About

Leah Bellows, MS, CCC-SLP

Leah is an Autistic SLP who graduated from The University of North Texas with her Master’s in Speech-Language Pathology in 2016. She has worked extensively with medically fragile and neurodiverse children who need help with feeding and communication. She has acted as a clinical supervisor for graduate students and clinical fellows going into the field and previously stepped in to teach an undergraduate neuroscience course at UNT for a mentor who was on sabbatical.

Leah is a member of the Therapist Neurodiversity Collective, a group consisting of speech, occupational, and physical therapists who have a commitment to neurodiversity affirmative care. In her years as an SLP, she has seen the harm that behavioral interventions, such as ABA, can do first hand and is hoping to help the therapeutic world move away from harmful practices by providing and educating on high-quality care that gives children what they need in the here and now while keeping their future free of therapy-induced trauma.

As your child’s therapist, Leah will presume your child’s competence, never force or coerce compliance, respect bodily autonomy, listen when your child says or indicates “no,” respect all forms of communication, respect sensory processing differences, and never use punishments or restraints (including things like highchairs used outside of feeding needs to keep a child contained).

Leah was born and raised in Texas. She lives with her spouse and son, Marvin and Quintin, along with one pet dog and one pet cat, Fizz and Mochi.