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Abigail Anderson is a Colorado transplant by way of Louisiana. Abby studied Fibers at Savannah College of Art and Design and has been obsessed with prints, patterns, textures and bold color ever since. Like her business partner Julie Barnett, she’s got that unstoppable entrepreneurial spark that’s led her through all kinds of creative adventures before landing in the world of murals. In 2022, with both kids finally in elementary school, she met up with Julie at a coffee shop, pitched a wild idea to paint murals together and the rest is colorful history.
Andryce Andres fell in love with augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) as a clinical fellow in the Oregon Leadership Education in neurodevelopmental and related disabilities (LEND) program in 2013. She has collaborated with AAC users and their families in an outpatient clinical setting of Shriners Children’s in Portland, Oregon, in their homes through her private practice and as a graduate student clinical supervisor in the Oregon Scottish Rite Speech, Language, and Hearing Clinic at Portland State University. Throughout her career, she has supported multilingual children, advocated for literacy for all and believes AAC, like language, is most effectively learned through experience. Andryce is the founder and owner of Heart Speak Journeys, a space that weaves creative collaborations, storytelling and connection along the AAC journey. Camp Corbett is a comprehensive example of bringing these elements to life!
Morgan Ansel is the lead speech-language pathologist in a Level III NICU, where she focuses on feeding and swallowing in premature and medically complex infants. She develops and manages individualized feeding plans of care, performs swallow studies and supports safe progression to oral feeding. Morgan is an active member of the Infant-Driven Feeding Committee and is deeply involved in shaping feeding practices within her unit. She is also passionate about education, regularly training and supporting nursing staff to improve consistency and confidence in feeding across the NICU team. Morgan has expertise in bottle feeding premature infants as well as provides lactation counseling to new mothers.
Julie Barnett is a Colorado native, growing up in Lakewood, always with an artistic spark. An alum of CSU and fine arts grad at RMCAD, she found her passion for faux finishes and murals, leading her to start her own business in the field. While exploring various professional adventures (and raising three awesome kids!), she always kept her artistic side alive. It was through one of those side endeavors that she met her business partner Abigail Anderson. Fast forward to the summer of 2022 and Lupine Design Co was created!
Jennie Bjorem is a nationally recognized speech-language pathologist and apraxia specialist with more than 20 years of experience. She is the founder and CEO of Bjorem Speech® Publications, known for its inclusive, child-centered materials used by professionals worldwide. Jennie specializes in childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) and is a sought-after presenter, educator and mentor, known for her practical, play-based approach to therapy. She is the co-founder and President of the Bjorem & Bolles Child Apraxia Education Initiative, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to advancing CAS education and awareness. Jennie also serves on the board of The Apraxia Foundation and as Communications Director for CSHA. Her work is rooted in inclusivity, practicality and a commitment to helping children and the professionals who support them thrive.
Katie Brellenthin is a bilingual (Spanish-English) speech-language pathologist with experience supporting children from infancy through school age. She has been a dedicated clinician at Children’s Hospital Colorado since 2019, where she has developed extensive experience working with medically complex patients and children with a wide range of communication needs. Her areas of focus include trach/vent, feeding difficulties, language delays and disorders, alternative and augmentative communication, autism spectrum disorders and cleft lip and palate. Katie is passionate about providing family-centered, culturally responsive care and helping every child find their voice.
Christine Brennan is an assistant professor at the University of Colorado Boulder. Her current areas of research focus on speech, language and communication in children and adults with rare conditions, including Smith-Magenis Syndrome (SMS), Sanfilippo Syndrome, Autoimmune Encephalitis, as well as those who have complex communication needs. These projects include case study research, experimental research, and analyses of a large international patient registry data set for SMS.
Jaime Chadek is a speech-language pathologist with nine years of experience at Children’s Hospital Colorado. She specializes in supporting autistic children and prioritizes using play as therapy with integration of child-led strategies and active parent involvement to support joint attention and language development. Jaime holds certifications in the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) and Hanen More Than Words®/TalkAbilityTM. She also plays a key role in hospital-wide ASD programming for autistic early communicators and their families.
