Specialties & Experience of this Expert Witness

Additional Information

Rachel Torrance, M.Ed., BCBA, COBA, has worked in the developmental disabilities (DD) field since 1998. Current license/certification includes Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA), Certified Ohio Behavior Analyst (COBA), and licensure in the state of Ohio as an Intervention Specialist (Special Education Teacher) with mild/moderate and moderate/intensive endorsements. Rachel regularly trains parents and professionals in districts and agencies. She has presented at the national, state, and international levels and written publications for various organizations. Rachel has served clients not only throughout the U.S. but also worldwide. In 2013, working as a behavioral specialist for a local DD agency, Rachel was part of a team that started developing sensory-friendly performances with local theater groups in Cleveland, Ohio. At the time, this was an innovative idea and was the first in their area. Rachel has been a member of the Board of Directors of Milestones Autism Resources since 2015. She has served on the Executive Conference Committee for The Milestones National Autism Conference. She has also been a continuing education coordinator for those pursuing continuing education credits with the Behavior Analyst Certification Board. Rachel was also the former co-chair of the Milestones ABA Professionals Group. In addition to other committees with Milestones, Rachel has been on the Education Committee with The Ohio Association for Behavior Analysts. Though Autism is one of the areas of specialty, professional experience includes working with children and adults with various disabilities as well as those without disabilities but who engage in interfering behaviors. Range of expertise includes Autism, ADHD, multiple disabilities, intellectual disabilities, medically fragile, Cerebral Palsy, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Explosive Disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Learning Disabilities, blind and visually impaired. Rachel has taught students with disabilities in kindergarten through 12th grade across the continuum, including inclusion, intensive settings in the public district, and outside placement for students with more intensive needs. Rachel has extensive experience as a consultant for a government agency providing assessments, training, advocacy, supervision, and overseeing plans for students and clients with developmental disabilities across settings. An agency Rachel formed in 2015, initially providing consult and supervision services in the home, vocational, and school-based settings. Once she was full-time in 2017, the team grew quickly when they began serving clients with medically necessary applied behavior analysis (ABA) services. The company was successfully acquired in early 2021. Today, Rachel is self-employed with Behavioral and Educational Expert Services, LLC. She provides consultative services across settings (including public school districts), parent and professional training, assessments, behavior plan/educational plan development, and expert witness work. Expert work has included testimony, depositions, direct assessment measures, records review, consulting with the attorney, and report writing identifying breaches in the standard of care and other written reports. Rachel has served as an expert on dozens of civil cases that fall under medical malpractice, child abuse, divorce/custody, trauma, death, and neglect. Rachel is also co-owner of a small remote supervision training agency (Supervision Academy, LLC) for people pursuing BCBA/BCaBA certification. In addition to school-based services for students with disabilities, ABA, DD agency services, and extensive knowledge related to the needs of people with developmental disabilities, Rachel knows many funding sources (and the laws affiliated with them), including services provided with medical insurance (meeting medical necessity criteria), waivers and Medicaid-based funding, school-based services,