The Center for Developing Minds

   Damon Korb - Director
   Janel Astor - Child Development Specialist
> Heather Erba - Child Development Specialist
   Sarah Foster - Speech Language Pathologist
   Dajana Gajdos - Child & Adolescent Therapist
   Eileen Graham - Office Coordinator
   Lisa Kalmanash - Educational Specialist
   Amy Korb - Business Manager
   Catherine Nafissi - Child and Adolescent Therapist
   Kim Noll - Educational Psychologist, School Psychologist
   Leina Ramos - Child Therapist
   Neal Rojas - Behavioral and Developmental Pediatrician
   Christina Romanski - Office Receptionist
   Lara Zawacki - Educational Psychologist, School Psychologist

Heather Erba, Ph.D., M.Ed.,
Child Development Specialist

Heather Erba is resposible for the development of two new programs at the Center for Developing Minds. First, she has partnered with CDM specialist, Janel Astor, to create and manage an early childhood playgroup and family support class for preschoolers with social cognition challenges -- Social Climbers Junior. Next, Heather will be helping to develop a new Peer Support and Tutoring Program, which will offer service learning opportunities to teens with and without special needs in our community.

Previously, Heather worked as a Family Education Specialist at the Kaiser Permanente Autism Spectrum Disorders Clinic of Northern California Kaiser. Heather worked closely with the clinical director to develop a regional family education program for children with ASD and trained clinicians to support the needs of this population. She also worked as a Research Scientist at the Center for Interdisciplinary Brain Sciences Research (formerly the Behavioral Neurogentic Research Center) at Stanford University. She coordinated a national study exploring early childhood brain and behavioral development in children with autism, Fragile X Syndrome, and developmental delay. Her research interests include early childhood brain and behavioral development, and alternative and traditional treatment options. in young children with ASD. Heather began her career as a classroom teacher for adolescents with ASD at Achieve (formerly PCC) a nonpublic school in Palo Alto, consulted with local school districts as a behavioral and inclusion specialist, and directed home-based ABA programs for toddlers and preschoolers with ASD.

Heather received her BA from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and teaching credentials at San Jose State University. She received her Masters of Early Childhood Special Education and a Ph.D. in Early Childhood Special Education from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, with an emphasis in young children with ASD. While in North Carolina she worked and trained closely with Division TEACCH (Treatment and Education of Autistic and Communication related handicapped Children).