Ansley is a speech-language pathologist (SLP) who received both her Bachelor of Science and Master’s in Education degrees from the University of Georgia (UGA). She has served the Athens community since 2004 by working in private practice, schools, as well as in multiple healthcare settings (including inpatient rehabilitation at St. Mary’s Hospital and Outpatient Pediatrics at Piedmont Athens Regional). Most recently, Ansley returned to her alma mater to work as a Clinical Assistant Professor and Supervisor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at UGA. Ansley joined RightStart Therapy Services in 2020, and she is excited to apply her varied experience working with all ages and multiple abilities.

Ansley holds the Certificate of Clinical Competence (CCCs) through the American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA) and is licensed by the Georgia State Board of Examiners for Speech- Language Pathology. Ansley is Certified in VitalStim, which utilizes neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) to improve the swallowing ability of individuals with dysphagia/feeding disorders. Her other areas of interest include articulation and phonological disorders, motor speech disorders (apraxia/dysarthria), receptive/expressive language disorders, aphasia, and cognitive- communication disorders.

Ansley lives in Athens with her husband, two daughters, and pets. She enjoys music, photography, traveling, fitness/nutrition coaching, and spending time with her loved ones.

Margaret received her Master’s of Education in Communication Sciences and Disorders from The University of Georgia. She holds a Certificate of Clinical Competence in speech-language pathology granted by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and is a Georgia Licensed Speech-Language Pathologist.

Hi, my name is Chana Cavnar and I am a baseball mom of 2 fantastic boys that are 16 and 6 years of age. My youngest son and I have been a part of the RightStart family since July of 2018, when he started his Speech Therapy journey. Shortly after, in October of 2018, I became more of an official part of the family, by helping in the front office and managing the patient schedules.

My background has mostly been in early childhood education in a childcare setting for the past 18 years, and I currently have my GACE (Georgia Assessments for the Certification of Educators) certificate. So, working with children has always been my passion.

In my free time, I enjoy watching my boys play baseball, volunteering at my younger son’s school, painting, baking and getting my hair and nails done. I am also a people person and if we’ve ever talked you would see that.

Education: Lara received her Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Occupational Therapy in 1996 from the University of Kansas.

Experience: Lara has been fortunate to be able to have worked with different patient populations as she began her career including Acute care in Hospitals and Nursing home care before being able to find the right stepping stone to follow her heart and transition to Pediatrics in 2002. She has extensive experience with early intervention aged population (0-3 years) having worked with the BCW programs in several counties in Metro Atlanta for over 12 years. She has a passion for children of all ages and is grateful to be a part of the incredible group of therapists and staff since joining the team in 2020. She is humbled and excited to be able to help children with all kinds of developmental challenges learn and grow in their own way, step by step, by providing highly professional and quality OT therapy to the children and supportive care to their families. She strongly believes that every child is a blessing from God and she loves to help each child thrive.

Free time: In her free time, Lara enjoys spending time with friends, working in her flower beds as well as being very active in her church.

Lindsay is a certified licensed speech-language pathologist and joined RightStart Therapy in 2020. She received her Master’s Degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders from The University of Georgia in 2019.

Lindsay holds the Certificate of Clinical Competence through the American Speech-Language Hearing Association and is licensed by the Georgia State Board of Examiners for Speech-language Pathology. She has previous clinical experience in pediatric outpatient rehabilitation, acute care treating geriatric patients with aphasia and dysphagia, and in public schools serving various communication needs.

Lindsay currently works as a speech-language pathologist in a public elementary school in Athens while also treating patients at RightStart Therapy. In her spare time, she enjoys exercising and traveling with friends and family.

• Location: Athens Location

Ashley has been a speech-language pathologist for over 10 years. She received her bachelor’s degree from Emerson College in Boston, and her master’s degree from San Diego State University. She is originally from Massachusetts. Ashley has experience in a variety of settings including pediatric private practice, hospitals, home health, skilled nursing facilities and schools. Ashley is the clinical manager at our RightStart Therapy Athens location.

Ashley holds the Certificate of Clinical Competence through the American Speech-Language Hearing Association and is licensed by the Georgia Board of Examiners. Ashley is certified in AmpCare’s Effective Swallowing Protocol (ESP) which utilizes neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) to create a more effective and effortful swallow exercise. Her special interests include feeding and swallowing, alternative and augmentative communication and pragmatic language disorders.

When Ashley is not at work, she enjoys spending time with her husband, daughter and two dogs. She likes running, yoga, hiking, cooking and reading.

Abigail McHugh is a registered and licensed Occupational Therapist.

She received her undergraduate and graduate degrees from Stockton University in New Jersey. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Health Sciences with minors in both Public Health and Behavioral Neuroscience in May, 2017. She earned her Master’s Degree in Occupational Therapy in December, 2019.

Abigail became an Occupational Therapist because of her love of helping people achieve their goals and live their life to the fullest, no matter how tough the obstacles may be.

Abby has a variety of experience working with the pediatric population including teaching Irish Dance, working as a behavioral assistant and a variety of clinical experience in Occupational Therapy. She has worked with children birth to age 21 with a variety of diagnoses including Autism Spectrum Disorder, Chronic Respiratory Conditions, Cerebral Palsy, Rare Genetic Conditions and Down Syndrome.

She is engaged to be married and has 2 large dogs! Abby enjoys spending time with her family and friends, going to Disney World, playing board games, traveling, photography and furthering her education in Occupational Therapy.

Heather runs RightStart’s Reading Intervention program, where she helps individuals of all ages with Decoding, Fluency and Comprehension along with Grade Level Standardized Testing.

Trained in the Orton-Gillingham inspired Barton Reading and Spelling System and Lindamood-Bell sensory-cognitive reading instruction, Heather provides specific assistance for reading challenges of all kinds, including dyslexia.

Sessions are tailored to each student’s interests and needs with compassion for individual learning styles. As a former journalist and newswriter, Heather strives to inspire a love for writing and research in her students.

Heather also contributes to RightStart’s social media presence and manages prescriptions in our front office.