Staff

Andy Bondy, Ph.D.
Lori A. Frost, M.S., CCC/SLP
Donna Banzhof, M.Ed., BCBA
Kris O. Battaglini, Ed.D., NCSP
Anthony Castrogiovanni, Ph.D.
Michela Figini-Myers, BCABA
Anne K. Overcash, M.Ed.
Catherine Horton, M.S., CCC/SLP
Jo-Anne B. Matteo, M.S., CCC/SLP
Marsha Miller, M.A., BCBA
Jill Waegenaere, M.A., CCC/SLP
Jaime Wedel, M.Ed., CAGS

Andy Bondy, Ph.D.

Andy Bondy is president and co-founder of Pyramid Educational Consultants, Inc. Dr. Bondy is an innovative leader in the field of autism and applied behavior analysis. He directed a statewide public school system for students with autism for fourteen years. He is co-author of the PECS Training Manual. He also wrote the Pyramid Approach to Education, a training manual that offers an integrated orientation to developing effective educational environments blending applied behavior analysis with functional activities and create communication strategies. Dr. Bondy received his MA and Ph.D. from the UNC Greensboro, and completed his clinical internship in 1976 at the University of Kansas Medical Center. Dr. Bondy has presented numerous papers, lectures and workshops in regional, national and international conferences and conventions on behavior analysis, PECS and the Pyramid Approach to Education. He has remained active in research and writing, and continues to develop new and innovative methods of helping children with autism and related developmental disorders.

Lori A. Frost, M.S., CCC/SLP

Lori Frost is vice-president and co-founder of Pyramid Educational Consultants, Inc. She is co-author of the PECS Training Manual. She has been the driving force behind creating this unique system that allows children with limited communication abilities to initiate communication with teachers, parents, and peers. Ms. Frost has a wealth of background in functional communication training and applied behavior analysis. She has assisted in the development of a number of training packages designed to teach language and academic skills. Ms. Frost received her BA in speech pathology and audiology from the University of Arkansas, and MS in speech and language pathology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1982. She has worked in many public and private school settings as a speech pathologist. As a Pyramid consultant, Ms. Frost has traveled across the country and the world, teaching workshops on PECS and the Pyramid Approach to Education. She has presented a number of papers and lectures on autism and communication, co-authored several articles and chapters, and is respected by professionals in her field as a leader in functional communication systems.

Donna Banzhof, M.Ed., BCBA

Donna Banzhof holds a master’s degree in Educational Psychology from Temple University and a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Elementary Education from Widener University. She completed her special education certification at Eastern College and is a certified elementary and special education teacher in the state of Pennsylvania. Donna has been working in the special needs field since 1990 in various capacities: teacher assistance, teacher, program specialist, program director, residential supervisor and an educational/behavioral consultant. Donna’s background and experience fosters creativity in consulting professionals, paraprofessionals and parents to improve the quality of life for individuals and their families. She continues to provide consultation, workshops, and training to various school districts and residential homes in the United States and in the United Kingdom. She also coordinates and assists teams in developing functional programs utilizing a comprehensive analytical approach, the Pyramid Approach to Education and she is supervisor for the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS).

Kris O. Battaglini, Ed.D., NCSP

Dr. Battaglini has nearly thirty years of experience working with children with autism and their families. His dissertation, completed at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, addressed parent participation in educational programming for children with autism in Delaware’s statewide program. He has presented numerous papers on related topics to national conferences (e.g. APA, NASP) and has co-authored several chapters describing the application of the Pyramid methodology and PECS , the latter including longitudinal outcomes. He has also taught graduate level courses for the University of Delaware, and for Wilmington College.

A significant portion of Dr. Battaglini’s career prior to coming on board with Pyramid was as the senior school psychologist and subsequently the program director of the Sussex Consortium in Lewes, Delaware. In both capacities he provided parent training programs and also remained active in direct services to children with a variety of disabilities. In 1984 he developed a school wide behavior program for the Consortium which integrates behavioral and academic student performance and currently remains as a key element in educational programming for students with a variety of disabilities. During Kris's tenure as the program director at SC, the school achieved national recognition in providing services to children with autism, and continues to be periodically utilized as a demonstration site for the application of the Pyramid Approach and PECS in a public school setting.

Anthony Castrogiovanni, Ph.D.

