Liz Worrell knows how unique and winding the path may be for students with autism. She says, “The most rewarding part of working with the special needs population is seeing their progress and the positive impact it makes on the child and their family’s lives.”

She began making a difference two decades ago when she joined the Best Buddies club in high school. In college, she was a teacher’s assistant at an autism school, and a caregiver for a young girl with cerebral palsy and autism. A graduate of the University of Central Florida with a degree in health sciences in 2011, Liz taught in a self-contained autism classroom in Osceola County, then taught at a nonprofit private school for ESE students in Jacksonville in 2013. In 2015, she was accepted into UCF’s Project ASD program and graduated with a Master’s of Education in Exceptional Student Education, with a focus on severe profound disabilities. In 2019, she graduated from Florida Institute of Technology’s ABA program as a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst. Since then, she supervises teaching staff and manages students’ behavior intervention plans.

Liz, her husband and their children moved to The Villages in 2022. Their two sons attend The Villages Charter School’s Early Childhood Center and their younger son was diagnosed with autism at age three. She hopes to provide families with a safe and nurturing environment to learn.