Michelle Schueller, M.Ed, M.S.
Founder
Michelle has been a leader in the field of Autism for over 20 years, mentored by the late Dr. Ivar Lovaas and some of the most knowledgeable and most respected professionals in the field of ABA in her career as a behaviorist.
After completing her Masters in Applied Behavior Analysis, she, along with Karen Bakker, went on to develop and establish Above and Beyond Learning Group in 2002 (ABLG). Michelle has been named as one of the top 40 professionals in autism by Governor Chris Christie. In 2012, Michelle Co-Founded one of the first medical billing companies exclusively focused on Autism claims based on Autism Insurance Mandates nationwide.
Ms. Schueller is Vice-Chair of the Leadership Committee for NJABA Insurance Provider Workgroup, a group dedicated to promoting the professional practice of applied behavior analysis (ABA). She has taken much pride in creating an agency that provides services involving best practice and high ethical standards, upholding comprehensive services across learners’ environments.
Karen Bakker
Founder
Karen Bakker, a finalist in the 2013 Leading Women Entrepreneurs and Business Owners in New Jersey Monthly Magazine, has over 14 years’ experience in the field of Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) for the treatment of developmental disorders secondary to Autism.
Karen’s expertise and desire to make effective treatment methods available to children with autism and their families inspired her to establish Above and Beyond Learning Group (ABLG) in 2002 along with Michelle Schueller.
ABLG has evolved into one of the largest ABA agencies in the state, helping families throughout New Jersey. Karen’s passion for advocating for the families ABLG serves, specifically their ability to receive health care coverage for Autism services, eventually led her to establish Autism Claims Experts (ACE) in November 2012, one of the nation’s first medical billing companies exclusively focused on Autism Claims.
Laura Schueller, Office Manager
As the office manager, Laura, is the administrative support for ABLG. In addition to overseeing day to day operations, Laura manages staff, scheduling, and on-going support with our clients, not only fitting our programs with the right staff, but also making sure our clients receive services in a way that best fits the child’s needs. Laura has comprehensive knowledge of insurance benefits for autism services and how they apply to the autism mandates.
Dr. Lauren Kryzak, Clinical Director
Lauren Kryzak is the Clinical Director of ABLG. As the Clinical Director, Lauren oversees the clinical department with a focus on quality assurance, research development, supervision of our school district services, and management of our insurance authorizations.
While coordinating genetic research studies for families with children with ASD in 2003, she realized there were repeated concerns regarding the quality of ABA services that the families had or were currently receiving. By 2008 she decided to return to school for her Doctorate in Learning Processes and Behavior Analysis from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. At that time, she began to provide home-based ABA services and in 2010 became a BCBA. Her academic interests include investigating effective procedures to provide support and training for typically developing siblings intended to improve their interactions with their siblings with autism. Lauren received her doctorate in 2014 – and now she looks forward to free time to read a book and maybe watch a TV show.
Allison Kilmnick, Billing Specialist
Allison is ABLG’s billing specialist in charge of billing, claims and payroll. Allison came to us from Cardinal Health where she worked as a Senior Account Manager. She has an extensive background in healthcare account management.
She ensures accurate processing and recording of the company’s payroll, provides timely and accurate financial information.
Allison processes all claims for ABLG to the insurance providers. Included in Allison’s responsibilities is working with a denial message from the insurance companies, decipher the message, reconcile it with the original claim, make required corrections and resubmit the claim. This exchange of claims and denials may be repeated multiple times until a claim is paid in full through.
Healthcare billing regulations also tend to be complex and often change. Allison has the abilities to work cohesively with the insurance companies, private clientele and the ABLG staff. She is an effective and valuable member of our staff that help’s ABLG uphold our 360⁰ of care standards.