Tony Castrogiovanni began his career in 1977 providing psychological and behavior analytic services to children and adults who were being discharged from The Willowbrook State Developmental Center in New York back into their local communities. It was there that he developed one of the first token economy based service agencies in New York as well as developing a teaching curriculum of ‘Boehm" concepts.(a list of critical prepositional phrases and simple directions for work and school behavior developed by Anne Boehm). In the over 20 years since then he has specialized in the treatment of severe problem behavior, PDD and Autism Spectrum disorder as it impacts behavior and education, and has developed both site-based and in-home programs for children and adults with autism. He has taught at the State University of New York at Stony Brook where he also received his Masters and Doctorate in Psychology and has published in peer reviewed journals such as the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior and Research in Developmental Disabilities. An experienced presenter, Dr. Castrogiovanni has spoken at numerous conferences both to train teachers and other staff as well as to present findings from on-going research to professional audiences.

For the past several years he has conceived, developed, and directed two programs that served children and adults in an innovative manner that produced better outcomes than previous programming had achieved. While with Chimes Delaware he was the Clinical and Residential Director serving over 80 adolescents and adults. He most recently comes to Pyramid from the position of Director for the Bancroft Center for Autism Research and Educational Services in Haddonfield, New Jersey where he oversaw the development of in-home programs for over 30 children, the development of Pyramid style classrooms in many school districts on the east coast of the USA, as well as developing a consultative arm that provides direction for changes in organizations to meet best practices. During this time, he was a member of the Monitoring and Review Board for the Delaware Autistic Program. Dr. Castrogiovanni has been providing private consultation to families, schools, agencies and businesses since 1989. His entrepreneurial spirit and business background bring a unique perspective and understanding to program development that allows the development of outstanding clinical and educational procedures that make sense for the individual client as well as the larger environment in which the program takes place.

Michela Figini-Myers, BCABA

Originally from Italy, Michela moved to California in 1995 and started working with children with special needs in 1997, first as an instructional assistant and then (1998) as a Special Education teacher. For three and a half years, she taught a specialized program for children with autism (K-2) within the Sonoma County Office of Education, incorporating Skinner’s Verbal Behavior, Applied Behavior Analysis methodologies and principles, the Pyramid Approach to Education and PECS. She has successfully used PECS and the Pyramid Approach to Education with many children. In June of 2004, she acquired certification as a BCABA (Board Certified AssociateBehavior Analyst), under the mentorship of Dr. Mary Ann Powers. As a foreigner (immersed in a culture surprisingly different from her own) and a polyglot (having learned several languages in her life), she feels she has a deeper understanding of the communication needs of children with autism, who also have to constantly “figure out” the world around them and learn to understand and communicate with it.

Anne K. Overcash, M.Ed.

Anne K. Overcash, M.Ed. has an Undergraduate degree in Psychology and a Masters in Education. She began working with children with autism in 1991 and started her working relationship with Andrew S. Bondy, Ph.D. and Lori Frost, M.S., CCC/SLP in the summer of 1992 at the Delaware Autistic Program. Anne has an extensive expertise in PECS and the Pyramid Approach to Education and is a Senior PECS Consultant and international presenter. She has been involved in the Supervised PECS Summer Camp, the PECS Implementer Certification process, and the mentoring of international Pyramid Consultants. While at the Delaware Autistic Program she was a parent training coordinator for preschool students. This experience provided here with a better understanding of the family dynamic when it involves a child with autism. She worked closely with a group of Psychologists on development of and implementation of a parent-training curriculum. In addition she collaborated on the development of several research projects. As a consultant for Pyramid, she has developed specific talks for schools and in-home programs on data collection, lesson planning, reinforcement strategies across the day and behavior. Anne has contributed to several of the Pyramid Educational Consultants, Inc. workshops and services and plays an enormous role in the revisions process. More recently she has worked on the development of a program that will allow people to gain Hands-On PECS Experiences (Project HOPE) under the direct supervision of a Pyramid consultant. Her diverse experiences combined with on-going service delivery to people with autism and related disabilities enable Anne to present dynamic workshops from a realistic perspective.

