient environments.
Catherine is a consultant therapist specialist in autism communication treatments and director of IMPACT. She developed pioneering autism intervention based on her PhD, over 35 years of clinical experience and research into the communication needs of children with autism based at the University of Manchester.
Kellie is the project manager for IMPACT. Before working for IMPACT, Kellie held various project management and digital roles, including at two major UK universities. Kellie also ran her own online retail business for several years. Kellie has successfully implemented a new CRM system for IMPACT and streamlined many of the core processes.
Carmen Aparicio is a Psychologist specialising in Autism and Social Communication Disorders. She holds two Masters, one in Clinical Psychology and one in Psychomotor Therapy. She qualified as a PACT therapist in 2018 and has been an IMPACT Associate since 2019. Since 2021, Julia Robles has been in charge of delivering PACT training for Spanish-speaking countries. Since the beginning of her career, her focus has been on early intervention for children with special needs. When her first daughter was diagnosed as autistic in 2001, early intervention for autistic children and children with social communication problems became the focus of her studies and work.
Amanda is autistic and the founder of Spectrum Connection CIC, an early intervention service for autistic children and their families. She is trained in respectful, child-led methods of support, particularly the DIR/Floortime model, and is a certified PACT therapist. She has gained grant funding to support low-income families in Greater Manchester to access PACT intervention. Amanda previously ran The Rainbow Project, an Ofsted-rated ‘Outstanding’ service, providing early intervention for autistic children. Amanda has a Masters in Autism in Children from the University of Birmingham (Merit: 2019). She has written for various publications and organisations, including The National Autistic Society, and has presented at conferences on early support for autistic children. She is passionate about child- and family-centred, autism-positive, relationship-based support and widening access to this kind of early intervention.
Helen is a Specialist Speech and Language Therapist who has worked in Warwickshire for the past 35 years. She has worked within special schools and diagnostic services for the majority of this time. Helen has a Masters in Autism in Children from the University of Birmingham (Distinction: 2007). She provides second opinions and advice for statutory SEN assessments and frequent involvement in the Tribunal process. She introduced PACT in Warwickshire in 2018 and has recently become a PACT associate. She is striving to roll out PACT within Warwickshire and to include PACT within South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust core services.
Carrie Alvarado, PhD, OTR, is the Chief Operating Officer and clinical lead for Autism Community Network, a non-profit diagnostic and peri-diagnostic support centre for families in San Antonio, Texas, in the United States. She is the creator and director of the Earliest Connections Clinic, a diagnostic program geared toward identification and intervention for high-risk infants and toddlers and their families. She leads DIRFloortime and PACT (Pediatric Autism Communication Therapy) therapy/teletherapy programs- intensive interventions supporting families impacted by autism through dyadic coaching. Carrie proudly serves as an Associate for PACT UK, the lead of the Clinical Advisory Committee for STAR Institute in Denver, CO and Assistant Faculty for Profectum Foundation.
Jessica is a Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist with experience working in the NHS and private practice. She qualified in 2008 and has worked in many settings, including special schools and community clinics. Jessica currently works in a neurodevelopmental diagnostic team in Central London, diagnosing various paediatric conditions, including Developmental Language Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorder, and ADHD. In 2016 Jessica worked full-time on the PACT-G research project at the London site. She continued to promote and provide PACT intervention to families referred through the diagnostic service and in her private practice.
A PACT therapist and trainer, at the end of her degree, Julia's time in the Guidance Department of Colegio Tres Olivos provided her with a more global and holistic vision of development and education. Between 2011 and 2013, she worked in the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Unit of the Gregorio Marañón Hospital, which allowed her to deepen her knowledge of mental disorders in childhood and adolescence. In 2010 Julia began her work at the Association of Parents of People with Autism (APNA), where she had the opportunity to work with people with autism of all ages and profiles in different types of services. Between 2013 and 2018, she was the Counselor of the Leo Kanner Special Education School for people with Autism in Madrid, her fundamental interest being to translate the needs of students and families into individualized, effective and significant interventions to promote their quality of life, present and future. Now Julia's project is developed in Vitoria, with HoDARI.
Wilson Mora is a Psychologist specializing in autism. He completed a postgraduate program in Family and Childhood and is working on his thesis project as part of his Master's in Child and Youth Studies. Wilson started with the PACT training in 2020 and became a PACT therapist in 2021 as one of the first therapists certified in Latin America. He has been an IMPACT associate since 2023. Wilson has experience in clinical and educational settings and has lectured in several programs related to the autism field.