About Amanda St. Romain
Amanda St. Romain, MA, BCBA, LBA
Board Certified and Licensed Behavior Analyst
Amanda St. Romain (Mandi) has worked with children with developmental disabilities for over 12 years, most of which have been spent working with children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and related disorders ages 2-14. Amanda grew up in a small town located in Louisiana, and went on to graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Louisiana State University (LSU) in 2009. Her post-bachelor's experiences working as a teaching assistant in non-profit school for children with ASD and related disorders and working in the public school system with the severe and profound population for Chicago Public Schools inspired Amanda to seek higher knowledge and education in the field of ABA. Amanda was inspired to pursue her master’s degree in ABA with an emphasis in Autism from Ball State University. She knew then that she wanted to make a positive impact in the lives of children and families. After graduating with her graduate degree in the Summer of 2014, Amanda moved to Austin, Texas from New Orleans, Louisiana to gain more exposure to the Verbal Behavior approach and to expand her ABA repertoire and experiences. After 3 years of working with a local clinic in the Austin area, she partnered with the clinical ABA provider, Children's Autism Center (CAC). Together, they started a branch of the company called Children's Autism Center (CAC-NOLA) in New Orleans, Louisiana. The partnership created a 5,000 square ft clinical space, which Amanda co-founded and directed until her departure. Children's Autism Center (NOLA) emphasized natural environment teaching and employed the Verbal Behavior approach in a fun and creative space aimed at the early learner population ages 2-10.
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What Makes Amanda Different?
Amanda wants to share her passion not only about ABA, but about the importance of quality of life for her clients. Amanda focuses on setting realistic goals and expectations that maximize happiness and well-being for her clients and their families. She specializes in training others on the principles of ABA with an emphasis on knowledge and competency-based training that is highly individualized and specific to each child and their unique abilities. She aims to build confidence in those that she trains so that they have the appropriate knowledge and skills necessary to help maximize the potential and positive outcomes for the individual and family as a whole.
Amanda also has experience starting up clinics, overhauling clinic systems and programs, converting ABA clinics to the Verbal Behavior approach and improving client outcomes. Amanda also focuses on training teams of therapists with protocols guided by ABA principles that focus on both knowledge and competency as well as generalization of staff skills across clients and settings.
Our Philosophy
Amanda opened her own consulting practice, EVERY PIECE MATTERS, in 2015 to offer training to clinics and families, and to help bridge the gap outside of insurance-driven ABA services. Her goal was to expand the scope of ABA services to the communities that she serves in Texas and Lousiana. Her approach is anchored in treating the whole family by implementing an integrative model with a heavy emphasis on parent, caregiver, and teacher training which research has associated with more positive outcomes for individuals with ASD or behavior problems. Every Piece Matters strives to utilize applied behavior analytic (ABA) principles to not only decrease maladaptive behaviors and increase functional and age-appropriate skills in pediatric learners, but it also focuses on using evidence-based strategies for training parents, caregivers, and teachers. Every Piece Matters focuses on gaining a deeper knowledge of the child's unique needs and challenges and also their abilities and their strengths. Through collaboration with the family, school, and other important individuals in the learner's life Every Piece Matters' key focus is on getting everyone on the same page, so that a more consistent and evidence-based approach to teaching skills and treating maladaptive behavior is occurring across individuals and settings.
Consistency in responding to challenging behaviors is key to positive outcomes and overall behavior reduction. All strategies utilized in a child's programming are evidence-based for proven effectiveness and improved outcomes. All decisions and goals are based on data and objective, observable, and measurable behaviors. All programs are individualized to each client and adapted often to ensure effectiveness and positive outcomes.