Cristi Donoso

Maria Cristina (Cristi) Donoso, M.S., CCC-SLP is a certified bilingual (English/Spanish) pediatric speech-language pathologist licensed to practice in DC and Virginia. Cristi has over a decade of experience working with children and young adults of all ages and specializes in early childhood development and parent coaching. She holds an M.S. in Speech-Language Pathology from Gallaudet University, where she also studied American Sign Language, and a BA from the University of Virginia.

Cristi began her career as an early intervention specialist and has worked in outpatient, school, and community settings. She enjoys working closely with occupational therapists to meet her clients’ sensory needs as they become empowered to communicate. Cristi is also an experienced diagnostician, having completed hundreds of multidisciplinary special education evaluations for children and families of a variety of linguistic and cultural backgrounds. She takes pride in supporting families through their special education journeys through parent education and coaching for self-advocacy.

Cristi is the proud mom of a preschooler and a former foster parent. Aside from spending time with her family and friends, she enjoys reading and writing and recently completed a graduate degree in creative writing. She loves bringing her love of books to work by weaving literacy practice into her therapy sessions.

Cristi is committed to growing her clinical skills and has pursued advanced continuing education in the areas of:

• Receptive/expressive language disorders
• Deaf education and aural rehabilitation
• Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS)
• Articulation and phonology
• Selective mutism
• Feeding disorders
• Orofacial myofunctional disorders

Cristi provides trauma-informed care and takes a family-centered approach to therapy. She is passionate about celebrating and affirming neurodiversity and believes that all brains are beautiful!