Our Team

Carmen was honored to receive her first job with the Warrensburg Public School District as Speech-Language Pathologist for the Early Childhood Special Education Program. Carmen worked closely with students, parents, teachers, and therapists over the next six years assessing and treating a variety of speech and language disorders, developing and implementing Individualized Education Plans, and learning how to manage student behaviors. It was here that she developed her passion for working with this population. Carmen left the Warrensburg Public Schools in search of part-time employment due to the birth of her first son, Nolan. Carmen accepted a part-time position with Western Missouri Medical Center in Warrensburg, Missouri, as a pediatric outpatient Speech-Language Pathologist. Carmen immensely enjoyed working one-on-one with pediatric patients and their families and quickly saw the importance and effectiveness of parental involvement within the treatment setting as well as in the home environment. In 2012, Carmen and her husband were delighted to find out they were expecting identical twin boys; however, at 20 weeks, they discovered their boys were suffering from Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS). (www.tttsfoundation.org) Tyson and Carmen lost their son, Luke, due to the disease that April. Carmen was monitored closely at the University of Kansas Hospital and welcomed the birth of their son, Lane, at 32.6 weeks. Lane spent 9 weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Carmen gained a lot of perspective through this experience about pediatric feeding and swallowing and the emotional roller-coaster of having a child in the NICU. Lane received occupation and physical therapy through the Missouri First Steps program from the first 6 months he was home. The family was responsible for following through with Lane’s home programming. Carmen continued at Western Missouri Medial Center for three years before returning to the public school system. In 2014, Carmen and her family moved to her home town of Clinton, Missouri. She became the Speech-Language Pathologist for the Early Childhood Program and served for one year before opening her private practice. Carmen immensely enjoyed working one-on-one with pediatric patients and their families and quickly saw the importance and effectiveness of parental involvement within the treatment setting as well as in the home environment. Carmen has a strong clinical background in early childhood speech and language development which includes phonological processing disorders, articulation, childhood apraxia of speech, receptive language and auditory comprehension and memory, expressive language, and Autism Spectrum Disorders. She enjoys challenging patients and loves working with families. Carmen never stops learning and is always looking for new tools/strategies for her therapy toolbox. Carmen has completed her certification in Orofacial Myology (COM) through the International Association of Orofacial Myology (IAOM) in March of 2019.