Melissa Grant, OTR/L, Director
Melissa Grant went to James Madison University where she majored in occupational therapy, before it was a Master’s Program. Melissa Grant has been a licensed and registered occupational therapist in the Washington, DC area since 2005. During her time as an OT, Melissa has worked with children with autism, Down Syndrome, attention deficit disorder, attention deficit hyperactive disorder, developmental delay, fine motor delay, visual motor delay, sensory motor dysfunction, fetal alcohol syndrome, hearing loss, and delays in social skills. Melissa is trained in Handwriting Without Tears, The Print Tool, Interactive Metronome, Therapeutic Listening, Zones of Regulation, and the “How Does Your Engine Run?” Program. Melissa has also taken introductory level courses to Floortime and has attended multiple seminars over the years relating to early childhood development, reflex integration, sensory feeding, and sensory integration. Melissa has experience in early intervention, the school setting, and the clinic setting.
Melissa’s passion is spreading the word about OT. So, when she’s not in the clinic you can find her providing “in services” to surrounding schools and enjoying her most recent endeavor, Sensory Storytime, at various libraries in the Fairfax area. In her spare time, Melissa enjoys running, cooking, and spending time with her family. Currently, Melissa lives in Oakton, VA with her husband Shaun, son Max, and daughter Vivian.
Melissa Grant has been a licensed and registered occupational therapist in the Washington, DC area for the past 15 years. During this time, Melissa has worked with children with autism, Down Syndrome, attention deficit disorder, attention deficit hyperactive disorder, developmental delay, fine motor delay, visual motor delay, sensory motor dysfunction, fetal alcohol syndrome, hearing loss, and delays in social skills. Melissa is trained in Handwriting Without Tears, The Print Tool, Interactive Metronome, Therapeutic Listening, Zones of Regulation, and the “How Does Your Engine Run?” Program. Melissa has also taken introductory level courses to Floortime and has attended multiple seminars over the years relating to early childhood development and sensory integration. Melissa has experience in early intervention, the school setting, and the clinic setting. Currently, Melissa lives in Oakton with her husband and son, Max, and they are expecting a little girl in July of 2021
Kristina Stewart, MS OTR/L
Kristina began her journey with the FUNdamentals and Building Blocks team in March 2021. Her career began in skilled nursing homes, but she soon redirected her path towards pediatrics. Although she fondly remembers her time with the geriatric population, she is so excited to work with children!
With a diverse range of experience, Kristina has honed her skills with pediatric individuals from birth to their teenage years. Her expertise spans a diverse spectrum of diagnoses, including autism spectrum disorder, fine motor delay, developmental delay, visual motor delay, sensory-motor dysfunction, and social skills delays. She has honed her skills through comprehensive training in renowned programs such as Learning Without Tears, The Print Tool, and the Zones of Regulation.
Continuously dedicated to her professional growth, Kristina has actively pursued additional education in specialized areas like feeding and oral motor skills. Her passion for helping children shines through her dynamic work across multiple settings within the pediatric realm, including early intervention, clinical environments, homes, and schools.
When she's not at work, Kristina thrives in the great outdoors. Whether it's running, playing sports, conquering mountains, or embarking on adventures to new destinations, Kristina is always finding new ways to experience life.
Allie Davitt, MS OTR/L
Allison Davitt is a licensed and registered occupational therapist. Allie graduated from Shenandoah University in 2022 with her Master’s in Occupational Therapy and completed one of her graduate fieldwork rotations with FUNdamentals in the summer of 2022. She has experience working with children of all abilities in the DC and MD areas, providing therapeutic services in the home and school settings since 2017. Allie enjoys spending time with her family and friends, hiking, and cooking.
Beth Miller
Beth joined the FUNdamentals Building Blocks team in July 2023. However, she has worked as a pediatric occupational therapist in the Washington DC area since 2012. Beth completed her undergraduate work in psychology and special education at the University of Maryland and received her Master of Science in Occupational Therapy from Towson University. She has experience both in school based and in private practice OT. Beth is trained in Handwriting Without Tears, Interactive Metronome, Social Thinking, Zones of Regulation, and the “How Does Your Engine Run?” program. In addition, she completed the twelve week, Feed the Peds: Foundations of Pediatric Feeding and Swallowing coursework. In her spare time, Beth loves being a new mom to her daughter, Emma. She enjoys trying new restaurants, taking walks with her dog Daisy, and spending time at the beach with her husband and family.
Kirsten Metzger-Gilbert, MA, CCC-SLP, CLC
Kirsten received a Bachelor’s degree from Villanova University and Master’s degree from George Washington University. Kirsten enjoys working with children with dyspraxia, developmental delays, autism spectrum disorder, and specializes in infant/toddler feeding and swallowing challenges. Kirsten has received training in PROMPT, TalkTools Oral Placement Therapy, the SOS Approach to Feeding, and Beckman Oral Motor Therapy, and Dynamic & Postural Reflex Pattern Integration course; a foundational course for the MNRI (Musgatova) Method. Kirsten completed her Certification in Lactation Counseling (CLC) in July 2021.
