Michelle has worked as a Physical Therapist for 37 years. She received a Bachelor of Science in Physical Therapy from Cleveland State University in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1988 & a Master of Science in Physical Therapy with a Neurology specialization from the Massachusetts General Hospital Institute of Health Professions in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1994. She worked in adult neurology at inpatient rehabilitation hospitals in Pittsburgh, Boston, & Dayton for 15 years then switched to pediatrics in 2002. She was the
Physical Therapist for the Ohio State School for the Blind, in Columbus, Ohio, for 3 years & has been a school-based PT for the Troy City Schools in Troy, Ohio, for the past 20 years. She has attended nine in-person Bal-A-Vis-X training courses.

As a school-based Physical Therapist, Michelle services approximately 40 students per school year, from Preschool through High School, at 8-10 different schools in Troy, Ohio. Students on her caseload have diagnoses such as Multiple Disabilities, Cerebral Palsy, Autism, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Traumatic Brain Injury, Hemiplegia, Developmental Coordination Disorder, Visual Impairment, Spina Bifida, & Chromosomal Anomalies such as Down Syndrome.

Michelle adapts Bal-A-Vis-X, as needed, just as Bill Hubert modeled & encouraged. As a researcher, Michelle collaborated with a Pediatrics Professor in the University of Dayton’s Doctor of Physical Therapy program to conduct a research study examining “Use of Bal-A-Vis-X to Improve Reading and Motor Skills in Elementary School Children”. Results showed that two of the three 2nd grade participants made improvements in oral reading fluency & motor skills that could be attributed to the Bal-A-Vis-X intervention. Michelle presented the study results as a poster presentation at the national Combined Sections Meeting of the American Physical Therapy Association, in Houston, Texas, on 2/15/25. She spoke with Physical Therapists from Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, California, Iowa, Georgia, Utah, Texas, California, & Ohio, most of whom were unfamiliar with the Bal-A-Vis-X program. A manuscript of the study was submitted for consideration in the Journal of Occupational Therapy, Schools, and Early Intervention on 2/5/25.