Mikaela grew up in Sonoma, California and moved to Sacramento in 2009.  She attended CSU Sacramento for her Bachelors and Masters of Science degrees in Speech-Language Pathology/Communication Disorders. Speech therapy is a profession that “found her” when she began babysitting a friend's daughter on the Autism Spectrum and would accompany her to various appointments.  It “clicked” that this profession was what she had been looking for and has been committed to supporting others on their communication journeys ever since. She has worked at Dameron Hospital providing intervention for dysphagia and post CVA, TBI, and a variety of other disorders that could impair communication or safe swallowing at the acute level of care.  She also worked at Fairmont Rehabilitation Center providing collaborative support and direct intervention for those affected by aphasia, apraxia, Alzheimer’s, dementia, and various neurodegenerative disorders. In the school settings, she has worked at various Title 1 schools with children aged from preschool to high school age. In a private practice setting she has also worked with early intervention (1-3 yrs) to support language speech and language delays. She was nominated and received a Certificate of Excellence in Special Education from Folsom Cordova Unified School District for her dedication to her students at Rancho Cordova Elementary School.  Populations served in the school setting include speech sound delay/phonological processes, auditory processing disorder, expressive/ receptive language delay, fluency, behavior, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and Intellectual Disability (ID).   Mikaela describes herself as an empathetic, intuitive, silly, sunshine-loving, creative person who always strives to uplift those around her.  She appreciates art of all forms and has a variety of paintings or projects she enjoys working on when she is not spending time with her friends and family. She has returned to Sonoma with her husband who is a School Psychologist, her daughter Adria, her cat Chimichurri, and dogs Stellaluna and Blarney.