Overview
Michelle (she/her) is a New Zealand registered speech language therapist. She has over 20 years of experience working across government sectors with both children and adults. Michelle has experience in child language, behaviour support, adult communication, behaviour support, paediatric swallowing, dysfluency intervention, and autism diagnosis. Her passion is working with the neurodivergent community, particularly autistic individuals and their whānau, supporting them to understand how neurodivergence impacts their world and how to adapt their environment to meet their personal needs.
Skills and Experience
Michelle is from Maryland, USA. She received her master’s degree in Speech Therapy from San Diego State University prior to moving to New Zealand at the age of 23. She later completed her PhD through the Educational Psychology program at Victoria University in Wellington. She has had additional training in dysfluency, positive behaviour support, supervision, motivational interviewing, and trauma informed care. Currently Michelle is the Service Lead for the Diagnostic Service at Autism New Zealand, works with children and adolescents through High and Complex Needs, provides online training for teachers and support staff on autism, and is a supervisor.
Michelle has been in New Zealand for over 20 years now. She is the proud mother of 3 neurodivergent children and identifies as neurodivergent following her diagnosis of ADHD 3 years ago.
