Mysteries of Muscle Memory and AAC

Michelle Dawson, MS, CCC-SLP, CLC, BCS-S, serves as the Director of Clinical Education and Assistant Professor with James Madison University. Additionally, she is the acclaimed host of “First Bite: Fed, Fun, Functional” a weekly Speech Therapy Podcast that addresses “all thangs” Pediatric Speech Therapy, and is presented by SpeechTherapyPD.com. 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 the medically complex infant, toddlers, and children with respect to their pediatric oropharyngeal dysphagia, pediatric feeding disorder, as well as language acquisition within the framework of Early Intervention. She has served as the Treasurer for the Council of State Association Presidents (CSAP), is a Past President of the South Carolina Speech, Language, and Hearing Association (SCSHA), a graduate of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association’s Leadership Development Program (ASHA LDP), a recipient of the Pediatric Feeding Disorder Awareness Champion from Feeding Matters, a recipient of the Louis M. DiCarlo Award for Outstanding Clinical Achievement from the SCSHA, a recipient of the State Clinical Achievement Award from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association’s Foundation, recognized as an ASHA Innovator in 2023, and ten-time recipient of ASHA’s ACE Award for continuing education.

Becca Hoke received her Bachelor's degree in Communication Disorders from Kutztown University and her Master's Degree in Speech-Language Pathology from West Chester University. She has been a speech-language pathologist since 2003. Previously she worked with preschool children to young adults in a range of school settings in the Pennsylvania school system, but primarily in self-contained programs for students with intellectual disabilities, autism and physical disabilities. Recently she was a full-time SLP at a LAMP Center of Excellence in South Central Pennsylvania. Currently Becca is employed full time with the Center for AAC and Autism as a LAMP Educator. She specializes in Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC), working with children who have complex communication needs. In addition to providing direct services to students, she has worked as an AAC consultant within the school setting, collaborating with and training educational teams to select and implement AAC in the educational environment. She has experience presenting nationally to SLPs, teachers, assistants, families, and therapists on implementing the LAMP therapy approach and using the LAMP Words for Life Vocabulary.