Maria Chisolm is a bilingual speech-language pathologist in private practice serving culturally and linguistically diverse children across Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico. She specializes in early intervention and school-based assessment practices that honor each child’s unique background. Beyond her clinical work, Maria mentors allied health professionals in business strategy and systems development. She presents workshops on screening and assessing multilingual learners, as well as on starting, scaling and managing private practices.
Laura Cooper is a speech-language pathologist with 16 years of clinical and leadership experience with a demonstrated passion of providing evidence-based, family and patient-centered care and believes that provider and family collaboration is the key to helping a child reach their full potential. Laura specializes in evaluation and treatment of children with autism spectrum disorder/autistic children and as an Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) certified clinician. She currently serves as the autism program clinical practice PPE specialist for the speech-language therapy department at Children’s Hospital Colorado. With a strong belief in the interdisciplinary approach to supporting patients and families, she also serves as the lead speech-language pathologist within the Prader Willi Syndrome multidisciplinary clinic at Children’s Hospital Colorado. With a Master of Science in speech-language pathology from the University of Nebraska- Lincoln, her other clinical interests include implementing and supporting families with augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) and fostering relationships with patients and families through caregiver coaching.
Shari, DeVeney is a professor in the Special Education and Communication Disorders Department at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Prior to obtaining her doctorate degree, she spent 10 years as a practicing speech-language pathologist, working mainly in early childhood and prek-12 educational settings. She has been teaching undergraduate coursework in speech sound disorders (SSD) for 12 years and began teaching SSD content at the graduate level in 2022.
Cynthia (Cindy) Durr brings more than 30 yrs of experience in pediatric speech-language pathology. She specialized in assessment and intervention with medically complex children in hospital settings including St. Louis Children’s Hospital and Children’s Hospital Colorado. She has worked with a wide variety of diagnoses over the years, including traumatic brain injury, other neurological injuries and deficits, swallowing, speech-language delays and disorders, alternative and augmentative communication (AAC), and tracheostomy/ventilator dependent children. Her research has included swallowing and lung transplantation, laryngeal clefts, and swallowing in non-accidental trauma (NAT) in infants.
Phillip Erkkila is the professional development team lead, the ASHA CE Administrator and a Bloom Clinical Manager for The Stepping Stones Group. He has worked in multiple settings including public, private and charter schools, private practice, early intervention, acute care hospitals and adult home health. He provides clinical support to clinical fellows and continues to practice. Phillip has created and presented on many topics related to the field of speech-language pathology including treatment practices for children with ASD, behavior management, collaborative service delivery, self- assessment and the importance of soft skills. Additionally, Phillip is the host of The Stepping Stones Group Knowledge Quest, an interactive game show to help students become familiar with Praxis type questions. He is an alumnus of ASHA’s Leadership Development Program and the recipient of multiple ASHA Continuing Education (ACE) Awards.
Sydney Fleege is a pediatric occupational therapist working in a Level III NICU, where she specializes in feeding and infant development for premature and medically complex babies. She focuses on building safe, positive feeding experiences and supporting each infant’s readiness for oral feeding through individualized, developmentally appropriate care. As a Neonatal Touch and Massage Certified Therapist and IBCLC, she integrates feeding and development to support both infant outcomes and caregiver confidence with emphasis on neuroprotection. She also practices in pediatric home health, using that perspective to help bridge the gap between the NICU and home by building feeding skills that carry over beyond discharge.
Jeff Gierer is a speech-language pathologist with more than twenty years experience working in the public schools. He has served as the chair of the Oregon Speech-Language & Hearing Association’s Racial Equity and Social Justice Committee as well as chair of the Oregon Education Association’s (OEA) Speech-Language Pathologist Task Force. He served as OEA delegate as well as Portland Association of Teacher’s head representative for his SLP colleagues and a member of the PAT bargaining committee. Jeff is also the producer of SLANT Live Queer Storytelling, an event that showcases a variety of voices and perspectives from the LGBTQIA+ community.
