Why choose us?
Our Roots
Michelle was originally hired out of her internship to work with adults with brain injuries. She knew she wanted to work in the schools to spend time with her family. School employment has allowed for ample continuing education opportunities, advocacy, and team collaboration to best support Michigan’s birth-26 year old population in and outside of school services. She began her private practice in 2003.
Through school services, Michelle saw a disproportionate amount of her students with articulation impairments struggling to learn, having more behavior difficulties, and more medical issues (namely asthma and allergies). Too many kids had “apraxia” diagnoses without the tell-tale symptom of difficulty producing vowels. Most puzzling: observing a 3rd grade gym class where 5 of the 6 slowest runners were students with articulation difficulties.
Nothing made sense until she became trained in orofacial myofunctional disorders (OMDs, or myo); all of these difficulties and observations were explainable, and her patients started making incredible progress with the different myo approach! Patients with over 10 years of speech-language therapy no longer needed services and they were thriving! Michelle’s myo training expands traditional speech-language services to look at the function of the patient’s anatomy and physiology on how they eat, breathe, speak, and sleep -and then their impact on their medical and dental health.
Michelle combines her passion for learning, experiences as a mom and clinician, love of teaching, and heart for trauma-impacted individuals to help you Get Better. Her favorite patients are complex and involved because of the challenge; she loves to use strong clinical skills to weave together a variety of carefully chosen therapy approaches to create patient success.
Michelle and her team of educators, therapists, physicians, and dentists are ready to support you and your journey. Choosing a medical provider is a very important decision. We aim to answer all of your questions and concerns to help you make the best decision for your needs. We encourage you to trust your intuition; you know when things are not quite right.
In our clinic, we believe:
- We are all doing our personal best at each moment
- No one should ever feel shamed
- We all need support from time to time
- All behaviors are a form of communication
- We all want to become a better version ourselves
- You deserve to receive help in a timely manner
- We do our best to schedule all patients in 2 weeks
- We all want to be and feel healthy
- In pediatrics, growing and gaining weight does not always mean healthy
- A restful night’s sleep makes a tremendous impact on our mood and performance
- “That’s just the way they are” and quirks are often a sign of an underlying issue
- We all want to be accepted for who we are, where we are
- You are never too young or too old to reach your next level
- You deserve to receive help in a timely manner
- We are a partnership
- We offer medical insurance reimbursement codes, scholarships, and tips to help you access care
- All patients, regardless of age, have a choice to participate and engage
- Compassion and safety are always felt
- There are many pathways to achieve a goal; we respect your perspectives and choices
- Individual goals are constantly reassessed and services are adapted
- Each clinician has a unique skill set, perspective, and experiences
- Myo and feeding are advanced areas of specialization that require extensive training outside of traditional education
- There is no licensed profession for a “myofunctional therapist,” however it is a clinical topic for specialized clinicians in the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, which all of our clinical staff are
- We are dedicated to obtaining extensive, ongoing continuing education
- We are responsible to provide you with elite services that honor your time and investment in your healthcare
- We work to optimize your long-term medical and dental health by looking for the root cause
- Michelle is licensed to treat patients in Michigan, Ohio, and California