Michael is a Lead Speech-Language Pathologist at Skill Builders LLC. He sees children and adults individually both in the McLean clinic and through tele-therapy both nationally and internationally.
Michael earned his bachelor’s in Developmental Psychology from George Mason University. He worked with a variety of populations and ages in group homes, vocational training programs, skilled nursing facilities, and early intervention programs before becoming Executive Director for a group of early childhood education programs in New Hampshire. He attended the University of New Hampshire to earn his master’s in Communication Disorders and then the Antioch New England University to earn an advanced Masters Certificate in Autism. He worked as an SLP with New England school districts for ten years, working with all grade levels including early intervention. He coordinated the Speech Language Pathology Assistant programs for New Hampshire, teaching courses and setting-up internships within public schools. He is currently earning his Certification as an Oral Facial Myologist (COM) with the IAOM.
Michael has recently focused his advanced training in the areas of auditory processing, feeding, and oral myofunctional therapies. He is a member of IAOM (International Association of Orofacial Myology), the AOMT (Academy of Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy), and IGAPS (International Guild of Auditory Processing Specialists). He is the coordinator of the Sleep and Airway Group of the DMV.
He has been trained in Beckman Advanced Massage, CranioSacral massage, and Kinesiology taping, as well as IAOM, AOMT, Neuro-Developmental, Progressive Oral Sensory-Motor, Marshalla Oral-Motor, Boshart Oral-Motor, TalkTools, MORE, and PROMPT therapies.
Michael has also completed advanced trainings in feeding therapy, including SOS Advanced, AEIOU, Mealtime, TalkTools, Dynamic Feeding, and Picky Eaters & Problem Feeders approaches.
Additionally, Michael is certified in Therapeutic Listening/Vital Links, Interactive Metronome, CapDots. Acoustic Pioneer, and SoundStorm auditory process programs, along with a variety of Lindamood-Bell programs. He has trained with audiologists Drs. Jack Katz (Buffalo Model), Jay Lucker, Larry Medwetsky, Frank Musiek, Carol Lau, Matt Barker, Kavita Kaul, Christa Reeves, and others.
Michael prefers to take a holistic approach in the clinic, observing and determining how functional skills are being affected by any underlying concerns, and determining how addressing more foundational concerns (primitive reflex integration, sensory processing, neurodevelopmental processing, early motor movement patterns, etc.) can improve quality of life.
In his free time, Michael enjoys traveling with his children and grandchildren, especially to National Parks and Disney parks.