Michelle L.W. Dawson, MS CCC-SLP

Michelle L. W. Dawson, MS CCC-SLP has had the pleasure of residing in Columbia, SC since January 2012.  She completed her BS in Speech Language Pathology from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA in 2005, and her MS in Communicative Sciences and Disorders from James Madison University in 2009.  She graduated Magna Cum Laude from both universities.  She started her career in 2006 as an SLPA in a rural public school with an average caseload of 56 students. 

Upon completion of her MS, she went to work for Riverside Walter Reed Hospital where she was the first full-time SLP in the hospital’s history.  At this location, she advocated for implementation of an oral care protocol, establishment of ST involvement/treatment of oncology patients with the “Tumor Board”, as well as advocacy for establishment of MBSS capabilities at the facility.  
In January 2012 she and her husband were called to SC. Since that time, she has primarily worked as an Early Intervention/Home Health Speech Language Pathologist, specializing in the treatment of medically fragile and complex etiology cases. Over the last few years, she has been working towards her BCS-S licensure, received an ASHA ACE Award (January 2016 and February 2017), been blessed to have trained USC Graduate Interns, and delivered numerous guest lectures to SLP students and Nursing students on topics such as “What is it like to be an SLP?” and “Aspiration Precautions”. 
Michelle was raised that if one wishes to see change in the world, then they should be the source of that change.  As such, she began seeking positive change in SC in 2013, when she started advocating with Babynet to allow SLPs to treat oropharyngeal dysphagia in the birth to 3 population.  This became a reality in 2014, coinciding with the birth of her second son.  After volunteering at the 2015 SCSHA convention, she was nominated and subsequently voted into the position of VP of Governmental Affairs (2015-2017).  While serving on the board, she has continued to advocate for changes with Babynet.  She is excited to see her dedication begin to pay off and benefit all SLP/As that provide services in this setting, as BN has adopted SCSHA’s recommendations of improved CPT coding and CFY access to BRIDGES.  She is continuing her advocacy endeavors in attempting to obtain PMH access for BN service providers.  She is also serving SCSHA, (SC Speech Language and Hearing Association), in the role as President Elect (2017) and SCSHA Convention Chair for the 60th Anniversary Convention in 2018. 
She has previously served SCSHA as President Elect-Elect (2016), VP of Governmental Affairs (2015-2017), and SCSHA Convention Co-Chair for 2016 and 2017.  Michelle’s dedication to the field, advocacy, and eager-to-learn spirit were recognized by ASHA, when she was 1 of 30 applicants from the nation accepted into the 2016-2017 Leadership Cohort, where she worked to hone her craft as a leader. Michelle was recently elected as the Treasurer for the Council of State Association Presidents (CSAP) and will begin her two-year term starting January 1st, 2018.  This opportunity will allow Michelle the privilege of working with other volunteer leaders from State Associations and ASHA to collaborate and effect change for current challenges facing the fields of Speech Language Pathology and Audiology. 
Michelle is an accomplished lecturer and has written and given numerous ASHA approved CEU lectures on such topics as Infantile Spasm and Oropharyngeal Dysphagia, along with Apps and ST, and co-authored a course on Best Practices in EI.  She has also given an AOTA-approved lecture on Sensory Integration from the SLP perspective.  Michelle has delivered lectures at the SCSHA Convention and twice with the SCATP Expo.  She currently travels with Vyne Education, LLC as a national lecturer on “Pediatric Dysphagia” and has several webinars with Speech Therapy PD, LLC, all of which are available for CEUs.​


Recent Accolades:

Testimonials 

"We truly can't say enough good things about Michelle Dawson and the work she's done with our 2 1/2 year old son. She began feeding therapy with him when he was only 2 months old, teaching us how to safely feed our fragile boy without making his health issues worse. Oliver was born with a congenital heart defect as well as Down Syndrome. He was never able to latch for breastfeeding and bottle feeding didn't come easy to him either, especially for the first 6 months of life prior to his open heart surgery. We've had to face many, many hospitalizations and additional diagnoses but Michelle has always been a constant support to us- a wealth of knowledge when it comes to anything feeding related, always thoroughly and patiently answering any questions we have. And most importantly, she has been a friend, consistently in our corner and always one of Oliver's biggest cheerleaders! ​
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​“We were referred to Michelle by the NICU, after my son was born at 27 weeks. He had a difficult time grasping how to latch on to the bottle. Michelle came in and made feedings smoother with simple techniques. She is dedicated and compassionate about what she does. She explained the how's and whys of the methods used and it worked now he is drinking bottles with no problem, and eating from a spoon like a champ!!”
- Breeah C. May 2017
One of the greatest reasons I so admire Michelle is her constant desire and passion to learn more and teach others. Because of her expertise in swallowing disorders she was able to recognize some abnormal signs in Oliver that no other medical professional had previously commented on. Ollie has had very evident swallowing difficulties and a constant stridor (wheezing sound caused by disrupted airflow due to an issue with the larynx or trachea) basically since birth. In 2015 Michelle began to suspect that he may have something called laryngomalacia or a laryngeal cleft (defects of the larynx). Neither of these are especially common diagnoses and we of course had never heard of either of them. But she was right! Oliver was ultimately diagnosed with both of these defects as well as a third, tracheomalacia (defect of the trachea). He had surgery for the laryngomalacia in April of 2016 and having that repaired has helped substantially with his weight gain and overall growth and development! I feel sure that without Michelle's expertise and diligence, Oliver would still not be diagnosed with any of these defects today, thus failing to grow or meet milestones and would be more fragile and weak than he already is today. Our family will be forever grateful to her for that. And lastly, she makes therapy so fun for him! Lot's of songs, signing and silly sounds to encourage his speech! Again,our family can not say enough good things about this wonderful speech therapist!"
- Megan B. February, 2017

