Michele is a licensed speech and language pathologist, who works primarily with children diagnosed on the autistic spectrum. She has been in private practice since 1997 and worked in an early childhood school setting prior to that. Michele consults in many public school districts in Illinois and is one of three founders of a private school (Soaring Eagle Academy) for children with special needs that uses developmental language intervention and incorporates DIR® into its academic programming. Soaring Eagle Academy provides integrated programming to meet each child’s unique needs. Michele supports the curriculum development and implementation at Soaring Eagle Academy. Michele is a trainer and faculty for Profectum, an organization that uses the DIR® model as a framework for supporting children and families. Michele has a master’s degree in Speech and Language Pathology from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois (1995). She also holds an undergraduate degree in communicative disorders from University of the Pacific in Stockton, California (1993). Michele is also a mother of three children and has learned the most about development and language acquisition through her interactions and experience as a parent.