Kelli Atangan

Founder and Managing Partner

Kelli has been a licensed speech-language pathologist in the state of Virginia since 2006. She received her bachelor’s degree from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, and her master’s degree from Gallaudet University in Washington, DC. She has worked in a variety of settings in Northern Virginia, including early intervention and pediatric private practice. In 2010, Kelli opened her own private practice, Little Hands Pediatric Therapy, which has a team of speech and occupational therapists as well as educators who provide private therapy services and early intervention in Loudoun and Fairfax Counties.

Throughout her career, Kelli has worked with BCBAs and RBTs to treat children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, but found that collaborating regularly with multiple therapists, all in different offices and settings, was easier said than done. With so many professionals on the child’s team, she noticed that families were often frustrated and confused by the conflicting advice and different approaches that they were receiving. She has dreamed of a way to bring truly collaborative care with speech, occupational therapy, and behavior analysis together, as well as the much needed parent, caregiver and sibling support piece. Kelli is delighted to be a founding partner of Autism First and to see this vision come to fruition.

In addition to collaborative care amongst professionals, Kelli has seen the benefit of strong parent, family, and caregiver involvement and is passionate about providing support and training to the child’s entire team to empower them with the tools to help their child thrive. Kelli will serve on The Board and oversee the speech and occupational therapists at Autism First.

Kelli lives in Brambleton with her husband and three sons. She enjoys cooking, playing board games with her boys, and staying active.