About
Meet the Team!
Our Mission
SilverNail NW is dedicated to increasing opportunities for choice and access to Professional Behavior Services outside of the Portland, Salem, Eugene corridor. We ensure access by working in locations that traditionally struggle to access behavior services and mentoring other small business owners who work in the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities field.
Meet the Owner
“I first became aware of service equity issues as I witnessed children outside of the I-5 corridor not able to access the needed support systems that other children could access in their local communities.”
Her experience and passion for directly helping people who experience intellectual and developmental disabilities combined with knowledge of OAR’s led Michelle to develop SilverNail NW. With her own consulting firm, Michelle increased her capacity to serve a broad range of service users and to help ensure equal access to services despite the county that people live in. She is always excited about opportunities to meet new people and develop new long-term relationships that support people leading fulfilling lives — whether that is helping a house manager implement more robust and efficient practices or empowering a client to increase their autonomy. SilverNail NW’s agency is dedicated to not only writing FBA’a and PBSP’s but assisting teams with a lifetime of changes through ensuring that we provide maintenance services to the plans that we write.
It was at her very first job that Michelle recognized the importance of supporting people experiencing disabilities and while there she made a connection at Oregon School for the Blind (OSB) which propelled her toward providing direct care of students as a residential and school support team.
It was at OSB that she developed some of her fundamental knowledge about and experienced working with children who are diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and participating in the (Individual Education Plan) IEP process.
This experience led Michelle to pursue higher education and she graduated from Portland State University with a degree in Child and Family Studies in 2002.
That experience helped Michelle’s next professional development when she returned to her roots in working with people who receive services through local Community Developmental Disability Programs (CDDP’s); first as a case manager or service coordinator at a county office and then at a large provider agency as a house manager and then area director.
Meet the Behavior Professionals
Building rapport and trust is important as I may see folks on their worst day and they need to feel safe being so vulnerable. I strive to work with individuals and teams wherever they feel most comfortable meeting, whether that be their place of work or home during traditional business hours or after. Conducting an assessment of the current safety and quality of life needs for the individual and the people that help support them enables me to develop a positive behavior support plan that is person-centered and a good fit for the individual and their environments.
I value centering the voices and experiences of historically excluded populations in our state and ensuring that individuals and families have the ability to work with someone that looks like them, speaks their language, and shares lived experiences with them. SNNW is already creating this, much needed, vision in our state and I am excited to help build the capacity of Behavior Professionals in Central and Eastern Oregon.
I strive to provide person-centered, individualized plans to every client. I take the time to get to know them, listen to them, and understand them from a behavioral perspective before jumping into interventions. Client’s goals and independence are paramount, and I enjoy getting to help people work toward their dreams.
I enjoy working for SilverNail NW because it is progressive. They strive to help people whose first language is not English, or those who do not speak English, as well as people in underserved areas. There is a great team environment and work-life balance.
I have worked on the ground, with firsthand experience helping individuals navigating their everyday life. As a former DSP and Behavior Technician I have supported folks from ages 4-99 providing behavior support for behaviors that may require intervention. One thing that I am passionate about doing in this field is the initial rapport building process at meeting, as well as after the individual has engaged in a behavior that may require intervention. I show patience and understanding to determine what they are trying to communicate.
SilverNail NW’s mission and Michelle’s passion is what drew me into working for SNNW. As someone who has been in the field of I/DD for 15 years I have become intimately familiar with how the system supports those with I/DD and I enjoy having the ability to assist folks in rural areas access a higher level of care and to gain support. I especially enjoy advocating for rural populations.
Some of my past experiences include:
- 2010-2014 volunteered at a weeklong MDA summer camp, helping with ADLs for folks with 40+ types of Muscular Dystrophy in NYC
- 2012-2014 internship at an outpatient unit in Brooklyn NYC
- 2015-2017 Bachelor’s Degree in ASL studies minor is Special Education.
- 2015-2018 DSP for individuals and families experienced living with I/DD.
- 2018-2022- Behavior Technician working in ABA.
- 2019-2021- Master’s in Special Education emphasized in Behavior Analysis.
- 2022-2023- Behavior Consultant
I also believe it is important to continue learning new things and I strive to expand my knowledge, I am currently working toward:
- becoming an OIS trainer
- my national accreditation for Behavior Analysis.
One of my passions is bringing an intersectional lens to my work. No one is one-dimensional; we all have a multidimensional identity and this should be reflected within the documents that are written. Our identities are important to us and should be acknowledged as they are who we are; factors such as our gender, race, class, ability, culture, etc. make us who we are and when we can embrace ourselves (and have others embrace us) we live happier and healthier lives.
I have a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and a minor in Women and Gender Studies. I have worked as a Behavior Technician, providing 1:1 ABA therapy to those with ASD for about three years in Wisconsin, alongside teaching swimming and safety skills around water to children with I/DD and physical disabilities. Upon moving to Oregon, I worked as a DSP for a variety of clients with I/DD diagnoses for about a year before working with SilverNail NW.
I enjoy working with SNNW because of how person-centered and humanistic the company is. This goes beyond working with clients, families, and providers to how I am treated as an employee.
When I was five-years-old I was diagnosed with a rare childhood disease which would result in several operations throughout my childhood and into adulthood. That life experience taught me about the importance of autonomy and how that relates to health. Autonomy is an unconditional right and something that every human is capable of exercising. My work in this field is driven by the desire to see that right extended to everyone, especially those living with daily accessibility limitations.
SilverNail provides me with the opportunity to have and create my own flexible schedule and understands the importance of having a work/life balance. I get to work with a diverse and incredible group of humans who all share the same goal of maintaining a level of mutual respect and dedication to all of our clients.
I wanted to work for an agency that values their clients rather than getting the job done and moving onto the next. SNNW goes over and beyond by doing maintenance with their clients, this step is so important!
I help write plans, so I’m often in the field interviewing or observing clients. I also assist with managing maintenance, so I check in with clients often, to ensure the plan is working for them and make changes where necessary.
I enjoy learning and helping people because, as the old saying goes, “helping a person might not change the world but it could change the world for one person.”
“Only a life lived in the services to others is WORTH living.”
– Albert Einsten
Akane Ogawa
Behavior Support Professional
Shadow Reine
Behavior Professional
Demeter Finch
Behavior Professional & Language Consultant
Destiny Spellman
Behavior Professional
Tracie Burich
Behavior Professional Assistant
Cecilia Ramirez
Meet the Quality Assurance Wizard
I strive to ensure new providers know the “unwritten rules”, things that are typically learned after years of experience, in order to help them best serve their clients. I also work with the licensing department to help ensure more consistency in regards to licensing citations.
Services
Positive Behavior Support
With direction from people supported, families, ISP teams, and the Oregon Administrative Rules, SilverNail NW works closely to ensure person centered and least restrictive Positive Behavior Support Services.
SilverNail NW works with partners who are OIS certified to co-author plans that are in need of safeguarding interventions
Technical Assistance
SilverNail NW provides technical assistance to people, non profits, and companies who want to apply for certification and endorsements in the State of Oregon.
We believe that even the most experienced and educated providers in Oregon benefit from a fresh perspective, system development, and best practices. SilverNail NW has substantial experience meeting the Oregon Administrative Rules in Oregon.