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

Raquel Garcia, SLPD, CCC-SLP, CNT, BCS-S, is a trained craniofacial and feeding specialist who has worked in infant critical care units for the past 11 years. She has lectured at the national and state level on infant and pediatric feeding disorders. She graduated with her MS in communication disorders from Nova Southeastern University and her doctorate of speech-language pathology from Northwestern University. Her clinical interests include neonatal care, congenital heart disease, upper airway disorders, infant FEES, and parental health literacy.

Financial Disclosures:

• Financial compensation from ASHA for this presentation

Nonfinancial Disclosures:

• ASHA Hispanic Caucus, Vice President of Professional Practices
• ASHA SIG 13 Coordinating Committee, Member at Large 
• Feeding Matters, Conference Committee
• NANT, Peer Reviewer 
• Dysphagia Outreach Project (DOP), Director of Pediatric Affairs
• Dysphagia Research Society, Social Media Committee

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

Kara Fletcher Larson, MS, CCC-SLP, is a pediatric speech-language pathologist at Boston Children's Hospital, where she has worked for 21 years. She is the Clinical Coordinator of the Outpatient Feeding & Swallowing Program. Kara is also the lead clinician in the Aerodigestive Center. She conducts research in the area of pediatric aerodigestive disorders and dysphagia. She also is part-time faculty at Boston University and Emerson College at the graduate level. She resides south of Boston with her family and enjoys skiing, boating, and cooking.

Financial Disclosures:

• Financial compensation from ASHA for this presentation

Nonfinancial Disclosures:

• None

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

Brianna Miluk, MS, CCC-SLP, CLC, is a speech-language pathologist and certified lactation counselor from Greenville, SC, who provides home and outpatient-based services to infants and medically complex children. She specializes in pediatric feeding disorders, which she enjoys talking about in her continuing education courses and mentorship programs and on her podcast. Bri strives to provide collaborative and compassionate family-centered care.

Financial Disclosures:

• Salary from Pennsylvania Western University
• Owner of Pediatric Feeding Therapy, LLC
• Contract SLP for Earthshine Speech and Language and My Little Eater
• Financial compensation from ASHA for this presentation

Nonfinancial Disclosures:

• President of Pediatric Feeding Disorders Foundation
• Conference committee for Feeding Matters

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

Kathleen Riley, AuD, CCC-A (she/her/hers) is an educational audiologist with 40 years of experience working with children with hearing loss, their families, and service providers. She retired from Delaware School for the Deaf and Statewide Programs for Deaf, Hard of Hearing and Deaf Blind in 2017. Kathi has taught coursework in AuD and SLP programs at the graduate and undergraduate levels since 2014. Kathi serves as the VP of Advocacy for the Educational Audiology Association (EAA), where she leads a team to write best practice guidance documents for educational audiologists. Within that role, Dr. Riley has been involved in numerous ad hoc committees through EAA and ASHA to promote educational audiology services and erase access barriers for children with hearing differences. Dr. Riley is also involved in a number of committees at the state level.

Disclosures:

• 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

Caitlin Stacy, MS, CCC-SLP, LSLS Cert. AVT (she/her/hers) is a certified Listening and Spoken Language Specialist in Auditory Verbal Therapy, and a licensed speech-language pathologist who specializes in working with children who are deaf and hard of hearing. She received a bachelor's degree in communication sciences and disorders from Butler University in Indianapolis, and a master's degree in speech-language pathology from Fontbonne University in St. Louis. She has been working in the Early Intervention department at St. Joseph Hearing + Speech for over 10 years and is the lead of St. Joseph's early intervention agency through Indiana's Part C intervention system, First Steps.

Disclosures:

• None

Julie Verhoff, AuD, PhD, CCC-A (she/her/hers) is the audiology manager at Nemours Children's Health, with locations in Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. She is an active member of ASHA and chaired the Political Action Committee (PAC); volunteered as a member of the Government Relations and Public Policy Board (GRPPB), National Association for Hearing and Speech Action (NAHSA), and Continuing Education Board (CEB); contributed as a subject matter expert for audiology and the ASHA Practice Portal on cochlear implants for children; and is a proud Minority Student Leadership Program alumna and Research Travel Awardee. She is currently the vice-chair of the Delaware Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) board, and 2025 ASHA Convention Planning Committee volunteer for the topic Balance, Tinnitus – Assessment and Intervention: Pediatric. She enjoys engaging in community outreach and collaboration at the local, state, national, and international level to promote sharing of knowledge and ideas in order to achieve best outcomes for children with hearing differences.

Disclosures:

• Salary from Nemours Children's Health
• Vice-chair for Delaware Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) board
• Reviewer for 2025 ASHA Convention Planning Committee Topic Balance, Tinnitus – Assessment and Intervention: Pediatric
• Member of ASHA, American Academy of Audiology, American Cochlear Implant Alliance, and Educational Audiology Association

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 

Ashley Wiley Johnson, PhD, CCC-SLP (she/her/hers) is the vice president of the Los Angeles Speech & Language Therapy Center, a family-owned business that has been a leader in supporting individuals with autism and other special needs for over 46 years. As a second-generation speech-language pathologist, she manages a team of licensed professionals providing services in early intervention, social skills classes, summer programs, employment readiness initiatives, and both typical and therapeutic preschool programs across five locations in Los Angeles County. Ashley consults with school districts and charter schools to enhance their delivery of speech and language services for students with special needs, focusing on the overidentification of African American and Latino students in special education. Collaboration is central to her work; she serves as an advisor for the California Healthcare Foundation Healthforce Fellowship, mentoring emerging health care leaders in developing essential skills and partnerships. In addition to frequent media appearances as an topic expert in early intervention and autism, Ashley is also the author of Autism Spectrum Disorders: From Theory to Practice, a book that has garnered international acclaim and was recently translated into Mandarin for release in China. Her dedication to improving services for individuals with special needs continues to make a significant impact.

Disclosures:

• Royalties for authorship of Autism Spectrum Disorders: From Theory to Practice 
• Salary from Los Angeles Speech and Language Therapy Center 

Emily Zimmerman, PhD, CCC-SLP, is an Associate Professor of Communication Sciences & Disorders at Northeastern University. She directs the Speech & Neurodevelopment Lab, which examines the cross section of sucking, feeding, and speech emergence across environmental, maternal, physiological, and genetic factors. Dr. Zimmerman is the principal investigator on several NIH grants examining these themes across patient populations.

Financial Disclosures:

• Salary from Northeastern University
• Grant funding from NIH
• Financial compensation from ASHA for this presentation

Nonfinancial Disclosures:

• None

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