Founder/Owner
M. Kate Sallade MS BCBA, LBA – an Autistic adult, Autism mom, and Autism and ABA advocate, Kate has worked in the ABA field since 2008 and has a passion for revolutionizing the industry by promoting self-advocacy, individuality, and wellness. Kate was awarded the Charles Kimber award by the Florida Association for Behavior Analysis in 2019 for her legislative advocacy that prevented massive cuts to Medicaid services in the state of Florida. Kate runs the company with passion and humility and is the primary crisis management, CPR, and first aid trainer for all staff, ensuring that she gets to know every employee across every location. Kate works in our locations 5 days a week and provides her direct email and phone number to families for anything they might need. Growing up in Deltona and working in Volusia County for all of her life, Kate has known some of the children that we serve for many years, even since birth. With experience working with clients from 2 to 65 years old, she approaches every case with a life-long outlook and advocates for individuality, independence, and happiness.
Director of Education
Ronald Diaz Almanza, BA Psychology is a full-time teacher and advocate for persons with disabilities and neurodiversity. He currently serves as Director of Education for E.L.I and helping with anything that is needed to ensure the progression and success of the students at E.L.I. Ronald has a Bachelors’ degree in Psychology with a concentration in Business and Social Science teaching certificate. He has worked with individuals aged 2-24 since 2017, before embarking on his teaching career Ronald worked as a Registered Behavioral Technician for 3 and a half years. During his free time, Ronald enjoys working on his hobbies like photography and cooking. Ronald is extremely passionate about E.L.I’s mission and is here to support the academic growth for all of our students.
Pre-K – K Academics Classroom Teacher
Rebecca Marchand has her Bachelor’s in Early Childhood Education along with two minors, one in Autism and the other in Creative Writing. She graduated from Liberty University with magna cum laude and honors including Alpha Lambda Delta and National Society of Collegiate Scholars. She has her DCF credentials and her Florida teaching license.
Despite all her educational accomplishments, at the age of 7, Rebecca was diagnosed with Trisomy X Syndrome and knows the difficulties of learning with challenges. When told that she could never learn or function as an adult, she took on the challenge to overcome everything. From a Sensory Processing Disorder to a Auditory Processing Disorder and a reading comprehension disorder, she has learned to overcome the challenges that had once seemed to control her life. Now, she is ready and willing to teach children who struggle in learning and everyday challenges.
Rebecca has a passion to teach children of all backgrounds and learning abilities. She believes every child can thrive in their own style of learning, because every child deserves a chance at education. She has a very caring attitude and a big heart towards familes and children with special needs. She resides in Enterprise Florida on a farm with her family, two horses, ten rabbits, two dogs, two fish, and one cat.
1st-3rd Academics Classroom Teacher
Debbie came from Pennsylvania where she received her Elementary Education degree in 2009 and her masters in Early Childhood Studies in 2019. She has worked in both public and private schools teaching pre-K-6th grades. In 2019, she learned to be an RBT and saw how amazing it worked. In 2020, she moved to Florida, with her husband, because she has family here. In their free time they love to go out on the St. John’s river with their pontoon.
1:1 Pull Out/Push in Teacher
Danielle Bates has been a certified teacher in Florida for nine years now. She graduated from the University of Central Florida in 2015 with her Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education. Along with her degree she obtained an ESOL endorsement, Reading endorsement, and ESE certification. In her nine years of teaching she has been an ESE Teacher, General Ed Teacher, and blended inclusion teacher. Ms. Bates has two Persian cats and loves to travel with her husband who is from Colombia. She also really enjoys being in nature, snowboarding, and going to the beach.
