Meet Our Team
Sarah Matthews
Family Supports director
Sarah Matthews is the Director of the Family Support Services Department at the North Dakota Autism Center. Sarah’s primary responsibilities include oversight of all operations of the service, quality assurance, state licensing, accreditation, hiring, and training standards. This includes active collaboration with the team to ensure the operations of the services are fully functioning and serving consumers and their families with the best quality possible. Sarah also oversees the programs Administration, Training Manager and Case Managers quality of work and evaluations, ensuring the team is utilizing best practices, consumers programs are run efficiently and effectively, while providing seamless delivery.
Sarah has been working with the North Dakota Autism Center since 2008. She received her undergrad in Psychology and Autism Spectrum Disorders Certification from Minnesota State University Moorhead. Sarah’s passion and areas of expertise include:
• Leadership Building
• Quality Assurance
• Coaching/Mentoring
• Accreditation
• Autism Spectrum Disorder
What drives Sarah is her passion for helping others find the best services for their needs and seeing the tremendous successes the team has achieved.
In her spare time, Sarah enjoys spending time with her husband and children. She enjoys being outdoors and going to the lake. Sarah cherishes spending time with family and friends. She is a proud soccer mom to her daughter and gets a thrill out of cheering for her on the sidelines.
Asia Wright-Merkel
Case Manager
Asia Wright is a Case Manager in the Family Support Services Department at the North Dakota Autism Center. Asia’s responsibilities include developing, implementing, and facilitating the overall service plan process for those we serve. This includes ensuring integration of the service plan through the involvement of the individual, family, guardian, other service providers and agency staff.
Asia has been with the Autism Center since 2018 where she started as the Quality Assurance Administrator for the Family Support Services Department. In 2019 she was promoted to Case Manager within the same department. She received her undergrad in Healthcare Administration and certificate in Healthcare Leadership, Quality & Patient Safety from Minnesota State University- Moorhead.
Asia’s passion and areas of expertise include:
- Quality Improvement Strategies
- Adolescent Program Coordination
- Program Informatics
- The Council on Quality and Leadership Accreditation
- Evidence-based Program Planning
You can find Asia camping, traveling, or spending time with her husband, Andrew.
Ashley Jaso
Case Manager
Ashley Jaso is a Case Manager in the Family Support Services Department at the North Dakota Autism Center. Her responsibilities include developing, implementing, and facilitating the overall service plan process for those we serve. This includes ensuring integration of the service plan through the involvement of the individual, family, guardian, other service providers and agency staff.
Ashley has been working with the North Dakota Autism Center since 2016. She started as a Direct Support Professional working directly with our consumers in their homes. She received her bachelor’s degree in Human Development and Family Sciences from North Dakota State University. In 2020, she was promoted to case manager. Ashley’s drive to serve her community and helping those in need, along with her experience working with children with developmental disabilities has guided her to this new role in our agency.
In her spare time Ashley enjoys traveling, reading, gardening and taking care of her many pets.
Lindsey Wicklander
Case Manager
Lindsey Wicklander is a Case Manager in the Family Support Services Department at the North Dakota Autism Center. Lindsey’s responsibilities include developing, implementing, and facilitating the overall service plan process for those we serve. This includes ensuring integration of the service plan through the involvement of the individual, family, guardian, other service providers and agency staff.
Lindsey has been with the North Dakota Autism Center since 2015. She started as a Behavior Tutor in our Day Program and then transferred to our Behavior Program where she quickly moved up to Program Manager. In 2020 she transitioned to the In Home Support team to Case Manager where she is able to use her vast knowledge in Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) and experience in working directly with consumers and develop successful person centered plans. She received her bachelor’s degree in Human Development and Family Science from North Dakota State University.
In her free time, Lindsey likes to spend time with family and friends, especially her nieces and nephews. She also loves spending time outdoors, playing games and doing puzzles.
Jennifer Reiser
Training Manager
Jennifer Reiser is the Training Manager for the Family Support Services Department at the North Dakota Autism Center. As the Training Manager, some of Jen’s primary responsibilities include training Direct Support Professionals (DSP’s) on policies, behavior management, crisis prevention, and CPR/First Aid. Jen ensures all DSP’s are current and up to date on state training requirements. She strives to create an environment in orientation where new staff can learn, feel welcomed and supported. Jen manages all onboarding for the FSS department from screening, to interviewing and hiring. She collaborates daily with the Case Managers, to ensure consumer’s requests for scheduling are filled by quality candidates. Jen oversees a team of DSP’s, providing leadership, direction and guidance to them as well as evaluating their performance.
Jen has been employed at the Autism Center since 2014. She has her Bachelor’s Degree in Child Development and Family Science from North Dakota State University. She has completed the requirements set by the North Dakota Center for Persons with Disabilities to become a Certified Direct Support Professional and a Qualified Trainer.
When not at work, Jen spends her time with her son. She likes binge watching tv shows like Grey’s Anatomy, This is Us and Friends, watching her son’s baseball and soccer games and likes to spend time outside in the summer.