The Shafer Center’s multi-disciplinary team of dedicated professionals provides a whole-child approach to addressing the special needs of each child we serve, and the unique needs of each family we welcome into ours.
Helen Shafer
President & Founder
Helen Shafer is the President and Founder of The Shafer Center for Early Intervention, where she brings her passion for innovating and improving the outcomes for children with autism. She brings over 30 years of leadership and entrepreneurial experience to her work in healthcare and education.
Prior to founding The Shafer Center, Helen founded IZI Medical Products, a leading manufacturer of high-quality medical devices.
Helen is deeply involved in the community and currently serves on the boards of Pathfinders for Autism and Garrison Forest School, where she is both an alumna and a past parent. Helen provides management and business execution coaching for leaders within her organization and beyond.
Outside of her professional life, she enjoys reading, spending time with her family, playing board games, and staying active with daily workouts.
Christine Accardo
Vice President of Clinical Programs
Christine Accardo is the Vice-President of Clinical Programs for The Shafer Center for Early Intervention.
Dr. Accardo is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst-Doctoral and licensed psychologist. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She completed her pre-doctoral internship at the Kennedy Krieger Institute and Johns Hopkins Medical Center.
For over 20 years, Dr. Accardo has developed and provided clinical consultation services for in-home and in-school autism programs for children and young adults. Her other professional experience includes providing psychological, educational, and cognitive assessments to teenagers with cognitive and learning disabilities, and providing counseling and therapy services to adolescents and young adults.
In her spare time Christine likes to garden, cook Italian food, and play board games with her kids.
Megan Gosey
Director of Education
Megan Gosey is the Director of Education for The Shafer Center for Early Intervention and is a certified teacher in the areas of Special Education and General Education.
Megan earned her Master’s degree in Special Education, specializing in Leadership in Autism Spectrum Disorder from Towson University. She taught special education in Baltimore County Public Schools for seven years and then joined The Shafer Center as a special education teacher. Megan then began her role as the Director of Education, overseeing the academic programming for students in the Center.
In her spare time, Megan enjoys spending time with family and friends and being outdoors.
Lauren Brocke
Director of Enrollment and Clinical Assessment
Lauren Brocke is the Director of Enrollment and Clinical Assessment for The Shafer Center for Early Intervention. Lauren is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and received her Master’s Degree from University of Maryland, Baltimore Campus.
Lauren has worked with children on the autism spectrum for the past 20 years and has experience in developing programming, administering assessments, and providing consultation in both school- and home-based programs.
In her spare time, Lauren enjoys spending time outdoors, finding new places to explore, and spending time with her family.
Caroline Levy
Director of ABA
Caroline Levy is a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) with over 10 years of experience working with students on the autism spectrum, ranging from elementary school to young adulthood.
With a strong background in both school and community-based settings, Caroline has a deep commitment to helping individuals develop essential life skills through evidence-based, individualized approaches. Her professional interest is in teaching socially significant skills in fun, interactive ways that engage students and promote meaningful learning.
Outside of her work, Caroline enjoys cooking and spending quality time with her husband and two children.
Josh Firestone
Director of Safety and Behavior Intervention
Josh Firestone is the Director of Safety and Behavior Intervention for The Shafer Center for Early Intervention.
Josh is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) and Licensed Behavior Analyst (LBA) in the state of Maryland. He earned his Master’s degree in Applied Behavior Analysis from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) in 2016 and started working at The Shafer Center as a BCBA and Program Supervisor. Previously, he worked on the Neurobehavioral Unit (NBU) at the Kennedy Krieger Institute (KKI) for five years, working in both Inpatient Unit and Outpatient Clinic, working with a wide-range of individuals (ages 2-21+) across multiple diagnoses.
Josh began his role as Director of Safety and Behavior Intervention in 2023, overseeing behavior intervention for students and the safety procedures for students and staff in the Center.
Currently, Josh also serves as Treasurer on the Executive Committee for the Maryland Association for Behavior Analysis (MABA). He enjoys spending time with his family, exercising, and watching his favorite sports teams in his spare time.