Advisory Board

Leigh Odom, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, CDP, CADDCT, is an associate professor of speech-language pathology at Western Carolina University. She has been practicing as a speech-language pathologist for nearly 15 years almost exclusively with families affected by neurogenic communication disorders. As the lead academic and clinical instructor of neurogenic content in her department, Dr. Odom has been teaching both graduate and undergraduate neurogenic courses since 2008. Dr. Odom is a Certified Dementia Practitioner and a Certified Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia Care Trainer, frequently collaborating with families and healthcare providers to improve dementia care as a dementia care trainer and support group facilitator. She has published nearly 20 articles in peer-reviewed research journals, and has led numerous trainings at state and national professional conferences. Dr. Odom is a member of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, the Academy of Neurologic Communication Disorders and Sciences, and the North Carolina Speech-Hearing-Language Association.

Monica has worked with individuals with autism and other special needs and their families for over 30 years. She is Co-founder and Executive Director of the Celebrate the Children School (CTC) in Denville, NJ serving students from more than 70 school districts. CTC was the first school using the Developmental Individual Relationship-based (DIR-FCD) approach to be state-approved for students ages 3-21. Monica is also the Executive Director of the Profectum Foundation, a global online DIR-FCD training and certification resource for professionals and parents. Monica enjoys teaching others how to use the DIR-FCD Model in educational settings all over the world. Additional accomplishments include speaking engagements and participation in television, network specials, and news articles (including a TIME Magazine cover story in 2006) across the USA, Wales, and Amsterdam.