Presenters at Birth to Three: Expanding Your Early Intervention Toolbox

Kristina Blaiser, PhD, CCC-SLP (she/her/hers) is a professor of speech-language pathology at Idaho State University, where she directs the Helping Adults Talk to Children (HATCH) lab. Kristina's research focuses on improving outcomes of young children who are Deaf/Hard of Hearing through supporting the families and providers. Kristina is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Provider Education Committee and the Family Leadership in Language & Learning Center (FL3) Advisory Committee.

Disclosures:

• None

Kelly Caldwell, MA, MS, CCC-SLP, is an accomplished speech-language pathologist with diverse experiences in the field. After earning a Bachelor of Music and a Master of Arts in teaching and teaching band, chorus, and orchestra for 6 years, Kelly’s career took a new direction into speech-language pathology with a Master of Science in communication sciences and disorders from East Carolina University. She works full-time as the lead therapist in a voice clinic in upstate South Carolina. She currently serves the SC Speech-Language Hearing Association as the Vice President of Government Affairs and has also served as an ASHA STAR. In this role, she has served a key role in advocating for early intervention service providers. She tirelessly advocates for the rights and needs of individuals with communication and swallowing disorders for providers in all settings.

Disclosures:

• Financial compensation from ASHA for this presentation
• Vice President of Government Affairs for the SC Speech-Language Hearing Association

Bridgett Collins, MA, CCC-SLP (she/her/hers) is a pediatric outpatient speech-language pathologist and clinical supervisor at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. Her clinical interests include early intervention, augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), co-treatment, and selective mutism. As a supervisor in the speech pathology department, Bridgett focuses on solutions for patient access. To support these efforts, she is involved in various quality improvement and research projects related to early intervention, telehealth, co-treatment, and alternative models of care.

Disclosures:

• Paid employee of Nationwide Children's Hospital

Naomi Grinney, LCSW, IMH-E, IECMHC-C (she/her/hers) has worked in early intervention for the past 11 years and has 20 years of experience working with children, youth, and adults in both private and community organizations. Naomi holds a certfication in Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation from Georgetown University. She is an infant mental health specialist and uniquely trained to support parent and child relationships and address challenges in social emotional development. In her current role with Infant and Toddler Connection, Naomi supervises clinical staff members, serves as an infant mental health liaison with community agencies and providers, develops and implements training, and uses her expertise to support competency of early interventionists. Naomi has an extensive background in reflective practice, clinical supervision, trauma-informed principles, temperament, relationship-based interventions, and attachment. Naomi is passionate about supporting the social-emotional development of children, developing effective interventions, and building family capacity. As the parent of a child who received early intervention services, Naomi brings a shared experience to her role in providing tools and resources to empower parents in supporting their child’s development.

Disclosures:

• Financial compensation from ASHA for this presentation

Mark Guiberson, PhD, CCC-SLP (he/him/his) is a speech-language pathologist, Professor, and Department Head at the University of Wyoming. Before joining UW, he taught at Colorado State University, the University of Colorado Boulder, and the University of Northern Colorado. With extensive experience in early intervention, Mark has worked closely with families of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers across Colorado and Wyoming. Bilingual in Spanish and English, he has served in bilingual and Head Start classrooms, including Harris Bilingual Elementary School and preschool programs in urban Denver. Mark’s research focuses on cultural competence in early interventions and work with children who are Deaf/Hard of Hearing. His recent work includes scoping reviews on language and literacy interventions for culturally and linguistically diverse learners, as well as the use of digital media tutorials to support caregiver-led shared book reading.

Disclosures:

• Financial compensation from ASHA for this presentation

Michelle Miller, MS, CCC-SLP, is a pediatric outpatient speech-language pathologist and speech clinical lead at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. She has more than 20 years of clinical experience working with children with communication disorders and has a special interest in apraxia, feeding and swallowing, and early intervention. Michelle is involved in ongoing early intervention research at Nationwide Children's Hospital.

