I first met Beckie Wood and Michelle Trevino, owners of Hope Therapy Center, more than 10 years ago as I was finishing up my Masters Degree in Communication Disorders. After graduating in 2006, I completed my fellowship year with Beckie as my mentor, and I couldn’t have been more fortunate. Under her, I developed a foundation of love, dedication and compassion for young children with special needs and families specifically children with hearing loss. The understanding of child development and the desire to empower children with the ability to communicate stayed etched in me for the years to follow.
Following the completion of my fellowship year, our careers took us in different directions. I found new passions in treating children with neurological disorders, feeding and swallowing disorders and Autism Spectrum Disorders. I became certified as a member of the American Speech and Hearing Association, and was trained in Beckman Oral Motor Techniques, Neurodevelopmental Treatment (NDT), Prompts for Restructuring Oral Motor Phonetic Targets (PROMPT), and MORE in addition to other tools and strategies to elicit speech and language.
After practicing as a Speech Language Pathologist for almost 10 years, my career came full circle when I was asked to join the Hope Therapy Team. How amazing it was to see the years of Beckie and Michelle’s hopes, dreams, and hard work become a reality. I am beyond blessed to be a part of such a dedicated and skilled team, and am eager to fulfill by love of learning from these amazing children and their families. I look forward to adding my experience of speech, language and oral motor function through sensory and movement to Hope Therapy and the children that we serve.