Meet The Team

Caroline founded Beyond Speech over 15 years ago with a simple mission: to help children discover just how capable they are. With 24 years of experience as a pediatric speech-language pathologist, she specializes in language, literacy, dyslexia, and reading disorders. She believes every child can learn when given the right support and strives to build not only communication and literacy skills but also confidence, resilience, and a lifelong love of learning.

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In addition to serving families at Beyond Speech, Caroline has been an Adjunct Professor and Clinical Supervisor in the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Speech-Language Pathology graduate program for the past six years, where she teaches graduate students in the area of Literacy Disorders and mentors future speech-language pathologists.

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Caroline is passionate about providing evidence-based intervention and has completed advanced training in numerous nationally recognized literacy programs, including Lindamood-Bell® LiPS®, Seeing Stars®, and Visualizing & Verbalizing®, Reading with TLC, Spell-Links, and Comprehensive Orton-Gillingham training through the Institute for Multi-Sensory Education (IMSE). She is also currently completing coursework toward CERI (Center for Effective Reading Instruction) certification, reflecting her commitment to staying at the forefront of literacy assessment and intervention.  In addition she has completed the Beckman Oral Motor Assessment and Intervention course, the STAR Program for Autism comprehensive workshop, and several courses on Childhood Apraxia. 

 

She sees her role as part teacher and part cheerleader—encouraging children to persevere, celebrate their successes, and understand that mistakes are simply part of learning. Her goal extends far beyond improving communication skills; she wants every child to develop a growth mindset and the confidence to believe they can accomplish anything. She is equally proud of the compassionate team she has built at Beyond Speech and the family-centered care that defines the practice.

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Areas of expertise: Dyslexia & Reading Disorder · Language Disorders · Literacy Assessment & Intervention · Phonological Processing · Reading Comprehension & Written Language

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What she wishes every parent knew: "Early intervention truly matters — and delays are never your fault. There is nothing 'wrong' with your child. Every child learns and communicates in their own unique way, and every child has strengths, potential, and something special to offer the world."

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A little more about Caroline: A devoted family person who treasures long walks with her daughter, watching her son play football, and a good meal with her husband. She loves to read and exercise, is wholeheartedly a dog person (meet Holly, her lab), and counts The Rainbow Fish and The Secret Garden among her favorite children's books.

Jo has always been fascinated by how communication shapes connection, learning, and independence — and that fascination still energizes her every day. She specializes in supporting children with speech, language, and literacy needs, using structured, multisensory approaches like Orton-Gillingham and Lively Letters to build strong reading and spelling foundations. What she loves most is the relationships: being part of each student's communication journey, watching their confidence grow, and tailoring therapy until she finds an approach that works best for the child. As she reminds families, progress isn't always linear, but every small step matters — and parents are a vital part of the team.​

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Areas of expertise: Articulation · Literacy & Dyslexia · Phonological Processing · Language · Reading Comprehension · Written Expression · Social Communication · Structured Literacy (Orton-Gillingham & Lively Letters)

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What she wishes every parent knew: "Progress is often gradual and may not look linear, but every small step matters. A few minutes of practice in everyday routines makes a powerful difference — growth is a team effort, and parents are a vital part of that success."

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A little more about Jo: A morning person who loves a quiet cup of coffee before the house wakes up. Fall is her favorite season, the beach is her favorite place in the world, and golf is her happy place when a busy mom of 2 can sneak away. Fun fact: she has an identical twin sister who's also her best friend.

Melissa has felt called to help others for as long as she can remember — and a heart for children who are misunderstood or facing challenges others might not immediately see. With eleven years in the field, she found in occupational therapy the perfect blend of her passion for helping and her desire to empower kids and partner with their families. She specializes in the foundational, "behind the scenes" skills — sensory processing, handwriting, and fine motor — quietly building the groundwork that helps a child reach their bigger goals. Ask Melissa what she loves most about her work and the answer is short and certain: the kids.

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Areas of expertise: Sensory processing · Handwriting · Fine motor

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What she wishes every parent knew: "I'm often working on the 'behind the scenes' skills to build up to our goals."

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A little more about Melissa: Fall is her season, mornings are her time, and she's happiest at the beach with something salty. She's a both-dogs-and-cats person, an iced latte fan ("not picky"), and loves Bruno's, Mt. Fuji, and Local Lime. Outside work you'll find her deep in Mahjong, puzzles, baking, true crime, or birding.

