Our Team

Autism From The Start® is proud of their credible staff of highly educated individuals who have dedicated their lives and professional studies to Autism. Please take a moment and get to know the team and their respective Children’s House.

Executive Team

DR. MICHELLE MACRORIE, FOUNDER/CEO, PEDIATRIC PSYCHOLOGISTMichelle Macrorie approaches the world with the mind of a dreamer and the heart of a mother. Her happy place is spending time with her two teenage kids and husband…anywhere…anytime. She also… — DR. MICHELLE MACRORIE, FOUNDER, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, PEDIATRIC PSYCHOLOGIST
Michelle Macrorie approaches the world with the mind of a dreamer and the heart of a mother. Her happy place is spending time with her two kids and husband…anywhere…anytime. She also loves her butterfly garden, long walks, and chocolate.
In 1999, Michelle earned her doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology with a concentration in Pediatric Psychology and Neuropsychology. She went on to spend years conducting developmental evaluations for young children which blossomed into a deep passion for, and specialization in, Autism. Given the marked needs that exist for these families, Michelle set out on a mission to do more….thus was born Autism From The Start®. Michelle took off the hat of psychologist in 2018 and donned the hat of CEO in order to give her full self to growing a strong, professional, compassionate, and thriving company. The results have been remarkable and the best part is that the wonderful journey continues to improve each and every year.

AMY SANNER, CHIEF CLINICAL OFFICER, BEHAVIOR ANALYST

Amy Sanner is our “Lead Nerd”, the curator of our craft, and our resident ethics police. She loves research, all things chocolate, her three kids, and her super duper hubby (not necessarily in that order). Since 1996, Amy has enjoyed a varied history of working in the field of ABA that spans a wide range of ages, worldly locations (e.g., Taiwan), and settings.

Amy graduated from the University of Kansas in 2001 with her masters degree in Human Development (the then ABA Department) and has been a BCBA since 2002. Amy joined Autism From the Start® in 2015 and jumped into the role of our Clinical Director in 2018. Since then, she has developed and expanded our Clinical Programs and our Professional Development Programs, thus earning her the coveted role of our Chief Clinical Officer in October, 2021. Amy carries our clinical world on her shoulders and with her strength, wisdom, and experience to lean on, she moves us forward in the right direction each and every day. She is undoubtably the right person in the right seat. We are so fortunate to have her at the clinical helm.

Chief operations officer Rachel Ferbezar — RACHEL FERBEZAR, CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER, BEHAVIOR ANALYST
Rachel Ferbezar is a beautiful balance of an intellectual, Type-A personality and a sweet, kind, and gracious soul. She and her highschool sweetheart husband are the proud parents of two children—one human and one canine. Rachel is a dependable worker, a great listener, and a sounding board for all.
A Shawnee-native, she and her husband relocated to Michigan for a time so Rachel could earn a Master’s Degree in ABA from Western Michigan University in 2016. While in graduate school, she specialized in Early Intervention and Organizational Behavior Management and takes a special interest in our youngest children with new diagnoses. She worked as our senior BCBA for years before being promoted into the role of Clinical Director in 2021. Rachel was elevated again to the executive position of Chief Operations Officer in October, 2022 where she can fully shine—utilizing all of her knack for processes and people along with the vision and discipline to help the company grow. She is a rare fine and a gold mine for us!

Directors

Behavior Analyst Annie Martin — ANNIE MARTIN - SHAWNEE CLINICAL DIRECTOR, BEHAVIOR ANALYST
Annie always thought she would grow up to be a doctor, so helping and caring for people has been a natural part of who she is. Luckily, Annie ditched the doctor goal and became a Behavior Analyst. Annie unleashes her creativity through cooking, baking, and painting. Sunlight, trees, and the sound of nature are her happy place; cheesecake is her life; and her two cats have her heart….well that was the story until 2023 when she was married and in 2024 became a mom. Her true happy places shifted. :)
Annie graduated from University of North Texas in 2018 with a Master’s Degree in Behavior Analysis. While in Texas, she focused her studies on Autism Spectrum Disorder, Early Intervention, and aberrant behaviors. After graduating, she made her way back home to Kansas and started her journey as a BCBA. Annie joined Autism From The Start® in early 2020, survived her career launch during a pandemic, and was promoted to Lead BCBA until earning her position as Clinical Director of our Shawnee Children’s House in September, 2023. Go girl, go!

