Genesis Felizola is a bilingual (English and Spanish) Licensed Speech Language Pathologist with extensive experience working directly with patients with speech, language, fluency, swallowing/feeding disorders, voice and cognitive disorders. She is certified by the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association (ASHA). She received her Bachelors in Speech Language Pathology from Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York and her Masters from The George Washington University in Washington, DC. She is a published researcher, her research is on Hispanic Families of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
As the sister of someone with severe, nonverbal Autism, she is devoted to teaching children with disabilities and their families ways to promote language in their everyday lives. Her personal experience with her younger autistic brother has inspired her to work with this population. Her interests include play based therapy, reading, writing, and literacy based therapy, providing information, resources and insight to Hispanic families of children with disabilities and disorders, family-centered therapy, and disability awareness.
Rachel Ewing, M.S.,, OTR/L
Occupational Therapist
rewing@shenandoahsoundstart.org
Sarah Grymberg earned her Bachelor of Science degree in communication disorders at Fort Hays State University in Kansas. She is licensed by the American Speech Hearing Association (ASHA) as well in the states of Maryland and West Virginia as a Speech-Language Pathology Assistant.
Her focus has been working with children specifically with speech & language disorders and the autism spectrum disorder. Sarah looks forward to giving back to the public by applying her skills to craft meaningful experiences and make a difference for her patients!
Lana is a Speech and Language Pathologist who has been in the field since 2014. She graduated with a Bachelor’s in English from Florida Atlantic University in 2012 and with a Master’s in Speech and Language Pathology from the University of South Florida in 2014. Lana has previously worked at public schools, private schools, outpatient clinics, inpatient in a hospital setting, and home health. Lana has experience working with a wide variety of disorders and ages. Lana is currently licensed to practice Speech and Language Pathology in Florida, Virginia, and West Virginia. She also has her Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). Lana has worked as Soundstart's Lead SLP since 2024.
Lana is looking forward to continuing her career helping children improve their ability to functionally communicate and swallow. In her free time, Lana enjoys reading a good book, spending time with her family, and playing video games.
Linda has been practicing Physical Therapy for over 35 years. Born and raised in New York City, she attended St. Louis University where she received her BS in Physical therapy. She currently holds licenses to practice in NY, NJ and VA and is a member of the APTA. She is excited to have moved to Virginia and continue her career at Shenandoah SOUNDstart.
Linda is a pediatric PT who has experience working with children age birth to 21 years in a variety of settings. For several years following graduation, she was employed at an acute care hospital where she gained experience in the medical aspect of disease. She went on to work in Schneider Children’s Hospital of Long Island with rotations through NICU, PICU, and outpatient clinics for arthritis, cystic fibrosis, orthopedics and bracing. She gained experience working with medically fragile and technology dependent children, and worked extensively with children following orthopedic and neurological surgeries. She was part of the post Rhizotomy care team.
Deva Millward, M.Ed.
Speech Language Pathology Assistant
dmillward@shenandoahsoundstart.org
Rachel graduated from James Madison University in 2012 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Kinesiology. She previously worked in government contracting before deciding to change careers to become an occupational therapist. She attended Shenandoah University to get her Master's in Occupational Therapy. While getting her Master’s she was chosen for a grant to attend Georgetown University for a Graduate Certificate in Early Intervention. She has a love for pediatrics and working with families to achieve the best outcomes. She is licensed to practice in West Virginia and Virginia. She had experience working with children with autism, ADHD, PTSD, and other neurodevelopmental concerns.
In her personal life she is a wife to a first responder and a mom to a 4 year old girl and 5 year old boy, she understands the chaos of parenting young children and how that can impact parental mental health. She enjoys traveling when she can and reading a good book.
In her free time, she enjoys spending time outside hiking with her husband and daughter. She loves nature and tending to her two rabbits and two cats. As one of her favorite activities, Andrea is an active artist, completing custom commissions of people, homes, pets, and more. In addition to doing projects at home, she enjoys Irish dance as a leisure activity.Type your paragraph here.
Deva Millward attended James Madison University from 1997 to 2001, earning a Bachelor's of Science degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders, and a Master's of Education in Early Childhood Special Education. Upon graduation, she taught children with disabilities, aged 2-5 in a variety of school settings for the next 16 years. She has also held the position of Child Find Coordinator in addition to teaching full time for the preschool population for the county in which she was employed. In 2015, Deva opted to stay home with her two young children full time as a mom. Subsequently, she homeschooled them, as well as volunteering in a co-op and eventually becoming a teacher and board member. She rejoined the workforce, working as a receptionist while she completed her certification to become an SLPA.
Outside of work, Deva has two beautiful daughters, one silly Golden Retriever, and an aloof cat. She enjoys reading, Pilates, working in her flower garden and tending to her houseplants. A fun fact about her is that she almost ran away to join the circus - Deva is an aerialist and enjoys performing.