Disclosures:

• Paid employee of Nationwide Children's Hospital

Naja (pronounced Naya) Ferjan Ramírez, PhD, is an Associate Professor in Linguistics at the University of Washington and holds the Distinguished Professorship in Language Acquisition and Multilingualism Endowment. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in neuroscience from Brown University and her PhD in linguistics and cognitive science from the University of California, San Diego. She completed her post-doctoral training at the Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences at the University of Washington. Naja’s research focuses on understanding the extent and origins of variability in brain growth and linguistic development among young children of diverse backgrounds. She uses multiple methodologies, including naturalistic recordings in children’s homes and early education centers, magnetoencephalography (MEG), and behavioral language measures in the laboratory. Naja is a proud mother of three young children who listen to and speak three languages at home: Slovene, Spanish, and English.

Disclosures:

• Financial compensation from ASHA for this presentation

Mollie Romano, PhD, CCC-SLP (she/her/hers) is an Assistant Professor in the School of Communication Science and Disorders and she is the Director of the Communication and Early Childhood Research and Practice Center at Florida State University. Her research focuses on caregiver implemented interventions to support infants and toddlers with and at risk for disabilities and their families, professional development, implementation science approaches for early childhood providers, and interventions that target prelinguistic communication skills.

Disclosures:

• Financial compensation from ASHA for this presentation
• Collaborates with the developer of FGRBI (Juliann Woods) and associated with FGRBI partners; FGRBI will be referenced heavily in this presentation

Elizabeth A. Rosenzweig, PhD, CCC-SLP, LSLS Cert. AVT (she/her/hers) is an Assistant Professor in Residence at Bradley University. In her private practice, she serves children with hearing loss and their families around the world via telepractice and mentors future Listening and Spoken Language Specialists. Her research interests include trauma-informed care, culturally responsive auditory verbal practice, outcomes for children with hearing loss, and personnel preparation. You can find her at www.AuditoryVerbalTherapy.net.

Disclosures:

• Financial compensation from ASHA for this presentation
• Salary from Bradley University
• Private practice, www.AuditoryVerbalTherapy.net 
• AG Bell Academy Board of Directors, certification committee
• American Cochlear Implant Alliance, NY State Chapter Champion
• Escuchar sin Límites advisor

Ashley Sellers, MS, CCC-SLP (she/her/hers) is an SLP and PhD student in communication science and disorders at Florida State University, studying under Dr. Mollie Romano. She holds a Bachelor of Science from Florida State University and a Master of Science from Northwestern University. Prior to going back to school for her doctorate, she practiced as a pediatric SLP, primarily in early intervention and non-profit clinics. Her research interests include socially valid interventions for minimally verbal/nonspeaking autistic children, and caregiver-mediated interventions. She is interested in bridging research and clinical practice by utilizing implementation science frameworks to examine how interventions can be effectively integrated into real-world settings.

Disclosures:

• Financial compensation from ASHA for this presentation
• Collaborates with the developer of FGRBI (Juliann Woods) and associated with FGRBI partners; FGRBI will be referenced heavily in this presentation

Tanya Shores, Ed.D CCC-SLP (she/her/hers) is a lecturer in the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Central Florida. She has worked in the field of speech-language pathology for 18 years in local school districts, private practice, and in-home settings as well as leading special education and related professionals through public school district administration. Most recently, Dr. Shores served as the Director of Special Education for Seminole County Public Schools. Areas of specialization include autism spectrum disorders, curriculum-relevant therapy, early intervention in natural environments, education policy, and language development.

Disclosures:

• Financial compensation from ASHA for this presentation
• Salary from University of Central Florida
• Volunteer position with the ASHA Board of Ethics

Barbara Weber, MS, CCC-SLP, BCBA, is an SLP in private practice. She is currently serving as the coordinator for the Coordinating Committee for ASHA SIG 12. For the last 20 years, she has been working in early intervention. She has co-authored two books pertaining to early intervention. She has presented on autism spectrrum disorder, augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), and early intervention at state conferences, university graduate programs, schools, and ASHA conventions.

Disclosures:

• Financial compensation from ASHA for this presentation
• Salary from private practice
• Royalties from book sales
• ASHA member
• Coordinator of ASHA SIG 12 Coordinating Committee 

"I was most impressed by the speakers and their depth of knowledge and experience. This was an impressive and memorable learning experience."