Lenexa Director of operations Lauren Davis — LAUREN DAVIS - LENEXA DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS, BEHAVIOR ANALYST
Lauren is our hardworking ‘Steady Eddie’. She is motivated, dependable, consistent, level-headed, and responsible. In 2020, she married a man who loves her to the ends of the earth. Lauren loves him right back along with their beautiful baby girl born in 2024, their two dogs, KU basketball, and the Kansas City Chiefs.
Graduating from the University of Kansas with a degree in ABA and a minor in Psychology, Lauren has been an integral part of our Autism From The Start® family since April 2017. Two years later, she earned her Master’s Degree in ABA and became one of our rockstar Behavior Analysts (BCBA) in February 2021. In September, 2022 due to an overwhelmingly positive reviews and pleas from the administrative team, Lauren was promoted to Lead BCBA of our Lenexa Children’s House. After a year of crushing this position, she naturally elevated herself to Director of Operations in Lenexa. This location is in such good hands.

SAMANTHA INGRAM - SHAWNEE DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS, BEHAVIOR ANALYST

Samantha is a dedicated, friendly, easygoing fountain of happiness at Autism From The Start. You can often find her caught up in a good book, creating art, or hiking a new trail. She has a natural ability to connect with, and gain adoration from, any child. She is an avid learner, a consummate professional, and a darn tootin’ nice person.

Samantha graduated in 2011 from the University of Kansas with a degree in Applied Behavioral Science with a focus in early childhood intervention. After working with children in a center-based resource and later while cruising around the world on voyages for children with special needs, she joined our family in early 2019. She completed her Master’s Degree in 2021 and rolled right into passing her board exam in just a few months. Samantha worked as one of our home-grown BCBAs and you could tell that she had the AFTS DNA in her through and through. Specifically, her interpersonal charm and humbleness, intuition, and clinical acumen led her to the position of Director of Operations at our Shawnee location. We couldn’t be more grateful for her.

JESSICA BENNETT - LENEXA CLINICAL DIRECTOR, BEHAVIOR ANALYST

Jessica is a person of great empathy, strength, and love for others. She has a giving nature and selfless spirit that is appreciated by all around her, including her husband of 5 years and her furry family. Jessica is a prolific reader—often times reading multiple books within one week. She enjoys venturing around KC in search of new places to explore and is especially eager for overseas travel.

With a BA in English and Psychology from UMKC and an MA in Professional Behavior Analysis from Florida institute of technology, Jessica was a perfect fit for our team. She has accumulated 12 years of experience in the ABA field, having worked in multiple clinics, schools, and in-home settings before eventually landing at the doorstep of AFTS. Jessica jumped right into leading social groups and helping our children learn functional communication. Our kids clearly enjoyed her creativity in every session, and our staff enjoyed her warm and caring way she collaborates, teaches, and leads. With that, Jessica was promoted to the role of Clinical Director in mid-2024….we can’t wait for her to spread her clinical wings and shine even brighter!

Behavior Analysts

MORGAN CAULFIELD
Morgan is a caring, down to earth, and authentic soul. She wholeheartedly loves her large family, her pets, her fiance, and kids. She has nannied, babysat, and worked with children most of her life. From these experiences, she has developed a superpower of being able to read children’s cues, and use humor and play to get the most out of them. Morgan also has wicked organizational and cleaning skills….just a part of her DNA and we love it!
Morgan graduated from the University of Kansas with an undergraduate degree in speech and language and a minor in applied behavioral sciences. She started working with children with autism in the public school system as a para-educator until AFTS scooped her up and hired her as a Registered Behavior Technician (RBT). While she was a fabulous RBT, Morgan had bigger and better things in mind…she wanted to have more impact and become a BCBA…so she did. Morgan obtained her master’s degree from Arizona State in 2021 and passed her board exam in October, 2022. She is our newest BCBA and perhaps the kindest one we have. She is a true asset to our company and to the children and parents with whom she works.

JEREMY SCHOUTEN

Admin Team

KAREN HOUGH, BILLING MANAGER

Karen is much more than just our talented billing manager—she is a funny, fast paced worker, with deep loyalty and passion. Karen has expertise and talent in working with animals, aesthetics and makeup artistry, and photography. In her free time, Karen enjoys working out, traveling, raising her daughter, and caring for her pets.

Karen graduated from the University of Missouri in 1993 and joined the AFTS team in 2018. She now spearheads our Billing Department and keeps this complicated part of the business in check.

BRYNN EKINS

Brynn is our red-headed spark with a warm and friendly personality, team-focused vibe, and purpose-driven nature. She has made it known that she is in the field to make a difference in kids' lives and plans to do so for a very long time. On the personal front, Brynn is a dog-mom, loves to travel, enjoys reading, and finds spending time with her family to be a rejuvenating endeavor. Her hidden talents include her skills as a great conversationalist and a talented violin player.

