Ileana Y. Umaña, PhD, BCBA

Personal Statement

Dr. Umaña is a bilingual Licensed Psychologist and Board-Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) in the Autism Program at Texas Children’s who specializes in the assessment and treatment of children with neurodevelopmental differences. She provides comprehensive psychological evaluations to children and adolescents and is trained to administer a wide array of standardized assessment measures.

She is knowledgeable in conducting assessments in a bilingual context and fosters an inclusive and culturally responsive assessment process. In addition to assessment services, Dr. Umaña also provides behavioral intervention services to toddlers and children with ASD and other developmental differences. Behaviors of concern include anxiety disorders, tantrums, aggression, noncompliance, sleep difficulties and toileting concerns.

Dr. Umaña utilizes evidence-based practices, including applied behavior analysis and parent management training, while taking a flexible treatment approach to meet each child’s and family’s individual needs.

From Dr. Umaña:

I am deeply committed to providing high-quality, evidence-based care to my patients and their families. I am dedicated to ensuring patients receive culturally informed care that considers their unique strengths and challenges. I also make sure to address and understand the child’s whole system (family, school and community factors) and work collaboratively with caregivers.

Clinical Interests: bilingual assessment of neurodevelopmental differences (particularly autism spectrum disorder), developmental assessments in early childhood, culturally sensitive and responsive behavioral interventions, parent-mediated interventions for children with autism spectrum disorder and co-occurring emotional and behavioral difficulties

Research Interests: bilingual and cross-cultural assessment of ASD, caregiver stress in ASD, caregiver psychoeducation related to neurodevelopmental differences, cultural sensitivity in behavioral treatment, cultural adaptation of interventions, bilingual assessment

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Education

Organizations

* Texas Children’s Hospital physicians’ licenses and credentials are reviewed prior to practicing at any of our facilities. Sections titled From the Doctor, Professional Organizations and Publications were provided by the physician’s office and were not verified by Texas Children’s Hospital.

Castro-Villarreal, F., Villarreal, V., & Umaña, I. Assessment of bilingual students: Best practices and recommendations for members of the multidisciplinary IEP team. In Machado-Casas, M., Maldonado, S., Bustos Flores., B. (Eds.), Evaluating Bilingual education programs: Assessing students’ bilingualism, biliteracy, and social cultural competence. 2022. Peter Lang.

Neely, L., Hong, E., Kawamini, S., Umaña, I., & Kurz, I. Intercontinental telehealth to train Japanese interventionists in incidental teaching for children with autism. Journal of Behavioral Education. 2020. doi:10.1007/s10864-020-09377-3

Umaña, I., Khosraviyani, A., & Castro‐Villarreal, F. Teachers’ preferences and perceptions of the psychological report: A systematic review. Psychology in the School, 2020, 1-20. doi:10.1002/pits.22332