Meet Zahava Merlis
M.A. CCC-SLP, TSSLD
Zahava Merlis, the founder of Firefly Friends Speech Therapy, and practicing speech-language pathologist is passionate about helping illuminate every child's communication path so that they can share their stories and shine brightly! With over 10 years of clinical experience, Zahava is both knowledgeable and well-seasoned in her approach to diagnostic practices and therapy intervention. A strong focus on fostering meaningful client-clinician bonds, allows her therapeutic efforts to be impactful and lasting.
Zahava's commitment to making a difference for each of her clients fuels her drive to maintain a private practice that ensures highly individualized care. She has developed a passion for identifying children who would benefit from early intervention (birth-three years old) as well as bolstering speech and language acquisition in the preschool population (3-5 years old). Zahava delights in the privilege of hearing a child's first words or witnessing children verbally express their love for their parents for the very first time. She also takes great pride in helping to address speech-sound disorders, articulation challenges, tackling language-based learning deficits/developmental language disorders and facilitating successful social communication in school-aged children (6-18 years old). Watching her clients' communicative confidence soar is not only rewarding, but also of paramount importance for lasting positive change. Improving your child’s quality of life will always be Zahava’s main goal!
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Zahava received her B.A. in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology from Yeshiva University, Stern College for Women (2010) and her M.A. in Speech-Language Pathology from Lehman College in New York City (2013). She received the Gilda R.S. Silverman Memorial Award for Excellence in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology (2013) and graduated at the top of both her undergraduate and graduate classes. Zahava treated clients ages 15 months to 18 years of age in Manhattan (2013-2018) before working as a lead speech therapist in a specialized therapeutic classroom in an elementary school (2018). In 2019, Zahava moved to Austin, Texas and has worked in a multidisciplinary (OT, PT, ST) clinic for the past four years. Zahava is dedicated to staying up-to-date with the latest research and takes continuing education courses regularly. She is committed to delivering efficacious and empowering therapy, rooted in science and utilizes evidenced-based therapeutic methods.
Specialized Certifications& Trainings
Zahava received a bilingual extension certification in 2013 and is licensed to diagnose and treat in Hebrew. She also holds a training certification for the Hanen Parent Training Program and is certified in PROMPT Therapy, a specialized treatment approach for Childhood Apraxia of Speech.