Our Team
We believe in PERFECTING our skills.
AP implements a multi-tier supervision system to ensure our children receive only the best quality teaching available. Our professional team of Behavioral Consultants maintain their current knowledge and high-level expertise through Autism Partnership’s commitment to ongoing training in Los Angeles. Training is conducted regularly in the US and in Kuwait.
Vu Calvin Tran
Site Director, Kuwait
Alzeena Pinto (M. Ed.)
Treatment Coordinator
Arevig Keoshgeryan (M. A., MFT)
Parent Consultant & Trainer
Ashraf Abdel-Hafez
Administrative Director
Site & Clinical Director, Kuwait
Vu Tran started working with children and adolescents with developmental disabilities including Autism Spectrum Disorder in 2008. He provided intervention in a variety of settings including high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools helping students integrate into classroom settings. Vu joined Autism Partnership in 2013 in the United States providing direct services to children with ASD. Two years later, Vu was promoted as a consulting therapist for a child in Kuwait.
In 2015, Vu became a co-founding member of Autism Partnership in Kuwait. As Site Director, Vu is responsible for providing training and support for staff, developing curriculum, and overseeing intervention in the clinic and schools. Vu collaborates with Autism Partnership's International Consultant Team, which consists of Dr. Ronald Leaf, Toby Mountjoy, Jeremy Leaf, Dr. Christine Milne, and Zahira Ali. Vu received a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences in Psychology from San Diego State University in 2013 and a Master’s degree in Autism and Applied Behavior Analysis from Endicott University in 2021. He is currently pursuing his BCBA certification.
Treatment Coordinator
Alzeena graduated with her bachelor's degree in Occupational Therapy at Manipal University in 2012. In 2021, she earned her Master’s degree in Autism and Applied Behavior Analysis from Endicott College. Alzeena has experience working with children and adults with a variety of disabilities including various mental health, neurological disorders, and autism spectrum disorders.
Alzeena co-founded Autism Partnership in Kuwait in 2015. During her time there, she has provided direct intervention, supervision of client cases, staff training, and parent education in multiple settings including the home, clinics, and school. In addition, she developed social skills groups and an academic classroom for individuals with autism. She is committed to building awareness of autism and increasing meaningful opportunities to improve the quality of life for those in her community. Alzeena frequently collaborates with Autism Partnership’s International Consultant Team: Dr. Ronald Leaf, Toby Mountjoy, Jeremy leaf, Dr. Christine Milne, Dr. Joseph Cihon, and Zahira Ali.
Parent Consultant & Trainer
Arev Keoshgeryan received her bachelor’s in Psychology from Yerevan State University, Armenia in 2013. While receiving her undergraduate, Arev gained extensive experience in different approaches of psychology including analytical psychotherapy and cognitive behavioral therapy. In 2012, Arev interned at Armenian National School, where she practiced psychological analysis and treatment for students (ages 5-8) with psychological problems including ADHD and ASD. In 2013, she started her career in Applied Behavioral Analysis working with children ranging in ages from 2 through 12. She has provided intervention in a variety of settings including clinics, school and home.
In 2015, she joined Autism Partnership where she continued working with children with ASD. As a Parent Trainer, Arev provides individual parent support, which is aimed to help parents understand the principles of ABA, prepare them for the time outside of treatment to help manage everyday situations to ensure that the child is receiving consistent intervention. Arev collaborates with Autism Partnerships International Consultant Team, Dr. Leaf, Toby Mountjoy, Jeremy Leaf, Dr. Christine Milne, Zahira Ali and Marlene Driscoll.
In 2021, Arev received a Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy from Northcentral University with child and adolescents specialization. Currently, Arev is providing psychotherapy to individuals and families impacted by ASD.
Operations & Administration Director
Ashraf holds a B.A. in English Literature from Mansoura University, Egypt. He has over 15 years of experience in the corporate sector with multinational organizations, included roles with functional responsibilities in the area of administration, operation, customer service, public relation and marketing. This vast experience provided him a great ability to implement supervisory and leadership, in addition to other managerial skills to handle Autism Partnership responsibilities. Ashraf collaborates and reports to both Co-Founders and Board Members, Dr. Ronald Leaf & Eng. Ghosson Al Khaled.
Ashraf joined Autism Partnership - Kuwait office in March 2017 to lead the operation and administration responsibilities, and collaborate with executive-level management in the development of performance goals and long-term operational plans. Managing the overall daily operations of Autism Partnership, including office management, human resources, finance, marketing, contracts, clients relationships and lead long term organizational planning.
Our Therapists
Our frontline staff /Therapists plays a key role in the success of our agency. They work with our families and children in one-on-one, group and school settings, and carry out program goals as identified by our Supervisors and Consultants.
All our Therapists have at least a bachelor degree; some of them have master degree from local or overseas universities. They have gone through a minimum of 400 hours of training in the first year and receive intensive and ongoing training for about 200 hours every year thereafter by local and overseas experts in the field. Our Therapists are highly skilled and experienced, and receive extensive support and training to perform their duties with passion, expertise and confidence.
Training comes in many forms, including:
- Pre-service Intensive Training and Orientation
All new hires are required to complete 240 hours of pre-service orientation and training on implementing Applied Behavior Analysis with students with ASD. Training and orientation are in the form of lectures, case studies, role-play, case observations, and practical hands-on sessions closely monitored by our Consultants. - Monthly Training
All Therapists are required to attend monthly training sessions to further their knowledge and enhance skills. On-the-job trainings are both didactic and practical, consisting of lectures, case studies, videos, evaluations, and role-play. Our Director Dr. Ron Leaf, also visit Kuwait quarterly to provide direct training to staff. - Weekly Supervision
Our Therapists receive over 400 hours of induction training and 1:1 supervision by our Supervisors and Consultants in their first year on the job. Thereafter, staffs continue to receive over 200 hours of supervision per year with weekly supervisions, regular clinics and team meetings specific to the child they are working with. Weekly supervisions allow us to monitor and evaluate the quality of our services, and track progress of our students. - Performance Evaluation
Our Therapists are formally evaluated through supervision and review meetings with our Director of Training on an ongoing basis. Evaluations are based on Therapists’ practical skills, programming skills, work attitude, communication skills, organization skills as well as professionalism and leadership skills.