About Connecting the Pieces

Connecting Kids to
Endless Possibilities

Our Mission is “To provide the highest quality services, utilizing the latest in research to help our clients achieve their fullest potential.”

Connecting the Pieces (CTP) delivers interventions that improve the lives of children with special needs and works collaboratively with families, schools, and other professionals in the child’s life to promote a collaborative and successful outcome.

CTP is one of Pennsylvania’s most respected behavior providers! CTP works with top professionals and has built an impressive record for quality and support so each child can meet their goals and live a more fulfilling life!

building a tower with wooden blocks

Meet Our Executive Team

Lisa Kowalski, M.A, BCBA

Founder and CEO

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Lisa Kowalski, M.A, BCBA

Founder and CEO

Lisa Kowalski, M.A., BCBA, began her career helping those with special needs while obtaining her bachelor's degree in Psychology at The Pennsylvania State University. As a behavior therapist, Lisa provided direct therapy and social skills training to children with autism which guided her to obtain a master's degree in Applied Behavior Analysis. While pursuing her master's degree, she continued her work as a therapist and continued to gain more knowledge and expertise that laid the groundwork for her future career.

Lisa became a Board Certified Behavior Analyst in 2005 and started Connecting the Pieces (CTP) in 2009. Currently, Lisa serves as the Founder & CEO of CTP. She is actively involved in all aspects of the company, particularly in the clinical department, to ensure the company provides high-quality services and assessments. CTP also provides CEU events regularly to expand our clinical knowledge within the field.

Amy P Ronen, M.ED

Director of Education Services

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Amy P Ronen, M.ED

Director of Education Services

Amy has been a member of the CTP team since July of 2019. She has been in the field of education for over thirty-five years, starting her career as a special education teacher. Amy’s career expanded to Principal, Supervisor of Special Education, and Director of Special Education before coming to CTP. As the Director of Education Services at CTP, Amy focuses on meeting the needs of our current and future customers and also oversees the recruiting department. She has two grown children and enjoys gardening, spending time with family/friends, and traveling.

Dr. Eileen Council, LBS

Director of Student Services

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Dr. Eileen Council, LBS

Director of Student Services

Eileen Joined the CTP team in July of 2019 as the Director of Student Services. In this role, she oversees a department focused on student and provider support, service delivery, and school relationships. Eileen entered the field of education over 30 years ago, teaching learners throughout their lifespan, with a particular focus on K-12 special needs students and college-level teacher preparation and professional development at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. In addition, Eileen has decades of experience in program management/development, assessment, teacher training, and curriculum design. Eileen earned her Doctorate from Temple University in 2009 and her LBS in 2021. As a spouse and the mother of two grown sons, the eldest of which is on the Autism spectrum, Eileen remains committed to advocating for the rights of children and adults with special needs. She also serves on the Philadelphia Regional Board of Directors of the University of Maryland

Support Services

Connecting the Pieces provides high-quality assessments and services to support behavioral needs, skill deficits, educational deficits, and social/emotional challenges. Our team of qualified professionals has extensive experience supporting a variety of disabilities and programs, including Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), Verbal Behavior Therapy (VB), Life Skills, and Emotional Support.

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)

ABA is an evidence-based intervention that can help clients learn healthier behaviors and improve their quality of life. The goal of ABA is to work with clients to build skills that allow them to communicate their needs in healthier ways and reduce harmful or dangerous behaviors. Principles of the analysis of behavior are applied systematically to improve socially significant behavior.

Verbal Behavior (VB) Therapy

Verbal Behavior (VB) therapy teaches communication and language. It is based on the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis. This approach encourages clients to learn language by connecting words with their purposes. Verbal Behavior therapy does not focus on words as labels only (cat, car, etc.). Rather, it teaches why we use words and how they are useful in making requests and communicating ideas.

Life Skills Support

Supporting functional programs for students with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities, specific learning problems, and emotional/behavior·disabilities can be enhanced when teachers work collaboratively with behavior supports to provide a collaborative approach to support. By combining special education teachers with behavior support, clients can reduce challenging behaviors, and improve socially significant skills while accessing their functional academics in a meaningful way. Our joint support provides small group or one-on-one instruction, planned joint lessons, and support for learners, school teams, and families while collecting data to ensure progress. Curriculums, functional skill assessments, as well as supportive resources, help ensure the program's success.

Emotional Support (ES) Program

The key to a successful Emotional Support (ES) Program combines academic, behavioral, and emotional support in an integrated model to help ensure clients can overcome their barriers, access their education, and improve outcome statistics. Evidence shows that the combined support of educators, behavior consultation, and emotional support services utilizing assessments, academic supports, behavior management, collaboration and communication, transitional supports, social skills, and executive functioning instruction and resources can help ES clients succeed and attain a quality of life now and in the future.

Gifted Support

Gifted children typically experience asynchronous development as their mental age exceeds their physical age. Many gifted children have social-emotional struggles and may engage in behaviors that result from being misunderstood, boredom, and challenges with social relationships. These children often need support and instruction to learn social-emotional skills, set realistic and attainable goals, accept failure, build resilience, and social skills instruction to develop well-rounded abilities that will support them now and in the future. In addition, gifted children may also be “twice-exceptional,” meaning they may also have a secondary disability that may also require additional support to ensure a collaborative team approach that meets the individual needs of that child.

Health Insurance Partners

We have partnered with various insurance companies to better serve our families. In addition to the commercial insurance partners below, we also participate in state Medicaid programs. Please discuss any questions about your coverage when you reach out to get started. For further inquiries, visit our Contact Page.