Linda Cimino-Richardson, B.S., PT
Physical Therapy Supervisor
lindapt@shenandoahsoundstart.org
Michelle started at Shenandoah SOUNDstart in March 2023. She graduated from Shenandoah University with a major in Psychology and then went back to school in Fredericksburg, VA for OTA. Michelle is an army brat and considers home to be Yorktown, VA. She has 2 dogs who keep her on her toes. She also enjoys reading or listening to audiobooks in her spare time.
Lana Powers, M.S., CCC-SLP, Lead SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist, Remote
lpowers@shenandoahsoundstart.org
Nantesha Chen, PT DPT
Physical Therapist, Remote
nchen@shenandoahsoundstart.org
Upon leaving the hospital setting, Linda went on to become the supervising therapist overseeing a team of ten OT’s and PT’s at The Queens’s Center for Multiply Handicapped Children in Queens, NY. She headed both the equipment and bracing clinics. Most recently, Linda had a private practice on Long Island where she provided services to children and families in their homes, the community, private and public schools, and with the Early Intervention Program of Nassau County.
Linda loves turning therapy treatments into play times where children and families can enjoy learning to move and explore. In her free time, Linda practices yoga and Pilates. She enjoys walking, hiking, theatre, travel and spending time with her three adult children.
Genesis Felizola, M.A., CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist, Remote
gfelizola@shenandoahsoundstart.org
Allysa started her journey at Shenandoah SOUNDstart, LLC in 2017 helping with the expansion of the practice in the area of occupational therapy. She is a graduate of Gannon University's five-year accelerated Master's of Science Occupational Therapy (MS, OT) program located in Erie, Pennsylvania. She obtained her National Board Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT) in 2015 and currently holds a license in the states of Virginia and West Virginia. Allysa is also member of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) and the Virginia Occupational Therapy Association (VOTA.)
Allysa is passionate about learning and finding new ways to grow as a therapist. She loves working with children and their families and watching them grow to the fullest potential. She has worked in both public school and private school settings. She has experience with in-home therapy for both pediatric and adult patients. In addition, she has assisted at a day center for adults with disabilities providing sensory-behavioral support through weekly consultation. She has special interest in the preschool population, sensory integration, behavior, and feeding therapy. She attended the SOS (Sequential Oral Sensory) feeding course in 2019 to grow her knowledge in the area of feeding.
In her free time, she loves spending time with her husband and their three dogs. She loves traveling, visiting friends and family, going to the park with her dogs, working out at home, and crafting for her upcoming wedding celebration with their family and friends next fall. In addition to Shenandoah SOUNDstart, LLC, she currently works part-time at Grafton Integrated Health Network in Winchester, VA providing school-based occupational therapy services.
Allysa M. Turel, M.S., OTR/L
Occupational Therapy Lead
aturel@shenandoahsoundstart.org
Nantesha Chen is a licensed Physical Therapist in several states that include New York, Florida, West Virginia, Virginia, and Oregon. She grew up in the Bronx, NY and moved to Florida in 2018. She graduated from Long Island University in Brooklyn, NY in 2014 with her Doctor of Physical Therapy degree. She immediately started working at Albert Einstein College of Medicine as a Pediatric Physical Therapist.
Throughout the years, Nantesha has gained experience working with children 0-21 years of age, in a variety of settings including outpatient clinics, early intervention, home care, and the school setting. Her experience also includes working with adult patients with a range of disabilities including cardiopulmonary, musculoskeletal and neuromuscular-based diagnoses. Nantesha is passionate and delights in working with children and their families to promote well-being and independence.
Outside of work, Nantesha loves going to the beach to soak up the sun, walking, cooking, reading and playing video games.
Samantha enjoys the therapeutic process of building rapport with both her patients and their families. She believes that trust and empathy are the key components to every patient’s plan of care. She loves being creative and making her therapy sessions fun and exciting.
Outside of the therapy world, Samantha loves spending quality time with her friends and family, making people laugh, hiking, and working out. She is so excited to be a part of the team at Shenandoah SOUNDstart and can’t wait to call Winchester her new home.
Rachel graduated from James Madison University in 2012 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Kinesiology. She previously worked in government contracting before deciding to change careers to become an occupational therapist. She attended Shenandoah University to get her Master's in Occupational Therapy. While getting her Master’s she was chosen for a grant to attend Georgetown University for a Graduate Certificate in Early Intervention. She has a love for pediatrics and working with families to achieve the best outcomes. She is licensed to practice in West Virginia and Virginia. She had experience working with children with autism, ADHD, PTSD, and other neurodevelopmental concerns.
Michelle McDonald, COTA
Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant
mmcdonald@shenandoahsoundstart.org
Brooke A. Butler, M.S., CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist, Remote
bbutler@shenandoahsoundstart.org
Brooke has been practicing as a speech-language pathologist for over 10 years and has experience working in a variety of settings including schools, hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and acute rehabilitation.
