Daltrey Abney ET/P (she/her)
FOunder & Lead Educational Therapist
Daltrey Abney, our founder, hails from Bentonville, Arkansas. She graduated from Boston College with a dual-degree in Elementary Education and History, and completed her educational therapy training at the University of California Riverside. She is a certified educational therapist, elementary school teacher, and English Language Learner teacher. The Association of Educational Therapists has certified her as a professional level ET. After teaching at an international school in Japan, she returned to the U.S. to focus on developing strategies that help students struggling to succeed in the typical classroom setting. When she first moved to Los Angeles she worked at Pacific Point Academy, a school for students with learning differences. It was there that she developed her passion for students that learn differently and received training in programs such as the Wilson Reading Program, Visualizing and Verbalizing, CogMed, CAPDOTS, SMARTS, Read Naturally, Building Thinking Skills, Step Up to Writing and more. She has experience with students with ASD, ADD/ADHD, dyslexia, executing functioning challenges, language disorders, processing inefficiencies, and a number of other learning differences. She specializes in assessing and working with students with complex profiles and multiple diagnoses. Her goal is to help students build confidence in themselves as learners through individually tailored instruction designed to enable them truly thrive.
Stephanie "BUFFY" KAHAL (SHE/HER)
Homework Den Director & Educational Therapist
In January of 2025, Stephanie (or Buffy as she is known around the office) Kahal moved back to Los Angeles from the Washington, DC area. She is Discover's new Homework Den Director and educational therapist and is excited to make Discover Educational Therapy her home. Buffy earned a BA in Justice, Law, and Society from the American University and an MA in Educational Therapy from Cal State University Northridge. While living in Maryland, Buffy supported students with autism, dyslexia, various learning disorders, and ADHD in both academic and elective classes. She has experience working in elementary, middle, and high schools. Nothing makes her happier than seeing that “ah-ha” moment in a student when a concept finally clicks.
Tess Niemi (SHE/HER)
Educational Therapist
Tess Niemi is an educational specialist who earned her BA in Psychology from UC Santa Barbara. Since then, she has worked with students of varied learning profiles as a behavior therapist and an academic interventionist. She has worked with children with a wide range of mild to moderate learning differences, including ADHD, ASD, dyslexia, dysgraphia, processing disorders, and other school-based challenges such as anxiety and low motivation. For the last six years, Tess has provided primarily one-on-one interventions and is accustomed to working as part of a collaborative team in support of her students. With training in Applied Behavior Analysis, Wilson Reading, CogMed, CAPDOTS, Step Up to Writing, Building Thinking Skills, Read Naturally, Step-by-Step Problem Solving, and ST Math. Tess is able to customize her approach for each student in order to target specific goals. Academic subjects that Tess tutors include reading, reading comprehension, writing, and math for K-12 students. Additionally, Tess is a trained executive functioning coach for all ages and loves to help students develop systems for organization, time and task management.
Ïxkári Estelle (They/Them)
Interventionist & College CouNselor
Ïxkári Estelle is Los Angeles born and raised. They are an educator, curator, writer, researcher, and community care worker. After receiving their Bachelor’s in English from the University of California, Los Angeles, they earned a Master’s in English at the University of California, Riverside. Ïxkári has 9 years of experience collaboratively developing and presenting content, designing social justice-oriented community experiences, and working with high school and college-level learners. They are especially passionate about increasing the accessibility, cultural relevance, and baseline of care that make up every space they are in, from their curated events to their classroom/s. As an interventionist they work closely with our educational therapists to deliver highly individualized intervention that helps our clients meet their educational therapy goals. Additionally, they are excited to be able to use their near-decade of experience helping high schoolers with the college application process including college selection, SAT/ACT prep, application essay writing, scholarship applications, resume building, and meeting deadlines.
Steph Fernandez (She/Her)
Academic Coach & Administrative Manager
Steph is our newest academic coach. She is also the administrative manager of Discover Educational Therapy. She brings her organization, communication, and creative engagement expertise to support families and therapists. With over a decade of hands-on experience working with children as a dance teacher, swim instructor, and published children’s book author, Stephanie is passionate about fostering growth and resilience in young learners. Her career also includes leadership roles in marketing and public relations, such as serving as the Marketing & Public Relations Director at Rita House and Astronaut Social Media Lead at NASA, where she honed her skills in managing communications, coordinating teams, and driving diversity initiatives. Steph is bilingual in English and Spanish, a cum laude graduate from the University of Houston with a degree in Public Relations, and an advocate for creativity and inclusion in all her endeavors.
Meera
Educational Therapy Dog
Okay, there's no such thing as an educational therapy dog. However, Meera is a trained service dog and can provide deep pressure therapy! She loves to lounge around the office and hide in her favorite cozy spot under the couch in the waiting room. You can find her there most Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. In addition to providing pets, cuddles, and kisses, Meera is also the mascot for Meera's Pack and Meera's Homework Den. These are group services that we offer that provide extra social and homework support to students. Most importantly, Meera is neurodivergent, too! She has anxiety, struggles in overstimulating social situations, and has a hard time regulating her attention. She helps us have conversations around empathy, accommodations, advocacy, and other important topics in the neurodivergent community.