"Absolutely amazing, can't say enough, after our son's sessions with Mrs. Michelle, he is not only adjusting to his hearing loss, he is excelling with it. Her therapy has allowed Abel to adapt and his vocabulary both in spoken words and signs grows every day. Thank You Very, Very Much
- Kim B. November 2017 

Michelle has been an amazing speech therapist for us! We were referred to Michelle after NICU for speech to help with dysphagia and suck & swallow reflexes.  A year ago our daughter wasn’t able to eat or drink anything by mouth and now has drastically improved and is able to eat some solid foods by mouth.  Our last speech therapist was pretty good with treatment, but Michelle goes above & beyond. Now we are able to go to inclusive speech clinics at MUSC, have gotten tons of advice on feeding & aversions.  We have also gotten tons of medical advice from Michelle’s research and lectures that resonate on a broader
scale; cognitively, a sensory approach, and food-age (coined by Michelle) that is able to able to communicate to us where we understand.  The support we have gotten as parents of a special needs child from Michelle has helped us so much transitioning into new stages, available resources, and emotional support even.  We can’t say enough good things about Michelle and always look forward to our weekly therapy session! I highly recommend Michelle to any parent who has a child with speech and feeding difficulties and especially special needs parents!”
- Terran W. August 2017
I’m not even sure where to begin. We have been through a few Speech Therapists and no one is able to work with Ben like she does. He has come leaps and bounds with his speech. The pediatrician used the words amazing and phenomenal. Ben hated speech therapy until “my Michelle” came along. He absolutely loves her and it will be bittersweet when he no longer needs Speech. I’m so glad we were lucky enough to snag her. She has been a blessing and we will always consider her a forever friend.
- Danielle A. July 2018
“Michelle has been working with my daughter for the past couple years and it is unbelievable the progress she has made. Now she won't stop talking! She has also gone from 100% tube feeding to 100% calories by mouth. We are so thankful for her progress and Michelle works super hard to advocate for her complicated little patients. She has been a blessing to our family and we would recommend her to anyone!” - Betsy N. August 2018

“Not even sure how to start on what a blessing this woman has been to our lives. She is technically our 3rd speech therapist to work with my daughter Annalise and has made more progress than any of the others combined in less time. After working with Michelle for less than a year our sweet girl is eating finger foods, has learned to chew and is willing to take purees! She also is finally starting to be willing to try using a straw which was something she was absolutely terrified about previously due to the method of which is was previously presented. In the short time Michelle has entered out family Annalise can sign over 10 signs which was previously at 1, and can verbalize close to 10 words and several two word phrases where as before she could verbalize maybe 4 words. Michelle helped us to find a sign language camp which has helped our family beyond words and she has also helped open doors for Annalise to find doctors to diagnose several health issues that have improved her overall life by leaps and bounds. Michelle has helped us overcome a reflux issue, an aspiration problem nobody else believed was going on to begin with and is helping us navigate our new world with Celiac disease paired with Hirschsprungs disease. Michelle continues to fight for better choices for Annalise with her dietary restrictions and helps us come up with new and creative ways to help her learn to eat, speak and sign. She has gone from a speech therapist to a member of our family who I truly feel blessed to have in our lives. Michelle became our game changer with Annalise's development in so many ways and continues to amaze me with her skill and compassion. Having a therapist you know truly loves your children, not only her patient but her patients siblings is very hard to find. She has become a real friend and I know she will always listen about my gut feelings with Annalise and never just blow me off. She takes what my husband and I say and feel to heart. She thinks outside of the box, and she doesn't ever give up, when one thing doesn't work, she simply finds a new thing to try. We couldn't be more grateful to have her as our daughters speech therapist and we can never thank her enough for all she has done and continues to do.” - June J. October, 2018