Sarah McDonnell

Sarah McDonnell, Founder and Executive Director of Play Works Children's Therapies, has transformed her vision to reality through her inspiring leadership and sound strategy development. Her passion for play and social connection can be observed in her direct treatment and as the director of the organization as she intuitively identifies needs within the community and meets the need through the creation of innovative pediatric programming. She is passionate about helping others extend their thinking and enjoys supporting the personal and professional development of her team members. As a leader who tells stories and uses examples of the ongoing positive impact of the organization to inspire action, she is also grounded in financial information and sound decision making to leverage the business forward.

Sarah received her M.A. in Communication Disorders and Sciences from SUNY Buffalo in 2006, and since that time has dedicated more than 15 years to developing her clinical skills as a pediatric speech-language pathologist. As a graduate of the Inaugural Apraxia Kids Intensive Training Institute (2011), Sarah holds special interest in treating children with childhood apraxia of speech (CAS), severe speech sound disorders, and pediatric feeding and swallowing disorders. She has been recognized as having Advanced Training and Clinical Expertise in diagnosis and treatment of CAS. Sarah has been an invited speaker for regional and national conferences, a university guest lecturer, and provided peer review for continuing education courses related to pediatric motor speech disorders.

As an avid outdoor enthusiast and play advocate, Sarah can usually be found hiking one of the many trails in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, playing with her 3 children and 2 dogs, or exploring one of her bucket list travel destinations.