Medical Advocacy Project

Dr. Sheppard received a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Drury College (University). She earned her Medical Degree from Saint Louis University. She then completed her internship and residency in Clinical Pathology from Emory University in Atlanta, GA. She also completed her fellowship in Transfusion Medicine from Emory University. She has served as the Medical Director for the American Red Cross, Virginia Blood Services, and was an Associate Professor at University of Virginia in the Department of Pathology. She also served as the Facility Director of the Apheresis Stem Cell Collection Facility at UVA. Currently, she is a Medical Director for LifeShare Blood Services in Shreveport, Louisiana.  

Shwetha Rodrigues, DDS is a general dentist with 20+ years of experience, specializing in airway-centered dentistry and its impact on overall health. In her general dentistry practice, she integrates a functional and preventive approach, helping patients of all ages address the root causes of airway dysfunction, including underdeveloped jaws, mouth breathing, and sleep-disordered breathing.

Dr. Rodrigues is passionate about early intervention and educating families on how jaw development influences breathing, sleep, speech and speech. She understands that by identifying airway issues early, children can receive the guidance they need for healthier growth, improved sleep, and better overall well-being.  

Heather Vukelich, MS, CCC-SLP is an ASHA-certified Speech-Language Pathologist and Feeding Specialist with over 23 years of experience, dedicated to serving the Down syndrome community. For 15 years, she worked within the Down Syndrome Connection of the Bay Area, where she developed deep clinical expertise and lifelong relationships within the community she has been part of since childhood.

Heather currently serves families in Paso Robles and Danville, California, providing highly specialized therapy focused on oral sensory-motor development, speech clarity, feeding skills, and functional communication.

She is a certified TalkTools® Instructor, personally trained by TalkTools® founder Sara Rosenfeld-Johnson. Heather teaches webinars, seminars, and large-scale parent education courses, and she leads 1:1 week-long intensive therapy programs designed to integrate expert intervention directly into family life.

Heather has also completed advanced orofacial myofunctional training through “Myo Masterminds” at The Breathe Institute, further strengthening her expertise in airway, craniofacial growth, and functional oral development.

She works with individuals from birth through adulthood. In addition to speech and feeding therapy, Heather provides families with in-depth guidance related to orthodontics, craniofacial and airway development, sleep apnea, orofacial myofunctional therapy, nutrition, communication systems, educational planning, medical collaboration, literacy development, sensory integration, and behavioral support.

Heather’s mission is simple yet powerful: to provide hope-filled education to equip families with the tools, knowledge, and confidence needed to help their children communicate clearly, eat safely, and live with greater independence.

Jennifer Aguillard, PT PCS, has over 35 years of experience working in pediatric physical therapy. She is board certified as a specialist in pediatric physical therapy and has patented an early intervention activity desk that is about alignment and stimulation to the feet and that promotes independent standing. She has worked in hospitals, clinics, home health, and schools and serves as an aquatic physical therapist for the state of Louisiana. Jennifer is passionate about electrical stimulation as one tool for strengthening and facilitating muscles, has conducted positive outcome research on children with Down syndrome, and loves helping parents understand how they can be their child's therapist.  

Bio coming

Jill Rabin is a pediatric speech pathologist and international board-certified lactation consultant who has been working with the 0- to 3-year-old population for over 39 years. She is based in the north suburbs of Chicago where she has a private practice working with young babies and their families with feeding and speech/language issues. Her areas of specialty include facilitating breastfeeding in at-risk populations such as preterm infants, babies with tethered oral tissues and babies with Down syndrome, managing feeding aversion and using the Adapted Baby-Led Weaning Approach® to transition babies with feeding challenges to solids. Jill also works with breastfeeding babies who refuse the bottle. She co-authored the book Your Baby Can Self-Feed, Too! with Gill Rapley which was published in 2022. 

Jill lectures nationally and internationally on adapted baby-led weaning, managing complicated breastfeeding dyads and managing feeding aversion. She teaches live virtual and on demand classes for transitioning to solids to parents of babies exhibiting neurotypical development as well as adapted baby-led weaning for babies with feeding challenges. Jill co-moderates amonthly international Zoom group for expectant, pumping and breastfeeding parents of babies with Down syndrome through Julia’s Way and the Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress.Jill is a volunteer at GiGi’s Playhouse-Deerfield, and facilitates their LMNOP group weekly for the 0-3 population. She specializes in working with babies with Down syndrome helping them from infancy to 3 years of age with prefeeding skills, breast and bottle-feeding, oral motor skills, transitioning to solids and speech and language development.

Meelin Dian Chin Kit-Wells, DDS, MEd, is a board-certified pediatric dentist and retired faculty member of the University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine, where she earned her DDS, completed specialty training in pediatric dentistry, and served on faculty for more than twenty years. During her tenure, she directed Community Outreach and served as Program Director of the Pediatric Dental Residency, with a strong focus on providing care for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).

Now based in Arizona, Dr. Chin Kit-Wells provides care through a Special Needs Dental Clinic and co-owns Wells Dental in Tucson with her son, Dr. Jamal Wells. She currently serves as President of the American Academy of Developmental Medicine & Dentistry (AADMD). A Howard University alumna with roots in Trinidad and Tobago, she is a proud mother of two sons and grandmother to two grandsons, who bring deep meaning and balance to her life.