Brynn graduated from Brigham Young University in 2017 with a Bachelor’s degree and in 2021, she earned her Master’s degree from Florida Institute of Technology. Prior to joining the AFTS Family, she worked at the New England Center for Children, the Lovaas Institute for Early Intervention Midwest, and an in-home ABA provider. We were blessed when Brynn joined Autism From The Start in 2023 and she’s been a rockstar with our kids, techs, and parents ever since. While her BCBA Superpower is connecting with kids and wooing them into playing with her, Brynn also has great interest in, and experience with, decreasing food selectivity (aka…getting kids to try new foods!).

She is outgoing, committed, and deeply caring…we couldn’t be more excited to have her!!

PAULA ROARK

SARAH GREGAR, OPERATIONS SPECIALIST

Sarah has a wicked sense of humor, an easygoing nature, and a laid-back vibe. She and her husband love to travel and she is a superfan of all things sports. Sarah is the leader of our March Madness Pool, and advocate for Red Fridays (go Chiefs!), and a diehard loyalist to our local sports teams. Her superpower is connecting with people and remembering all of their details.

Sarah graduated from Avila University in 2010 with a degree in Middle School Education. She has worked with children of all ages since 2002 and focused exclusively on children with autism since 2011. She has been part of our Autism From the Start family since June 2017 and quickly stood out as a leader in our clinical staff. In the fall of 2023, Sarah was promoted to Operations Specialist and is the organizational ‘wizard behind the curtain’ of much of the business. Sarah is a support beam in our structure—we count on her to keep us strong, centered, and totally cool.

Speech Therapist

JESS FERRELL, LENEXA OFFICE MANAGER

Jess is a friend to all. She has a warm, generous, and massively kind soul that is endearing and infectious. She loves our kids and team with her whole heart and serves as a steadfast protector, a cheerleader, a counselor, and an anchor for the Lenexa Children’s House inhabitants. She is humble, grateful, hard-working, and diligent.

Jess earned a bachelor’s degree in Communications, Film, and Digital Media from Avila University and spent time as a film editor for a local news channel. Jess worked for a large corporation for a number of years before AFTS came a callin’ and scooped her up. She has been our Office Manager since 2021 and served at both our Shawnee and Lenexa locations. She keeps us on-track, well-supplied, entertained, and well-supported. We just love our Jess!!

LACY HILL, SHAWNEE OFFICE MANAGER

Lacy is a spunky and enthusiastic soul who brings light and cheer into our Shawnee Children’s House. She is a child at heart and a mom of two young girls, so she easily connects with all the kids in our care. Beyond her daughters, she’s also a mom to all sorts of animals and an anchor for her cool husband. Lacy loves to craft and bake with her girls and watch movies with her hubby.

Lacy was born and raised in Texas and is a graduate of Texas A&M, where she studied early childhood education with an emphasis in Autism. She first graced the AFTS team in 2018 as an RBT and rose to the position of our first-ever Office Manager. After a break due to that pesky little virus, COVID-19, and to have her two children, Lacy returned to the helm and was hired to manage the day-to-day in our Shawnee Children’s House once again. She keeps our parking lot safe, the supplies stocked, and the people well-fed and loved. What a gem she is!

Clinical Trainers

KALEIGH
Kaleigh is a dedicated mom of two, an independent thinker, a lover of all things in nature, and a loyal rule follower. We count on her to keep our place safe, to ensure we are adequately caring for the environment, and to share with us a host of random facts.
Kaleigh is a 2012 graduate of the ABA program at the University of Kansas and worked in the field of autism ever since. Kaleigh has been a consistent and dependable figure at Autism From The Start since the opening of the first Children’s House in 2016. She was been a trusted veteran RBT for years and then earned a long-standing role as one of our Program Coordinators. In the fall of 2022, Kaleigh was promoted to Clinical Trainer and all we can say is HALLELUJAH for that! Kaleigh shows up every day with a positive spirit and ‘can-do’ attitude. She is a problem-solver, a motivator, a protector, and steady source of support, humor, and camaraderie. We love her so!

SKYLAR

Skylar is a bubbly, compassionate, and reliable member of our AFTS family who helps to make a difference every day. She has a knack for seeing the good and making the kids of AFTS laugh. In 2021, she married her husband—and best friend— after dating long distance throughout college. She is a great gamer, played collegiate soccer, and loves to read.

Skylar graduated from Colorado State University in 2021, where she focused on counseling with a specialization in PTSD. In fact, she was heading down that road to become a trauma counselor….until that beautiful day when she interviewed with us. It was an immediate match made in heaven and Skyler turned her life’s plan on its head and dove into ABA. Her overall mission in life is to have a positive impact on children and she found the path to do so through ABA. Skylar soared from being a Registered Behavior Technician to serving her peers in her current role as a Clinical Trainer. She has a natural gift in working with kids and is an incredibly kind soul and works amazingly with our entire team. What a dream she is!