My Background

My journey into becoming a speech therapist began with my passion for learning about foreign languages and understanding different cultures, highlighted by the year I spent in Germany as a teenager, living with a German family.

That was when I became fascinated with the linguistics of a communicative act—figuring out what was said, how it was said, what was the intent, and, ultimately, how that communicative act can be more effective.

For the past 10 years, I have worked as a school-based speech and language pathologist. My focus has been working with pre-school to eighth-grade students who experience language and articulation delays within public elementary schools.

I have worked with many students who experience social communication difficulties. I also have experience working with complex communicators, helping them discover their own unique way to communicate with others (for some, this involves the use of voice output AAC devices).

In addition to being a licensed speech-language pathologist (SLP), I have a certificate of clinical competence (CCC), as well as a certification in high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (HFASD) from Portland State University. I have a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Dakota and a master’s degree from Northern Arizona University.