Shaunda Harendt, MS is a bilingual speech-language pathologist with more than 15 years of experience in a medical setting. She obtained her board certification in swallowing and swallowing Disorders (BCS-S) in 2016. In addition to her inpatient and multidisciplinary clinic work at Children’s Hospital Colorado, she also runs a private practice, Tracheology Speech-Language Pathology Services, where she serves individuals of all ages in Spanish and English, in home and community settings. She specializes in providing communication and swallowing services to infants, children and young adults with tracheostomy and ventilator dependence.
Richy Hayes is a school-based SLP and doctoral student in the department of speech, language, and hearing sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder. His research focuses on clinical issues related to speech-language pathology. His main area of research centers on language development in Japanese-English bilingual children, but he also enjoys exploring practical ways to improve the workflow of school-based SLPs.
Brittany Hensley is a clinical audiologist and preceptor at UCHealth Boulder. Brittany has a strong clinical interest in auditory diagnostics across the lifespan. She is passionate about the importance of counseling in audiology and exploring the impact of neurodiversity on audiologic care.
Jill Hess is a speech-language pathologist with 25 years of experience providing evidence-based, family-centered therapy. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in speech and hearing science from Arizona State University in 1998 and her Master of Science degree in speech-language pathology from Loyola University Maryland in 2000. Since that time, she has worked across a variety of settings, including early intervention, home care and private practice, and has owned her own private practice since 2006. She evaluates and treats a wide range of speech and language delays and disorders, with a particular passion for early intervention and speech sound disorders, especially childhood apraxia of speech (CAS). She is listed in the Apraxia Kids provider directory and is recognized for advanced training and expertise in CAS. Her clinical experience also includes oral-motor and feeding disorders, as well as augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). She has lived in Colorado since 2006, where she enjoys raising her two children with her husband. In her free time, she enjoys exercising, hiking, traveling and spending time with family and friends.
Allison Hilger is an assistant professor in the department of speech, language, and hearing sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder and Director of the Colorado Motor Speech Lab. Her research focuses on the neural and perceptual mechanisms underlying motor speech disorders, with an emphasis on improving diagnostic accuracy and clinical decision-making. She is a developer of the Colorado Motor Speech Framework (CMSF), a tool designed to support auditory-perceptual assessment and differential diagnosis in clinical practice.
Acey Holmes is the founder of BoredLess Consulting, where she helps teams build more sustainable, engaging and effective ways of working. She has been practicing speech pathology since earning her degree from Longwood University in 2011 and has called Colorado home for the past seven years. Acey currently serves preschoolers in an inclusive public school classroom (part-time). Her clinical experience continues to shape her BoredLess work with teams, where she integrates evidence-informed practices in neuroscience and adult learning to support communication, collaboration and performance. Her focus is on psychological safety, cognitive flexibility and the science of play as tools for improving how people communicate, collaborate and perform at work. She partners with organizations and professional groups to translate complex concepts into practical, actionable strategies and is known for creating learning experiences that are interactive, reflective and immediately applicable, with a style that is both grounded and refreshingly human. She can often be found skiing, spending time with her husband Mike, their teenage son Hudson and their scruffy dog Quincy, cheering on the Carolina Panthers, or creating yet another “scribble bird.”
