UAB Autism Clinic Faculty and Staff

Faculty and Staff at the UAB Autism Clinic are involved in a wide range of interdisciplinary clinical, training, service, and research activities. Click the links below to e-mail members of the staff.

Myriam Peralta-Carcelen, MD, MPH
Associate Professor, Pediatrics
Director of Autism Clinic

Dr. Peralta-Carcelen is a board certified developmental pediatrician and Associate Professor from the UAB Department of Pediatrics. She has participated in the interdisciplinary assessment of children with developmental disabilities, including autism, at Civitan International Research Center’s Sparks Clinics for the past four years. Dr. Peralta-Carcelen has expertise in the follow-up of high-risk populations and has participated in the interdisciplinary assessments in the Newborn Follow-up clinic for the past 10 years. Dr. Peralta-Carcelen currently directs the diagnostic Autism Clinic at Sparks Clinics

Kirstin Bailey, PhD
Clinical Psychologist

Dr. Bailey is licensed psychologist who holds a Clinical Psychologist position at Civitan International Research Center, Sparks Clinics. She has extensive experience with individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders, and a particular interest in Autism Spectrum Disorders. She is an active member of Sparks’ interdisciplinary teams in the Autism Clinic, Child Development Clinic, Infant and Toddler Clinic, Multiple Disabilities Clinic, and Newborn Follow Up Clinic. She is also actively involved in the training and supervision of interns, fellows, and graduate students.

Dr. Bailey has been working with children with Autism Spectrum Disorders since 1994, and has provided assessment and treatment to children and families in both inpatient and outpatient settings. Her research examines the social outcomes of children with autism following intensive treatment.
She also develops home-based programs for children with autism and has spent eight years providing treatment to children with Autism Spectrum Disorders using an Applied Behavior Analytic (ABA) treatment model (combined with aspects of TEACCH and Augmentative Communication Strategies).

Dr. Bailey received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, with a Clinical Child Psychology emphasis, at Washington State University in 2000. She completed her Clinical Psychology Internship and Post-Doctoral Fellowship at The University of Alabama, Civitan International Research Center, Sparks Clinics.

Elizabeth McMahon Griffith, Ph.D.
Clinical Psychologist

Dr. Elizabeth McMahon Griffith is a licensed psychologist who holds a Clinical Psychologist position at the Civitan International Research Center’s Sparks Clinics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She has worked extensively with children, adolescents, and their families in a variety of settings. She has specialized in neurodevelopmental disorders with an emphasis on the evaluation and treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorders, and has over 12 years experience in this area. Her research and publications examine neuropsychological aspects of autism.

Dr. Griffith participates in the UAB Autism Clinic evaluations and develops home treatment programs with families of children with Autism Spectrum disorders. She is actively involved with training and supervision of interns and graduate students.

Dr. Griffith received her Ph.D. in Child Clinical Psychology from the University of Denver in 2002. She received training at the John F. Kennedy Center for Developmental Disabilities in Denver, CO. Dr. Griffith completed Clinical Psychology internship training and post-doctoral fellowship through Sparks Clinics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Leslie Harrington, RN, CCRC
Nurse Coordinator

Leslie Harrington, RN, CCRC has over 20 years experience working with children and is a Certified Clinical Research Coordinator. Ms. Harrington is currently the Nurse Coordinator for the diagnostic Autism Clinic at the Sparks Clinics.

Additional Staff include:

Karen Dahle, EdD
Assistant Professor, UAB School of Education

Dr. Dahle is an Assistant Professor in the School of Education, Department of Leadership, Special Education and Foundations at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She has extensive experience with children with autism and has numerous publications regarding autism and pervasive developmental disorders. She currently teaches special education graduate and undergraduate courses in autism, PDD, and other special needs disorders and has a grant through the Alabama State Department of Education State Improvement Grants to provide workshops to regional in-service centers on autism and related disabilities.

Leland C. Tolbert, PhD
Developmental Psychologist
Assistant Professor, UAB Department of Psychiatry

Dr. Tolbert is a developmental psychologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and has been working with individuals with autism for over 17 years in a treatment facility for people with autism and other Pervasive Developmental Disorders. He has published extensively in this area.

Collaborators with the clinic include:

Leon Dure, MD
UAB Department of Pediatrics
Dr. Dure has worked as a child neurologist since 1989, with further specialization in movement disorders.

Rachel Fargason, MD
Academic Psychiatrist, UAB Department of Psychiatry
Dr. Rachel Fargason is an academic psychiatrist with ten years of clinical experience providing multimodal treatment to adults with neuropsychiatric conditions, in particular, ADHD and autistic spectrum disorders (ASD).