Catherine Horton, M.S., CCC/SLP

Catherine Horton is a speech language pathologist certified by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Maine (Orono) with a B.A. in Communication Sciences and Disorders. She went on to earn a M.S. in Communication Sciences and Disorders from the University of New Hampshire (Durham). While at UNH, Catherine participated in a grant (Project TEAM), which focused on specialized training in working with individuals with autism using a transdisciplinary team model. Prior to her employment with Pyramid Educational Consultants, Catherine worked as a speech language pathologist for The Spurwink School and worked with children with a variety of developmental, emotional and behavioral disabilities. Catherine has earned both her Implementer and Supervisory PECS Certifications. She has experience implementing PECS and the Pyramid Approach to Education in a variety of settings including residential, day treatment and hospital settings.

Jo-Anne B. Matteo, M.S., CCC/SLP

Jo-Anne B. Matteo began her career as a public school speech-language pathologist in Connecticut in 1980. She received her B.A. in Communication Disorders from Southern Connecticut State College in 1979, M.S. in Speech-Language Pathology from Adelphi University in 1980, and an advanced degree in Administration and Supervision from Southern Connecticut State University in 1983. As a special education administrator since 1994, she has been involved in staff and program development. She is the founder of a public school program for preschool and elementary children who present with significant special needs in the areas of communication, cognitive, social, behavioral and motor disabilities. These students have been using PECS to improve functional communication skills while they take part in a classroom that has been implementing the Pyramid Approach to Education. Jo-Anne has worked in this program as the speech-language pathologist and the program coordinator. Jo-Anne has presented extensively at various conferences and workshops to parents and professionals in the areas of speech-language development, functional communication and program design. She is also an active member of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.

Marsha Miller, M.A., BCBA

Marsha Miller began volunteering in high school with children who have autism and has been professionally working with children and adults since 2000. She went on to receive her Bachelor's Degree in Psychology and Neuroscience from King's College, and during that time worked at Camp Royall, a summer camp for children and adults with autism, and as a Therapeutic Support Staff to teach skills at home and in the community. As she earned her Master's Degree in Applied Behavior Analysis from Penn State University, she worked in Central Pennsylvania's first Approved Private School for children with autism and interned at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Feeding Program. Marsha became a Board Certified Behavior Analyst in 2006. She began to work in a public school district and helped to establish their K-12 autism program, training and assisting teachers to meet the needs of children in different classroom settings. During this time, she also consulted to families in their homes to help develop functional skills for their children. Working for the state behavioral health system, being employed by both private and public schools, and having a family member diagnosed with autism has given Marsha a wide perspective on meeting the needs of children, and made her a firm believer in the team approach to education.

Jill Waegenaere, M.A., CCC/SLP

Jill Waegenaere, is a licensed Speech and Language Pathologist certified by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. She graduated from Michigan State University with a B.A. in Communication Science Disorders, and continued her studies there to earn her M.A. in Speech and Language Pathology. While at MSU, Jill worked with both adults and children in a variety of settings and participated in Study Abroad Programs in both England and Mexico. Prior to her employment with Pyramid Educational Consultants, Jill worked as a speech language pathologist for an Early Childhood Program, providing services to children with Autism and other special needs. She has also worked in Early Intervention for the State of Illinois, where she gained experience working with children with communication, cognitive, social, behavioral and motor disabilities. Jill has experience implementing PECS and the Pyramid Approach to Education across environments including home, school, and the community.

Jaime Wedel, M.Ed., CAGS

Jaime Wedel has a Master's degree in general education from Fitchburg State University in Massachusetts and a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies in School Psychology from Plymouth State University in New Hampshire. She earned a Certificate in Autism Spectrum Disorders from Antioch New England Graduate School. Most recently, Jaime completed the Behavioral Intervention in Autism program at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. She is currently working on completing her fieldwork and supervision to become a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) in Applied Behavior Analysis.

Jaime started her career as a special education teacher, where she served students with a variety of needs in inclusion, resource, and separate settings. She worked as a school psychologist in New Hampshire and North Carolina. In North Carolina, part of her job as a school psychologist involved co-chairing an Autism Team that provided assessment, trainings and consultations in a district of thirty-five schools. Jaime's experience also includes working at a neuropsychological clinic in New Hampshire, where she evaluated students and provided consultation to families, schools, and other professionals. She loves working with all students, but especially those with autism and more significant needs.

Caricatures were done by George and Matt at Caricatureking.com