Who We Are

Melanie Edwards, MS, OTR/L is an occupational therapist with Chapel Hill Children’s Therapy. She has been working and volunteering with children with special needs for over 20 years. Melanie has a particular interest in pediatrics and early childhood. She has experience working in both private practice and in the school system. Melanie has worked with children with a wide range of diagnoses including autism, sensory processing disorders, cerebral palsy, feeding disorders, spina bifida, Down syndrome, cognitive disabilities, and many others. She has additional training in sensory processing disorders, autism spectrum disorders and feeding disorders and has completed many hours of continuing education related to early childhood development. Melanie also has first hand experience parenting a child with special needs. She has two daughters, the oldest having an autism diagnosis, cleft lip and palate, and other developmental challenges. This experience has greatly impacted her practice as a therapist and her interest in supporting families who have children with special needs.

Elizabeth Fouts, M.Ed., CCC-SLP is a speech language pathologist with over twenty years of experience working with children and families, particularly individuals on the autism spectrum. She is the mother of two girls and has learned first hand from her own children’s developmental paths as well, including feeding, regulatory, physical, and learning challenges. Elizabeth has worked with children with a wide range of diagnoses including autism, sensory processing disorders, feeding disorders, intellectual disabilities, apraxia, developmental receptive and expressive language disorders, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, and many others. She has completed extensive additional training related to autism spectrum disorders, the DIR Floortime approach, and early childhood development.