She began her martial arts journey when she took a Muay Thai class through campus recreation as an undergraduate student at UCLA. After graduating from UCLA with her B.A. in Psychology and minor in Applied Developmental Psychology, Janice began working as a Developmental Interventionist at a non-profit agency providing play-based therapy for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and other developmental disabilities. During this time, Janice found her passion in working with families affected by developmental disabilities and decided to pursue her Ph.D. in Psychology and Social Behavior at UC Irvine. While at UC Irvine, Janice met Kru Dennis Hall and continued developing her Muay Thai skills through her training. Even though graduate school was difficult and oftentimes stressful, Janice found balance by continuing with her martial arts training and finding support from her teammates. She realized that children with ASD could also benefit from being included in the martial arts community. She decided to combine her two passions in martial arts and in working with children with ASD to develop a research project. Her dissertation examined the role of a martial arts class on improving cognitive and social outcomes in children with ASD. The results from her dissertation project are now published in a top-tier autism journal: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1223550. Janice is currently continuing her program of research as an Assistant Professor of Psychology at CSU San Marcos. She hopes to continue to find ways to support the development of the “whole child” for children with ASD through community-based inclusion.