Katja earned her degree from the “Fachakademie für Sozialpädagogik” in Bamberg in 2004. As a certified Kindergarten teacher, she gained several experiences working with children with and without special needs. Katja’s introduction to the world of autism intervention began in August of 2004 when she spent time in the U.S. as an au pair for a family with a young girl with the autism diagnosis. To better support the family, Katja began working herself through much of the available ABA literature and American VB training manuals. She immediately became a valuable therapist for the family working under the supervision of Michelle Hurst from Autism Outreach Inc. In addition to this training, Katja attended a three day Verbal Behavior workshop presented by Dr. Vincent Carbone in New York during October of 2005. After returning to Germany in 2006 Katja began working at an integrative kindergarten for a year while also working on the weekends as a tutor for a child supported by Knospe-ABA. In August of 2007, Katja paid her own way to Savannah, Georgia to participate in the “Teaching Verbal Behavior – Hands on Training for Tutors and Therapists” workshop presented by Jenn Godwin, BCBA and Tamara Kasper, BCBA. Katja’s dedicated work as a therapist and obvious desire to learn all she could about autism and ABA/VB quickly caught the attention of the staff at Knospe-ABA who invited Katja to begin consultant training in September of 2007. Katja completed the intensive training under the supervision of Robert Schramm and began working as a Knospe-ABA consultant in the spring of 2008. Additionally, in November of 2008, Katja participated in a one-day Motor Speech Workshop by Elizabeth Kuegeler, MA, CCC-SLP, PROMPT Certified Instructor. In October of 2009, Katja attended the advanced workshop #3 “Guiding the Development and Implemantation of an Intensive Behavioral Program for Teaching Language and Basic Learner Skills” at the Carbone Clinic in New York. In November 2014 Katja participated in the workshop “Using Applied Behavior Analysis and Verbal Behavior Strategies to Improve Autism Programming for both Toddlers and Teens with Autism”, presented by Mary Barbera, PhD, RN, BCBA-D in Cologne. In 2017 Katja attended Laura Ferguson’s workshop “Teaching Communication and Social Skills to Children with Autism and Developmental Disabilities”. In 2018 Katja participated in the European Association for Behavior Analysis Conference in Würzburg. Her bachelor degree in social work got Katja at the Hochschule in Munich. Since spring of 2008 Katja is supporting the education of children in southern Germany. From 2013 till 2015 Katja completed the BACB approved coursework on ABA from the IFKV (www.ifkv.de) in Bad Dürkheim in cooperation with the University of North Texas (UNT). Katja passed her BCaBA (Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analyst) exam in December of 2015.