Michelle L. W. Dawson, MS CCC-SLP, CLC, BCS-S, FNAP

Michelle Dawson, MS, CCC-SLP, CLC, BCS-S, FNAP works for Augusta County Public School as a full-time early intervention speech-language pathologist with the Infant and Toddler Connection of Augusta-Highland in Staunton, VA. Additionally, she is the acclaimed host of “First Bite: Fed, Fun, Functional” a weekly speech therapy podcast that addresses “all thangs” of pediatric speech therapy and is presented by Speech Therapy PD. Michelle authored “Chasing the Swallow: Truth, Science, and Hope for Pediatric Feeding and Swallowing Disorders“. She is an accomplished lecturer, traveling across the nation delivering courses on best practices for the evaluation and treatment of medically complex infants, toddlers, and children with pediatric oropharyngeal dysphagia, pediatric feeding disorder, and language acquisition within the framework of Early Intervention. She is a prolific professional volunteer, having served twice as the Topic Chair for the Pediatric Feeding and Swallowing Disorders Committee for the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Annual Convention, as Treasurer for the Council of State Association Presidents (CSAP), as a Past President of the South Carolina Speech, Language, and Hearing Association (SCSHA), a board of trustee member for the Communication Disorder Foundation of Virginia (CDF), and cofounding the Swallowing and Feeding Group for the Speech-Language-Hearing Association of Virginia. She is a graduate of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association’s Leadership Development Program (ASHA LDP), and a recipient of the PFD Systems Innovator Award and the Pediatric Feeding Disorder Awareness Champion from Feeding Matters, the Louis M. DiCarlo Award for Outstanding Clinical Achievement from the SCSHA, the State Clinical Achievement Award from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association’s Foundation, recognized as an ASHA Innovator, and a thirteen-time recipient of ASHA’s ACE Award for continuing education.