Megan's path started in a high school job-shadow, watching an SLP spend her days playing games with kids — and she was sold. Eight years later, she's still driven by the same thing: the connections she builds with children and their families. With deep experience across literacy, articulation, language delays, and written expression, Megan is especially passionate about the link between language and learning, and the role a strong SLP can play in a child's reading and classroom success. Her biggest wish for parents is a simple one: never underestimate how much playing and talking with your young child does for their language.

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Committed to lifelong learning, Megan has completed advanced training in several evidence-based intervention approaches, including the Auditory-Based Intervention Certificate Program through UAMS, IMSE Morphology, and BUILD: An Early Reading Intervention for Kindergarten and First Grade. She has also completed continuing education in dyslexia assessment and intervention, stuttering, the Cycles Approach for speech sound disorders, auditory processing, and executive functioning, allowing her to provide comprehensive, individualized care for children with a variety of communication and literacy needs.

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Areas of expertise: Literacy · Articulation · Language delays · Written expression · Trained in the Scottish Rite for Children BUILD: A K-1 Early Reading Intervention.

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What she wishes every parent knew: "How important playing and interacting with young kids is for language development."

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A little more about Megan: Born in Idaho but, as she puts it, "raised to be a Razorback." Fall is her favorite season, she's a morning person and a dog lover, leans sweet, and orders a sugar-free caramel latte. Ask her beach or mountains and she refuses to choose — she loves them both.

Emily's spark came in high school, job-shadowing a speech-language pathologist at Arkansas Children's Hospital who worked with traumatic brain injury patients. Watching people recover language thanks to the brain's neuroplasticity was hopeful and inspiring — and it set her course. Eight years in, what she loves most is the individual connection she builds with each child: that moment they make eye contact and let her into their world is, in her words, the best moment ever. Emily brings an unusually deep toolkit to that work, with specialized training across autism, Gestalt Language Processing, stuttering, feeding, and structured literacy approaches.

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Areas of expertise: Autism spectrum disorder · Gestalt Language Processing · Stuttering · Feeding (SOS Approach) · Structured literacy (LiPS) · Visualizing & Verbalizing · PECS communication

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What she wishes every parent knew: "If you don't know where to start, narrate everything! Instead of quizzing your child — 'What animal is that?' — say, 'Wow, look at that dog! It's big, brown, with white spots!' You're modeling real language they can build on. And read — teach a love of reading early."

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A little more about Emily: A certified yoga teacher (RYT-200) and surfskate enthusiast — skateboarding that mimics the feeling of surfing on pavement — who's happiest at Venice Beach, CA. She's a morning person, a golden-retriever lover, and orders an iced matcha with strawberry cold foam.

Hannah has spent her whole career right here at Beyond Speech, helping children discover just how capable they are. She believes in the power of small wins — the everyday breakthroughs that build a child's confidence and independence at home and at school. Whether she's working on handwriting or helping a child learn to manage big emotions, Hannah leads with relationship first: advocating for every kid and cheering them toward goals they once thought were out of reach. Her favorite moments are the "AHA!" ones, when something a child used to struggle with finally clicks.

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Areas of expertise: Handwriting · Reflex integration · Executive functioning · Emotional regulation

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In addition, Hannah has received formal training in the area of Reflex Integration and has completed the Learning Without Tears courses of Readiness & Writing for Pre-K and Handwriting Without Tears Print (K-2). 

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What she wishes every parent knew: "You are never alone. So much growth happens through support, encouragement, and meeting children right where they are — and every gain, big or small, is meaningful."

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A little more about Hannah: Friends describe her as empathetic, fun-loving, trustworthy, and encouraging. Fall is her season, baking is her happy place, and Oh, the Places You'll Go! is a favorite. She's team dogs, team beach, team sweet, and a proud morning person — orders an iced salted caramel honey latte (half sweet, extra ice) — and her hidden talent is world-class parallel parking. (Fun fact: she's never broken a bone.)

Ellee’s passion for speech-language pathology began with her grandmother, a vibrant woman whose neurodegenerative disorder gradually affected her ability to eat, speak, and express her thoughts. Watching speech therapy help her grandmother find new ways to communicate and stay connected with the people she loved showed Ellee just how profoundly communication shapes our relationships, independence, and quality of life. That experience inspired her to pursue a career helping others find their voice, and it continues to motivate her every day.