Brooke is a speech-language pathologist who works with both children and adults to help her patients and their families achieve their goals. She attended the State University of New York at Fredonia for her undergraduate degree and Syracuse University for her master’s degree. She completed her clinical fellowship at school where she worked with preschool and adolescent individuals with physical and developmental disabilities (e.g., Traumatic Brain Injury, autism) utilizing a Multimodal Communication Approach including vocalizations, gestures, word approximations, Picture Communication Symbols (PCS), low and high technology AAC devices, iPad technology, and basic sign language.
Andrea Poe, OTD, OTR/L
Occupational Therapist
apoe@shenandoahsoundstart.org
Call Us: +1.5405148486
Sarah Grymberg, B.S., C-SLPA
Certified Speech-Language Pathology Assistant
Brooke currently holds professional licenses in speech-language pathology in Virginia, District of Columbia, West Virginia, and New York. She has her Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) and was awarded an ASHA Award for Continuing Education (ACE) in 2020.
Brooke is passionate about learning to continue to grow as a clinician and implementing evidence-based practice for her patients. In her free time, she enjoys reading, yoga, and going to concerts.
Andrea completed her doctorate in occupational therapy from Shenandoah University and passed the National Board of Certification in Occupational Therapy in 2023. For her capstone project she created and implemented a community-based educational program for using play to cultivate resilience within resource families. She presented her capstone research findings at the 2023 VOTA annual conference and her work has been published in the Journal of Foster Care.
Andrea currently holds a license to practice in the states of Virginia and West Virginia. She holds an active OTR® credential and is a member of the American Occupational Therapy Association and Virginia Occupational Therapy Association. Andrea enjoys connecting with children and their families through play. She continues to expand her knowledge and expertise in evidence-based interventions to address barriers to occupations caused by trauma and sensory processing challenges.
Carrie E. Smith, M.A., CCC-SLP,
Owner, Speech-Language Pathologist,
Csmith@shenandoahsoundstart.org
Carrie has been practicing as a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist serving children with speech and language disorders and their families for over 18 years. She is the owner of Soundstart, LLC and has extensive experience working in a variety of settings including schools, adult and pediatric hospitals, rehabilitation centers, voice clinics and outpatient therapy centers.
Carrie is a pediatric speech pathologist who specializes in working with infants and children with speech and language disorders due to a variety of etiologies. She has a special interest in working with children with hearing loss from infancy throughout their school-aged years and held the certificate as an Auditory-Verbal Therapist (AVT) for five years. She has served on three cochlear implant teams and has experience working with teenagers and adults with hearing loss as well. Carrie served as the lead voice clinician at the University of California Irvine (UCI) Voice and Swallowing Clinic in Orange, CA and was the lead speech pathologist on the UCI Cochlear implant team.
Carrie attended the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville for her undergraduate degree and the University of Iowa in Iowa City for her masters. She completed her clinical fellowship year (CFY) at Rancho los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center in Downey, California working primarily with stroke and gerontology patients. She completed the FIRST YEARS certificate course through the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and went on to complete training, mentorship, and certification as a Listening and Spoken Language Specialist in Auditory-Verbal Therapy through AG Bell.
Carrie is currently licensed by the state boards of Speech-Language Pathology in the states of Virginia and West Virginia and has previously held state licenses in Arkansas and California. She holds the Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech Language Hearing Association (ASHA) and is a member of the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (AG Bell). Carrie has presented at various conferences and workshops around the nation. She holds the DIRFloortime® Certificate of Proficiency (DIR-Proficient), is trained in Lee Silverman Voice Therapy (LSVT), Beckman Oral Motor, SOS Approach to Feeding, and Hanen. She served on the Arkansas Hands and Voices board until moving to Virginia with her family.
Carrie is fluent in both English and Spanish and conducts evaluations and therapy in both languages. She is passionate about providing quality, research-based intervention for every child in need. In her free time, she loves knitting, jiu-jitsu, gardening, hiking, back-packing, and canoeing with her family.
Samantha Hall is a 2018 graduate from the Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology program at Abilene Christian University located in Abilene, Texas. She received her Bachelor of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders at Old Dominion University in 2015. She holds the Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech Language Hearing Association (ASHA) and is licensed to practice as a Speech-Language Pathologist in Virginia.
Before she attended graduate school, she became certified as a Registered Behavior Technician (RBT), and worked under the supervision of Board Certified Behavioral Analysts (BCBA’s) to assist in providing services for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. During graduate school, she gained her experience working in a variety of settings including, a voice center, pediatric outpatient clinic, and an acute care hospital. After graduation, she has worked at a Skilled Nursing Facility with the adult population and a pediatric outpatient clinic working with clients aging from birth-21. She currently resides in Marshall, VA but has plans to move to Winchester in the near future.