She lives in DC with her husband and 2 kids (ages 11 and 9) and enjoys hiking, running, reading, and traveling!
Morgann Henn, M.S., CCC-SLP
Morgann joined the FUNdamentals/Building Blocks team in June 2022. She received her Bachelor’s degree and Master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology at James Madison University. Morgann has experience working with clients across the lifespan from birth to adulthood and brings a unique perspective from her medical background. She has a passion for working with the pediatric feeding and swallowing population and has sought opportunities to advance her skills within this population through a pediatric feeding mentorship group, SOFFI®, and Talk Tools. In her spare time, Morgann enjoys knitting, traveling, and spending time with family and friends.
Melissa Mimidis M.S., CCC-SLP
Melissa Mimidis has been with Fundamentals and Building Blocks Therapy since 2007, after working for a pediatric rehabilitation clinic in Pennsylvania. Melissa completed her undergraduate work at Penn State and received her Master’s degree from James Madison University. Melissa is trained in Talk Tools Oral Placement Therapy, Beckman Oral Motor Therapy, Introduction to Floortime, and PROMPT. Melissa enjoys scuba diving and looks forward to returning to the sport in the future. She also enjoys yoga and spending time with her husband and daughter.
Robyn Morris, MA., CCC-SLP
Robyn joined the Fundamentals/Building Blocks team in June 2021. She completed her Master's degree in Speech Language Pathology at George Washington University. She previously completed her undergraduate coursework at Biola University and has had placements in Prince William County Schools and a local pediatric private practice. She has served pediatrics between the ages of birth- 18 years, with a variety of needs including articulation, fluency, voice, expressive and receptive language and social communication. She is particularly interested in Autism Spectrum Disorders, developmental delays and literacy. Prior to her graduate degree she spent years working at a respite center focused on providing care and social opportunities for children aged 6-21 with a broad range of intellectual disabilities. In her spare time, Robyn enjoys hiking, reading and exploring the area!
Rachel Hicks, MA, CCC-SLP
Rachel has been with FUNdamentals and Building Blocks Therapy since June 2015. She received her bachelor’s degree in Speech and Hearing Sciences and Psychology and her master’s degree in Speech Language Pathology from Indiana University Bloomington. Rachel completed the Introduction to PROMPT: Technique and DIR 101: An Introduction to DIR and DIRFloortime. She also completed training in Dynamic Temporal and Tactile Cuing (DTTC). Rachel has sought out additional education in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) by attending the Language Acquisition through Motor Planning (LAMP) workshop and Pittsburg AAC Seminar Series (PALSS). Rachel has special interests in Autism Spectrum Disorder, AAC, early intervetion, and speech sound disorders. She also has experience treating fluency, developmental language disorder, and social communication difficulties. Rachel enjoys educating others on the field of speech language pathology and works part time at George Washington University as a clinical supervisor. In her spare time, Rachel enjoys swimming, running, and spending time with friends and family.
Abby Drabik, M.A., CF-SLP
Abby Drabik has been with FUNdamentals/Building Blocks since May 2023. She received her undergraduate degree from James Madison University and Master's degree in Speech Language Pathology from George Washington University. She has had placements in acute care, outpatient settings, and within the local public schools. She has worked with a wide variety of populations and areas including expressive/receptive language, articulation, fluency, voice, motor-speech, dysphagia, cognitive-linguistics, aphasia, and social language. In her spare time, Abby loves playing tennis, traveling, and being outdoors!
Amy Benitez
Amy joined Building Blocks’ Therapy team in 2007. Amy completed her undergraduate and Master’s degrees from Indiana University. Before joining our team, Amy worked in the public school system in Indiana and for the government-funded birth to three program in Indiana, called First Steps. Amy completed the Introduction to PROMPT course in 2009 and the Beckman Oral Motor Assessment and Intervention course in 2011. She enjoys working with early speech & language development as well as school-aged speech and language disorders. Amy supports parental involvement by providing parents with activities to complete at home in order to promote and reinforce the target therapy goals and maximize progress. In her spare time, Amy loves being a Mom to her two children, Reesa and Cruz. and spending time with her family and friends. She enjoys traveling, shopping, running, Orange Theory, and exploring new restaurants with her husband, Greg. If you see Amy, chances are she will be wearing purple (or butterflies) in honor of her mom. Since losing her mom to pancreatic cancer in 2019, she's been an avid proponent of raising awareness and funds to help give others more life.
Katie Rincon
Kathryn “Katie” Rincón is a bilingual (English/Spanish) Speech-Language Pathologist. She received a bachelor’s degree from Florida State University and master’s degree from the University of Central Florida in Communication Sciences and Disorders. She is a member of the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association and currently holds licenses in Washington D.C. and Virginia.
Throughout her 13-year career, she has been trained in Hanen, It Takes Two to Talk and has experience with sensory feeding, language, articulation, and social-pragmatic disorders. Katie specializes in working with Autistic children and their families using a play-based and sensory friendly approach to foster connection and communication.