Linnéa Johnson is a parent advocate and the mother of the child featured in this case study and has been actively involved in all aspects of their communication/ development and intervention. Her contributions to this case study include detailed observations and collaboration with the clinician, offering a unique caregiver perspective on the foundational aspect of the caregiver-provider team. She is a part of this collaboration because of her daughter Roe and the many children like her. Communication is not a privilege nor something to be earned. It is a basic human right that all should have access to. Raising a child that struggles to be understood and truly heard every single day of her life has lit a fire within her that is only growing with each step back and step forward. As parents we simply want our children to have a voice in this world regardless of how it is communicated. Roe’s AAC device and the work surrounding it is not only allowing her to tell us her basic needs, but she is able to find her path to autonomy, advocacy and increased safety. Every child and family deserves to have transformative therapeutic support that looks beyond the child’s struggle, but sees the child and family as a whole.
Pui Fong Kan is a professor in the department of speech, language, and hearing sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder. Her research focuses on clinical issues related to her background as a licensed speech-language pathologist. Her main area of research centers on language development in both typically developing bilingual children and bilingual children with language impairments. Her ongoing projects explore clinical assessment and intervention for bilingual children.
Holly Kleiber is a clinical assistant professor and the director of SLP clinical education at the University of Colorado Boulder. She has had the honor of working with older adults, including those at the end of their lives, for more than 15 years. She believes in the importance of training graduate students to participate in ethical and meaningful end-of-life care and discussions. Holly is the speech-language pathology program coordinator for the Multidisciplinary Geriatrics Certificate Program that is offered through the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.
Eloise Koehler began her career as a middle school science teacher and later earned an MBA in Nonprofit Management. Eloise is also the mother of a medically fragile child, which has shaped her understanding of advocacy, accessibility and the importance of building systems that truly support families.
Jodi Krause is dually endorsed as a general and special education teacher and began teaching special education in Denver, Colorado in 2004. In 2010, Jodi joined the outpatient learning services team at Children’s Hospital Colorado (CHCO) as a diagnostician and learning therapist for students with developmental reading disabilities. She expanded her role to the inpatient team in 2011-2012, providing bedside instruction and care coordination across all major medical units before specializing in neurorehabilitation and launching the multidisciplinary inpatient classroom on the rehab unit. In 2017, Jodi transitioned to the outpatient setting and continued to build the neurorehabilitation school program model before expanding to all outpatient rehab clinics in 2022.
Cameron Kruis is the preschool/elementary autism team lead within the Speech-Language Pathology and Learning department at Children’s Hospital Colorado. Cameron is a certified DIRFloortime® Expert Training Leader and holds certifications in Hanen® More Than Words ® and TalkAbilityTM caregiver education courses. In addition to parent education, she provides relationship-based, play-centered therapy for individuals, in groups and multidisciplinary developmental evaluations.
Colleen Krummenacker is an AAC specialist for Numotion Speech Solutions. Previously, Colleen was a school-based and home-health SLP. She also owned and operated Speech Inspired, LLC. In these roles, she evaluated and treated children with a wide range of communication needs. Her experiences include supporting AAC evaluations with customized solutions, including determining access methods, feature matching software and assisting with trials and the funding process. Colleen believes in continuing education for SLPs, families and multidisciplinary teams. She has a passion for mentoring new SLPs in the AAC process.
Olivia Kunevicius is a family member caregiver and advocate who supported her sister, Jessica, through years of recovery following a sudden cardiac arrest at age 40 that resulted in a severe anoxic brain injury. Through her family’s experience navigating rehabilitation at Craig Hospital and working closely with speech-language pathologists, Olivia gained firsthand insight into the profound impact of cognitive-communication therapy on recovery, independence and quality of life after brain injury. In her professional life, Olivia is a realtor who discovered a passion for serving healthcare professionals out of deep gratitude for the extraordinary care Jessica received throughout her recovery journey.
E. Danielle Maglinte is a speech-language pathologist and AT consultant in early intervention. As a speech-language pathologist. Danielle has experience working with children with a range of communication challenges and children who use AAC devices, including children who use alternate access methods. Before becoming a speech-language pathologist, Danielle worked as an AAC consultant for PRC-Saltillo educating and supporting caregivers whose loved ones used AAC and professionals who provided evaluations and therapy to people who use AAC. Danielle was first introduced to AAC as an early childhood special education teacher in a classroom for children with multiple disabilities who had limited verbal communication or difficulty with intelligibility. Danielle is committed to providing young children with the opportunity to increase communication options and promote language development while continuing to work on speech.
