Highlighted New Service: In-home behavior interventions
Hilary is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) who has over a decade of experience in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and Special Education. She is dedicated to supporting children, adolescents, and their families through compassionate and practical evidence-based practices.
Hilary earned both her undergraduate degree in Psychology and her Master’s degree in Special Education from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. During her graduate studies, she worked at the university’s Mason LIFE program, where she supported young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities pursuing a college experience. She later completed a post-graduate certificate in Applied Behavior Analysis at Florida Institute of Technology.
Hilary’s extensive clinical experience spans home, school, community, and clinic settings, where she has worked with individuals of all ages and a wide range of diagnoses. Hilary began her career as a self-contained special education teacher in both public and non-public school settings. She has also worked as a consultant, conducting functional assessments as part of Individual Educational Evaluations (IEE) in public schools. She brings over six years of experience as a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA), having held a variety of roles working with children, partnering with families, and collaborating within interdisciplinary teams.
Hilary specializes in working with children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and multiple disabilities. She has particular expertise in early intervention as well as helping families navigate challenges related to picky eating, toilet training, challenging behavior, and sleep disturbance.
Hilary lives in North County San Diego with her husband, daughter, and two dogs. Outside of work, she enjoys going to the beach and practicing yoga.
Hilary is available for in-home and school-based support in La Jolla and North County. She is also available for appointments via telehealth and in-person at our Carmel Valley office.
What Others Say About Us
I’ve been referring my patients to Dr. Pontillo for the past several years with the utmost confidence that she will care and understand their developmental needs. Dr. Pontillo always provided them with a balanced and age appropriate intervention to help not only the child but the family as a whole.
Dr. Pontillo is an exceptional, and one-of-a-kind child psychologist. I have referred many children of my patients to Dr. Pontillo and she has always given them the best care and attention. Referring a patient to another professional is a big responsibility. I always look for a colleague who is efficient, professional, experienced and one who is able to come up with a clear diagnosis. I keep referring to Dr. Pontillo because of her expertise, efficiency and especially her warm and caring personality that is extremely necessary when dealing with children. I very highly recommend Deborah Pontillo, Ph.D as a child diagnostician, developmental and behavioral specialist, and therapist.
I am a general pediatrician with a special interest in ADHD, spending about 20% of my clinical time caring for ADHD patients. I have known Dr Pontillo since 2005 and have an enormous respect for her clinical skills and insights. She is my “go to” psychologist for more complicated developmental issues and for diagnosis of subtle high functioning disabilities. Dr. Pontillo’s interest in her patients and her ability to clearly delineate developmental problems allows parents to move forward with establishing a treatment plan. She is an invaluable resource to the San Diego Pediatric community.