Founder and Program Director, IRL Social Skills

MARA McLOUGHLIN, MS, CCC-SLP

Mara McLoughlin, MS, CCC-SLP (she/her) is a speech-language pathologist with nearly two decades of experience working with autistic & other neurodiverse humans, age 2 through adults. Appointed to the Oregon Commission for Autism in 2021, her breadth of experience includes private clinics, public schools, and early intervention programs with migrant families in California as well as on the Navajo reservation. She has been a vital member of autism evaluation teams in several states. While working at middle school, high school and transition programs with nonspeaking autistic students to give them a voice, she noticed that those who could speak, and were perhaps even doing well academically, were struggling socially. Knowing that the dearth of services for socially struggling students age 11+ was going to be the biggest barrier to their social and professional success, she launched this business to fill the critical need. She draws on her depth and breadth of clinical experience as well as her 30+ years as student/teacher of yoga & mindfulness to offer research-backed, trauma-informed, parent-mediated interventions to these deserving families.