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Inclusive Classrooms, Playful Learning, and Parent Partnership
About This Episode
In this inspiring episode, Dr. Jamie sits down with Christine Gomez, Director of Family Services at the Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center (SARRC), to explore how the SARRC Community School—a behaviorally-based, inclusive preschool—creates meaningful opportunities for connection, learning, and inclusion for young children with and without autism. Christine shares how joy, curiosity, and intentionality are infused into daily routines, and why inclusion works best when built on genuine relationships, strong collaboration, and the belief that every child can thrive.
DISCLAIMER that if you want CEUs, you must click here (button), which will direct them to the Thinkific sign-in page
🔑 Key Takeaways:
The Power of Inclusion: Christine highlights how the SARRC Community School brings together neurodivergent and neurotypical children to learn side-by-side in a supportive, engaging environment.
Joy is the Driver: The program prioritizes positive affect, curiosity, and playfulness—ensuring that learning never comes at the cost of connection.
Parent and Teacher Partnership: Ongoing collaboration with families and educators is central to supporting generalization, individualized learning, and child success.
Embedding NDBIs Naturally: Staff use Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions (NDBIs) like ESDM and Project ImPACT across routines, guided by developmental science and play-based strategies.
A School Built on Values: Inclusion isn’t just a classroom setup—it’s a mindset reflected in every interaction, routine, and relationship.
About Our Guest Speaker
Christine Gomez is joining us this month on the NDB Navigator vodcast. Christine is a licensed Board Certified Analyst, BCBA. After she obtained her Bachelor’s of Arts degree in Psychology from Ottawa University, she became interested in applied behavior analysis while participating as an intern at The Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center’s (SARRC) Community School, an inclusion-model behaviorally-based Preschool.
Christine fell in love with the field of autism and ABA and has been working in the Preschool ever since. Christine went on to receive her Master of Education in Special Education with an emphasis in Applied Behavior Analysis from Arizona State University. Christine has served as a clinical supervisor within the SARRC Community School for the past 7 years.
Episode Resources
“You can be a behavior analyst and believe in joy and curiosity at the same time.” – Christine Gomez
DISCLAIMER that if you want CEUs, you must click here (button), which will direct them to the Thinkific sign-in page