Hi, I'm Sam.

I'm a licensed speech-language pathologist and the founder of Desert to Summit Speech Therapy. I work with people on the parts of communication, cognition, and swallowing that affect daily life: speaking after a stroke, voice through Parkinson's, memory strategies for dementia, gender-affirming voice care, and a handful of related areas across six years of clinical work in inpatient rehab, skilled nursing, memory care, and schools.

Meaningful progress is founded on genuine connection. That means my approach is personalized, evidence-based, and functional to your actual life.

How I found this work

Before college, I was torn between two paths: music and the arts on one side, and becoming a physician assistant on the other. Then I saw The King's Speech, and something clicked. Here was a profession that was creative, fun, deeply human, and squarely about helping people. I started applying to schools with strong programs for speech-language pathology and never looked back.

Why neurorehabilitation

“Disabled” is the one identity any of us can enter at any moment. A stroke, an injury, a diagnosis. Nothing fully protects you from a change that takes away the communication, cognition, or independence you took for granted. That's a fact most people don't spend much time with, and I think it deserves more attention than it gets.

Working across inpatient rehab, skilled nursing, and memory care taught me how much respect and dignity matter in the moments when someone has lost a lot of control over their own life. My passion is helping adults navigating neurological injury or illness stay as safe, independent, and connected as possible. Especially in that vulnerable window right after a hospital or rehab discharge, when continued support tends to fall away exactly when it's needed most.

One moment that stays with me

In graduate school, I worked with a post-stroke client living with apraxia of speech and expressive aphasia. When we started, he was producing single-word utterances often muddled by paraphasias. Four months later, he ordered his favorite meal at his favorite sandwich shop on his own. A 6-inch Italian sub on wheat with a Diet Coke. He could call out for family members when he needed help. He started making jokes again.

The progress was incredible. What I think about seven years later is the drive and gratitude he brought to every session. That work is part of why I do this.

Compassionate, creative, and curious

Three words for how I show up at work and outside it.

• Compassion guides my commitment to actually listening and meeting each client where they are.
• Creativity lets me design therapy that feels engaging, functional, and individualized to your life.
• Curiositydrives my lifelong learning. New research, new tools, new ways to understand each client's story.

What I wish more people understood about SLPs

The job is from head to throat, and everything in between. Cognition, speech, language, voice, eating, swallowing. These are foundational parts of being human that most of us take for granted until they're affected. They're not small things. They're identity, quality of life, the way we stay connected to the people we love. I wish more people knew enough to recognize, support, and uplift the folks navigating changes in any of them.

Who I'm best positioned to serve

I work with adolescents and adults, ages 8 through 98, with speech, language, cognitive-communication, voice, and swallowing needs. The majority of my caseload is adults navigating neurological injury or illness. My deepest clinical experience is in neurorehab across medical settings: inpatient rehab, skilled nursing, and memory care. I also support school-age students with academic language, articulation, and functional communication needs.

Where I trained

• University of Arizona. Bachelor of Science.
• Chapman University. Master of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders.
• ASHA. Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology (CCC-SLP).
• CPR Certified for Healthcare Providers.
• LSVT LOUD certification, in progress (summer 2026).

Where the name comes from

I spent most of my life in the desert of the West Valley of Arizona, and now live near the foothills of Denver, Colorado. The geographic arc is real, and the metaphor fits the work, too. Most of my clients are climbing toward something. The path looks different for each of them.

Outside the practice

When I'm not in sessions, you can usually find me reading or knitting at the park, throwing on the pottery wheel, or spending time with the people I love.