One of Ellee’s favorite parts of being a speech-language pathologist is getting to know each child’s unique personality and interests and incorporating them into therapy. She believes learning should be engaging, meaningful, and fun, and she loves celebrating every milestone, big or small, along the way.

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Areas of expertise: Articulation · Early language development · Literacy & dyslexia · Reading comprehension · Social communication · Trained in the Scottish Rite for Children BUILD: A K-1 Early Reading Intervention.

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What she wishes every parent knew: "Progress is often made through small, consistent steps. Celebrating each success along the way builds confidence and creates lasting growth."

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A little more about Ellee: Fall is her favorite season, and she proudly considers herself a night owl. She’s happiest at the beach with something salty to snack on (like a side of Chick-fil-a French Fries). Friends describe her as loyal, independent, and fun. In her free time, she enjoys working out, trying new recipes in the kitchen, shopping, and spending time with family and friends. The Very Hungry Caterpillar is her favorite children’s book, and she’s definitely both a dog and a cat person. If she weren’t an SLP, she says she’d probably be working her way up in her family’s concrete business!

Kizzie started college on the nursing track as an Exercise Science major, until a nurse encouraged her to look into occupational therapy. After shadowing OTs in both early-learning and inpatient-rehab settings, she was hooked — amazed by all the ways OTs help people gain independence and improve their quality of life. A lifelong lover of writing, drawing, and crafting, she found that OT fit her perfectly: a profession that blends creativity, problem-solving, and compassionate care. Today she loves watching children build skills and, with them, the confidence to try new things. Her favorite moments are when a kid starts genuinely enjoying the work — or proudly mentions working on their skills at home.

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Areas of expertise: Executive Functioning, Fine motor, Handwriting, Reflex Integration

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What she wishes every parent knew: "We love to know what's going on outside of therapy — vacations, at-home crafts, celebrations, extracurriculars — all the things that make childhood so fun!"

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A little more about Kizzie: Summer is her season (‘all about the warmth and sunshine!’), she’s a night owl with a major sweet tooth, and she’s always got a Diet Coke in hand. She loves to be with family and fills her free time with Nooma, baking, needlepoint, mahjong, pickleball, and — her favorite — watching football. Elephant & Piggie books are her go-to, the beach is her happy place, and her hidden talent is organizing absolutely everything.

Born and raised in Memphis, Mary Margaret earned her bachelor's in Communication Sciences and Disorders from the University of Arkansas and her master's in Speech-Language Pathology from UAMS in 2026, joining the Beyond Speech team that summer. Her graduate training took her across private practice, school, community, and rehabilitation settings, giving her broad experience evaluating and treating articulation and phonological disorders, language and fluency disorders, social communication, cognitive-communication impairments, and literacy challenges. Above all, she works to create a positive, engaging environment where children feel supported and successful — her goal is for every child to build confidence while having fun and genuinely looking forward to coming back to speech.

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Areas of expertise: Articulation & phonology · Language disorders · Fluency · Social communication · Cognitive-communication · Literacy

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What she brings: A warm, encouraging space where kids feel successful and excited to learn.

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A little more about Mary Margaret: She lives in Little Rock with her cat, Chowder. Outside of work she loves Pilates, podcasts, exploring local restaurants, time outdoors, and being with family and friends.

Beth's path to speech-language pathology started with a simple, clear goal: she wanted to work with children, and she was drawn to a career that was as flexible and enjoyable as it was meaningful. Twenty-eight years later, that's exactly what she found. With deep experience in child articulation and language, Beth has spent her career helping little ones find their voices — and after six years at Beyond Speech, she's become a trusted, steady presence for the families she serves. What she loves most is the work itself: connecting with children, celebrating their progress, and the flexibility that lets her show up fully for every kid on her caseload. Her favorite moment never gets old — the first time a child produces their target sound correctly, and their whole face lights up.

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Areas of expertise: Child Articulation · Language

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What she wishes every parent knew: "Try not to stress! So often parents come in worried about how long therapy will take or whether their child is behind — and my honest answer is usually the same: don't worry, your child is going to be just fine."

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A little more about Beth: The question she hears most from parents is what they can do to help at home — and she's always happy to walk them through it. And if she weren't an SLP? In her own words, maybe home decor… or a professional shopper! Above all, she's the reassuring voice reminding families that progress comes, one sound at a time.