First Stop believes in building on strengths and valuing differences.
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Our work is grounded in our research and clinical experiences, and enriched by all we've learned growing up in a neurodiverse family. ​​​
We are sisters who were raised alongside an autistic family member. We learned firsthand how important it is to have meaningful support for the entire family - to learn how to understand, connect, and care for one another.
We set out to make a difference in the lives of other neurodiverse children and their families. Now, we've brought both our personal and professional experiences together to create First Stop.
Our mission is to reimagine how differences are understood, and fill the gaps we've seen in traditional services. We are here to celebrate differences, offer families guidance through challenges, and strengthen the bonds between caregivers, children, families, and communities.
Gabrielle Lee
LICSW, MPH, MA
I'm a licensed independent clinical social worker who has seen
firsthand how caregiver and whole-family support is oftentimes the missing piece of the puzzle when supporting children. I began my career working with children with autism and their families, and this has been a throughline in my work ever since. Over the years I have provided mental health care across various settings: inpatient and outpatient pediatric medical settings, community and home-based settings, foster care agencies, summer camps, and schools.
​I have seen where the gaps in traditional service models lay, and I created First Stop to help fill them in new ways. I am committed to providing a space for families to nurture the strengths of their child and adapt their environment in ways that feel good for and include everyone. I want to help parents and caregivers cope with a diagnosis, help siblings and loved ones develop meaningful relationships and connections, and be an ally in creating a plan ahead for the family system.
I earned a dual Master of Social Work (MSW) and Master of Public Health (MPH) from Fordham University Graduate School of Social Service and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. I also hold a Master of Arts (MA) in Developmental Disabilities from Columbia University.
I'm based in Boston, where you can find me running, hiking, reading, or crocheting. In addition to my work with First Stop, I provide individual and group therapy for children in the greater Boston area.
Jordan Lee
PHD, CCC-SLP
I’m a speech-language pathologist and researcher dedicated to ensuring all autistic children have access to effective, evidence-based services.
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I began my career working with autistic toddlers as a speech-language pathologist in the Early Intervention system. I saw the tremendous ways in which research-driven interventions impacted development, but thought that more work needed to be done to make sure they worked well for all kids and families. So, I went back to grad school to get my PhD in Communication Sciences and Disorders at Northwestern University. My work focused on teaching parents ways to support their child, and supporting clinicians in conducting strengths-based, family-centered autism evaluations. I also collaborated with autistic adults and caregivers to examine their priorities for early childhood services. My collaborators taught me how learning about neurodiversity not only helped them support their child, but also helped them understand themselves and how they related to the world. At First Stop, I hope to use my knowledge from these experiences to empower more families and clinicians.
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I hold a Master's degree in Speech, Language, and Learning and a PhD in in Communication Sciences and Disorders from Northwestern University. I'm based in Chicago, where you can find me reading, walking by the lake, baking, or attending the latest comedy show.
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