Caroline Mancuso is a pediatric speech-language pathologist and owner of aLINEment Therapy in the south Denver metro area. With more than 20 years of experience across early intervention, preschool settings and private practice, she specializes in supporting the communication development of very young children through play-based, family-centered care. Her work emphasizes early identification and intervention for children demonstrating signs of motor speech challenges, including suspected childhood apraxia of speech, with a strong focus on empowering caregivers. She is listed in the Apraxia Kids provider directory and is recognized for advanced training and expertise in childhood apraxia of speech. Caroline’s approach is also informed by her background as a certified yoga teacher, supporting a whole-child, regulation-informed perspective. Outside of work, she enjoys skiing, hiking, paddle boarding, time with her family and dog and learning about the brain and how it shapes connection and communication.
Anna Ortlip-Hume is a speech-language pathologist with a passion for neurorehabilitation, functional goal setting, and TBI advocacy. She has worked in a variety of medical settings (acute care, inpatient rehab, outpatient neurorehabilitation) with both pediatric and adult populations. Currently, she is working at Children’s Hospital Colorado in the Bridge Program, a intensive outpatient interdisciplinary program for children with acquired brain injuries.
Kristina Peterkin is an assistant professor in the Rockhurst University Speech Language Pathology Program and serves as the multisite clinic coordinator for the Regis University and Creighton University satellite sites. For many years she has been providing and supervising clinical services for a variety communication delays and disorders across the lifespan, including pediatric speech sound disorders. She has cultivated clinical expertise in a wide array of areas, including speech sound.
Amy Peterson is an assistant professor at the University of Wyoming in the Division of Communication Disorders. She is the director of the Adolescent Language Intervention, Applications, and Strategies (ALIAS) Lab. Her research is primarily focused on implementation science, or finding ways to support speech-language pathologists and other educational professionals in providing adolescent services and aligning services to the curriculum. Her work also focuses on interventions for students with language disorders, which includes those who have difficulty with literacy skills in reading and writing across curricular areas. Amy is a certified speech-language pathologist with eight years of clinical practice as a school-based SLP prior to earning her doctorate from Utah State University in 2022. She earned her master’s degree in speech-language pathology in 2010 from the University of Wyoming. Amy is also the current past president of the Wyoming Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
Chelsea Randall is a speech-language pathologist and board certified specialist in swallowing and swallowing disorders, certified neonatal therapist, and NIDCAP professional. She has more than 10 years of experience providing evaluation and treatment of feeding and swallowing disorders in the NICU and especially enjoys working with infants with aerodigestive anomalies and rare genetic disorders.
Nicholas Raymond is a speech-language pathologist with clinical specialties in voice/upper airway and swallowing disorders in both adult and pediatric populations. He works in both hospital settings and in home health across the Denver metro area. His specific specialty experience at National Jewish Health includes focus on ILO/EILO and BPD.
Tara Roehl owns a Colorado-based private telepractice clinic specializing in social cognition, executive functioning and innovative technology in therapy. She is co-founder and president of Hacking Autism and creator of The Telepractice Course, with extensive experience across private practice, schools and international telepractice.
Jessica Rossi-Katz is a professor at MSU Denver. She was the founding chair of the department of speech, language, hearing sciences and the inaugural program director of the Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology. Originally trained in hearing processes, listening to diverse perspectives is now one of the most prominent features of her work. Her current scholarship focuses on how contemplative practices may improve well-being in healthcare students, with a goal of creating interconnected and expanding communities of care across her campus community.
