Melissa Lockard is an American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) certified speech language pathologist with 17+ years of experience working with preschoolers, families, educators and professionals. She holds licenses in Maryland and Virginia and earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in English from George Mason University and her Master of Science degree in Speech Language Pathology from Gallaudet University. Prior to opening her private practice, Melissa gained expertise while working with children with varying special needs for the Alexandria City Public School system in their Preschool and Child Find programs. She has extensive experience evaluating and treating preschool children with a variety of speech and language disorders, developing Individual Education Plans and coordinating multi-disciplinary teams throughout the community. Melissa's passion for helping children by utilizing a collaborative team approach is the principle upon which her private practice was founded in 2005. She believes in the inherent role that parental support and involvement makes in the therapeutic process to help her clients achieve their goals. In her free time Melissa enjoys traveling, creative writing, reading only good books, exercising to defend her chocolate habit and spending time with her husband and two children.