Dr. Barbara Sorter, Lead Bridges Teacher

bsorter@valverde.edu



Dr. Sorter has been teaching students with special needs for nearly twenty years. She holds several degrees and teaching certificates in working with students with moderate to severe disabilites including autism, traumatic brain injuries, and orthopedic impairments. She has published research on adult students with autism and their transition and persistence at college.  She is considered an expert in the field of transition theory.  She continues to apply research based practices to the development and growth of the Bridges to Adulthood Program.



Mrs. Danielle Anderson, Bridges Teacher

danderson@valverde.edu



Mrs. Anderson is enjoying her 10th year as a Val Verde Unified School Distirct Life Skills teacher.  This is her third year with the Bridges Program.  She currently focus on teaching functional language arts and related employment skills.  She strives to create exciting and unique learning opportunities for our adult students.

 

Mrs. Shiloh Stanley, Job Coach

sstanley@valverde.edu

 

Mrs. Stanley was been working with the District for three years.  Prior to coming to the District, she worked in the state-run side of disability services for six years.  Recently, she graduated with her Masters in Disability Studies from California Baptist University.  As the Job Coach, she locates businesses where our students can gain vocational experience and help students to learn skills they will need to increase their independence after graduation.

 

Mr. Richard Aeschliman, School Pscyhologist 

raeschliman@valvere.edu



Mr. Aeschliman has been a school psychologist working with the Val Verde USD for the last 15 years.  He has worked with students with Autism and Intellectual Disabilities in the High School and Adult Student population for the last 10 years.  He has received training in Applied Behavior Analysis with Autism Partnership and Dr. Ron Leaf.  He has collaboratively facilitated groups in Social Skills Training and Anger Management.  He has worked with the PENT Cadre to provide training on the development of Behavior Intervention Plans.



Mrs. Chelsea Youngs, CCC- SLP

cyoungs@valverde.edu



Mrs.  Chelsea Youngs is a speech and language pathologist with a Certificate of Clinical Competence (CCC-SLP). She has been with the VVUSD for three years. Her duties include providing direct and indirect therapy services to the Life Skills population in an environmental context--meaning she works closely with teachers and curriculum, and provides services in the child's educational environment. Additionally, she performs communication and assistive technology evaluations for students. She provides training for teachers and paraprofessionals. 

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Mrs. Stephanie Windham, OTR/L 

swindham@valverde.edu

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Mrs. Stephanie Windham has been an Occupational Therapist (OT) for 19 years, with 8 years in the educational setting. This is her fifth school year with VVUSD.  She works with students of all ages, with a variety of disabilities, across the district, to improve fine motor skills and increase functional independence with school activities.  She is also a member of the Assistive Technology Assessment Team,providing assessment and training to students and staff to facilitate access to curriculum, and  increase student independence, with both reading and writing tasks. 

 

Mr. Matthew Garner, Adapted Physical Education Teacher

mgarner@valverde.edu

 

Mr. Garner has been an Adapted Physical Education Specialist for eight years; four of those years with Val Verde Unified School District. He works with students of all ages, with a variety of disabilities, across the district to improve their gross motor skills. His lessons focus on locomotor skills, as well as object control skills.

 

Mr. Michael Parrish, M.S., Adaptive Physical Education Teacher

mparrish@valverde.edu

 

Mr. Parrish has been teaching APE for 4 years with Val Verde Unified School District.  He works with students from Pre-K to 12+ (Adult Program) that have a variety of disabilities.  He helps improve gross motor development, including the areas of locomotor skills, object control, balance and overall health and fitness.