Laura Smith is the clinical director and owner of A Mile High Speech Therapy, where she specializes in childhood motor speech disorders. She has presented nationally on childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) and related topics, and is deeply committed to advancing awareness and education through both her clinical work and personal experience as the parent of a daughter with CAS, dysarthria and developmental language disorder. Laura is the author of Overcoming Apraxia and serves as chair of the Professional Advisory Committee for the Apraxia Foundation. She also coordinates the annual Denver Apraxia Fall Festival and contributes to publications including the ASHA Wire, The Mighty and her website, slpmommyofapraxia.com. In recognition of her advocacy efforts, she received the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Media Award for generating national awareness of apraxia, as well as the ACE Award for continuing education focused on childhood motor speech disorders.
Lindsay M. Stevens is a speech-language pathologist based in Phoenix, Arizona, with more than 24 years of experience specializing in pediatric feeding and swallowing disorders. She currently practices in the Neonatal Intensive Care Units at Dignity Health’s St. Joseph’s Hospital in Phoenix and HonorHealth Shea Medical Center in Scottsdale. In addition to her clinical work, she supervises speech-language pathology assistants and serves as a clinical educator with Parapharma Tech. Lindsay is the founder of Stevens Speech Pathology, a practice dedicated to advancing clinician education in pediatric feeding and dysphagia. She also developed a training program designed to equip therapists with practical, evidence-informed strategies for managing pediatric feeding disorders. Prior to her current roles, Lindsay spent nearly 16 years at Phoenix Children’s Hospital, where she worked across neonatal, cardiac and pediatric intensive care units, as well as inpatient rehabilitation and outpatient programs. As the inaugural clinical specialist in speech pathology for the rehabilitation department, she played a key role in advancing research and transdisciplinary education and co-led the Pediatric Feeding Disorders Program in collaboration with rehabilitation, gastroenterology, and aerodigestive teams. Lindsay has earned multiple ASHA ACE Awards in recognition of her commitment to continuing education. She is currently pursuing her Certified Lactation Counselor (CLC) credential and working toward board certification in swallowing and swallowing disorders. Her clinical expertise is further shaped by personal experience, as both of her children faced dysphagia and feeding challenges, deepening her commitment to compassionate, family-centered care.
Conner Vergoz is a speech-language pathologist with specialty experience in voice and upper airway disorders including BPD, ILO, EILO and refractory chronic cough across the lifespan. He has specific specialty experience in visualization of the larynx with videostroboscopy and fiber-optic endoscopic evaluations of swallowing.
Kristen Mascareñas Wendling is a bilingual speech-language pathologist with more than 14 years of experience in acquired brain injury rehabilitation. Her clinical expertise spans aphasia, AAC, assistive technology, disorders of consciousness and dysphagia. After walking alongside her mother-in-law at the end of her life, Kristen became a passionate advocate for transforming how we approach end-of-life care. She believes every discipline that touches this space, including SLPs, has both the responsibility and the opportunity to do better for patients and families navigating life’s most vulnerable chapters. Currently an MBA candidate at the University of Colorado Boulder and a High Growth Venture Fellow, Kristen brings clinical depth and systems-level thinking to the urgent work of reimagining holistic, end-of-life care.
Peyton Wilken is a third-year audiology docotoral student at the University of Colorado Boulder. With lived experience of ADHD and auditory processing disorder, she is passionate about neurodiversity and has a strong clinical interest in supporting individuals with auditory processing differences.
Caroline Woeber is a board-certified specialist in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). She earned a bachelor’s degree in Spanish from the University of Florida and a master’s degree in communications sciences and disorders from the University of Central Florida. She conducts AAC evaluations, diagnostic therapy and ongoing therapy to support individuals with complex communication needs. She is the lead speech therapist for the Chromosome 15 and Related Disorders Clinic, which serves Angelman Syndrome, CHD2, Duplication 15q as well as Angelman-like syndromes, such as Pitt Hopkins Syndrome. Caroline is passionate about providing training and hands on experience to communication partners to support the communication of individuals who use AAC.