Meet our Board Members

Maribel Alvarez

Maribel Alvarez is the President and founding member of Autism Learns. She has earned 3 degrees in Education from Barry University with the belief that all children can learn and function in society when given the right opportunity, tools and the consistency they need to excel. Maribel is certified in Reading, Elementary Education and Exceptional Education. She is also trained in Applied Behavior Therapy, Sensory Intervention, Picture Exchange System and Handwriting development and began teaching children with autism in August of 1997. In the little bit of spare time that she has, she tries to maintain a healthy lifestyle, reading self-help books and gathering information that helps her students better learn in the classroom. One of her favorite quotes:

"A good life is when you assume nothing, do more, need less, smile often, dream big, laugh a lot and realize how blessed you are." -Kushand wisdom

Alberto Alvarez

Alberto Alvarez is the Vice President of Autism Learns. He is originally from Lima, Peru where he completed his studies. In pursuit of a life filled with possibilities for himself and his family, he migrated to the United States. He believes that hard work, dedication and quality in what he does, would help him succeed and in time, he opened up his own successful business where high quality work is an integral part of the whole process. In his spare time, Alberto likes to help children with Autism by fixing, building and providing tools and technologies that improve their education. He also likes to help the community in where ever he is needed. His hobbies are soccer, Crossfit and bike riding. He believes that life is full of opportunities and that we should pursue those dreams.

Michele Miranda

Michele is the Treasurer of Autism Learns. She is a dedicated mother of four of which one is diagnosed to be in the autistic spectrum.

"Having a child with autism, I understand the challenges families face each day. My son is low functioning. He needs constant attention. Life with autism is hard on a family financially. You want to give your child all the best therapies and have him in a great school. The early intervention is so important for a child with autism. Each child is different and learns differently. To see the progress in my child from early intervention is truly rewarding. I wouldn't change a thing. I wanted to become a part of Autism Learns to help families that have a child/ children with autism. It all starts with early intervention. We hope we can make a difference in the autism community."

Diana Ruiz

Diana is the Secretary of Autism Learns. She is currently pursuing her bachelor's degree at Miami Dade College and has been a Miami resident for most of her life She's always had a passion for working with kids. Not once did she ever believe this is what she wanted to do but she has come to discover that it ia a missing puzzle piece to her life, n. Some of her best qualities are her passion for helping individuals with learning difficulties and contributing to others' happiness. One of her favorite quotes is

"Some days you'll have it all together you swear you have it all figured out, other days you're stumbling and wondering what is this all about. Life's kind of funny like that sometimes you're a dog sometimes you're a cat all you can do is just keep going and thank god for what you have."