Team – Autism Navigator

About Autism Navigator LLC

Autism Navigator® was created by faculty and staff at the Florida State University (FSU) and is deployed by Autism Navigator LLC. Grounded in research, our distinguished interdisciplinary team of Autism Specialists brings decades of experience supporting families through the diagnostic and intervention process, using evidence-based, proven practices, and offers guidance you can trust. Learn about our research and publications that contributed to the evidence base of our screening and diagnostic tools and intervention model. Autism Navigator, and our companion, Baby Navigator™, offer a unique digital platform that integrates evidence-based and family-centered practice with virtual diagnostic, intervention, and professional development training services.

Our Clinical Diagnostic, Intervention, and Professional Development Team

Amy M. Wetherby, PhD, CCC-SLP
Distinguished Research Professor, FSU College of Medicine,
Owner & Founder, Autism Navigator, LLC

Amy M. Wetherby, PhD, CCC-SLP, is a Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Clinical Sciences in the College of Medicine at Florida State University (FSU). Dr. Wetherby is a Fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association with over 45 years of clinical experience and recognized for her distinguished contributions with Honors of the Association Award. She was the Executive Director of the FSU Center for Autism and Related Disabilities (CARD) from 1994 – 2025 and served on the National Academy of Sciences Committee for Educational Interventions for Children with Autism and the DSM-5 Neurodevelopmental Workgroup of the American Psychiatric Association, which revised the diagnostic criteria for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and other developmental disorders for the 5th edition of the DSM. She is Project Director of the FIRST WORDS Project, a longitudinal research investigation on early detection of communication delay and ASD, funded by the US DOED, NIH, and CDC. Dr. Wetherby was Principal Investigator (PI) of two randomized controlled trials (RCTs), an efficacy study of the Early Social Interaction (ESI) model to teach parents of toddlers with ASD how to embed intervention strategies into everyday activities funded by NIMH, and another efficacy study training teachers to support communication of students with ASD in the classroom funded by US DOED. She was PI at FSU for a collaborative research site in the HRSA-funded Autism Intervention Research Network on Behavior Health.

Dr. Wetherby brings unique research and clinical expertise infusing technology to improve early detection, parent-mediated early intervention, and classroom strategies and supports. She has extensive experience developing and implementing screening tools for ASD and communication delays in large population-based samples of children 9-24 months of age, which has culminated in the development of Baby Navigator™. She also has experience directing multisite RCTs. She was lead investigator of an RCT that is part of the Emory University Autism Center of Excellence to test the efficacy of teaching parents of infants with early signs of ASD how to embed evidence-based intervention strategies into everyday activities. She was co-developer of Autism Navigator®, an innovative collection of online tools and courses designed to bridge the gap between science and community practice using a highly interactive web platform with extensive video footage to illustrate effective evidence-based practice. She was PI on an Autism Center of Excellence Network—the ACE ACTION Network, that blended clinical effectiveness and implementation research designs to study individual and combined effects of 2 evidence-based interventions in real world settings. She was PI on a collaborative research project to implement an effectiveness RCT of Mobile Coaching with the ESI model for parents of toddlers with ASD identified at 18 months. The overarching goal of the collective efforts of Dr. Wetherby’s research is to build the capacity of healthcare and education systems to improve early detection and provide access to cost-efficient evidence-based early intervention and classroom education that is feasible for far-reaching community implementation.

Charly Nottke, MS
Assistant Director of Early Detection and Prevention,
Lead Diagnostician

Charly Nottke, MS, has her Master’s Degree in Special Education. She is the Assistant Director of Early Detection and Prevention. Ms. Nottke has clinical and research training administering the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) and the Systematic Observation Rating of Features of Autism (SORF). She has extensive experience evaluating and diagnosing very young children with autism and developmental delay. With nearly 30 years of experience working with young children with autism, developmental disabilities, and behavioral challenges, she brings extensive expertise in early diagnostic evaluation, family-centered practice, and training of future professionals.

Renee Daly Holland, MS, CCC-SLP
Assistant Director, Early Intervention Services, Autism Navigator Master Coach & Global Trainer

Renee Daly Holland, MS, CCC-SLP, is the Assistant Director of Early Intervention Services at Autism Navigator. She has a Master’s degree in Communication Science and Disorders and is a Speech-Language Pathologist with a certificate of clinical competence with ASHA. She serves as an Autism Navigator Master Coach and Global Trainer. Renee has over 27 years of experience as a Speech-Language Pathologist in home, school and clinic settings, and has been involved in autism intervention research at FSU for the past 15 years.

Joy Moore, MS, CCC-SLP
Autism Navigator Master Coach & Global Trainer

Joy Moore, MS, CCC-SLP, has a Master’s degree in Communication Science and Disorders and is a Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) with a certificate of clinical competence with ASHA. She serves as a Master Coach and Global Trainer for the Early Social Interaction Project at the Florida State University College of Medicine. She has over 36 years of clinical experience as an SLP and has been involved with autism research at Florida State University for the past 15 years.

Patricia Armstrong, MSW
Autism Navigator Master Coach & Global Trainer

Patricia Armstrong , MSW, has her Master’s degree in Social Work. She serves as a Master Coach and Global Trainer for Autism Navigator at the FSU College of Medicine. She has 17 years of experience in Autism research training parents and professionals in the Early Social Interaction (ESI) intervention model. She has over 25 years of clinical experience in early intervention and Social Work focused on home and community-based services.

Laura Rosenthal
Lead Family Navigator and Coordinator, Baby Navigator Program

Laura Rosenthal has decades of experience guiding families of children with concerns about autism and communication delays through the screening and diagnostic process.

Catherine B. Zenko, MS, CCC-SLP
Director, FSU Center for Autism and Related Disabilities

Catherine B. Zenko has worked with individuals on the autism spectrum for over 26 years. In 2016, she became the Director of the FSU Center for Autism and Related Disabilities (CARD) after working for 16 years at the University of Florida CARD. Mrs. Zenko has served hundreds of persons with autism, their families, and caregivers and has conducted hundreds of trainings on local, regional, and national levels on a wide range of topics related to autism spectrum disorder (ASD). She is co-author of three books on understanding and providing intervention for children with autism.

Lerena Fleck, MS
Autism Consultant,
FSU Center for Autism and Related Disabilities

Lerena Fleck, MS, has her Master’s degree in Special Education. She is an autism consultant for the FSU Center of Autism and Related Disabilities (CARD) at the Florida State University College of Medicine with over 10 years of experience working with children with autism. She is also involved in autism intervention research. Prior to joining FSU CARD, she taught with the public school system as an early childhood special educator for over 20 years.

Atma Maris, M.A.
Diagnostician

Atma Maris, M.A. is a Clinical Diagnostician at Autism Navigator. She has worked with children and families for more than four decades as a teacher, therapist, and behavioral specialist, with the past twenty years dedicated to specializing in autism. Atma also taught in the Psychology Department at the University of Hawai‘i for twenty years. Her work centers on guiding families with practical insight and warmth, drawing on her expertise in early diagnosis and her commitment to clear, supportive communication.

Stephanie Moore, M.A., CCC/SLP
Diagnostician

Stephanie Moore, M.A., CCC/SLP, is a diagnostician with nearly 20 years of experience as a speech-language pathologist. Her professional career has focused on collaborating with families and intervention teams to provide whole child centered services to children on the autism spectrum. Stephanie is a staunch advocate for early intervention and is passionate about working with children and their families to develop a trust-based relationship to promote a child’s social, emotional, behavioral, and academic success.