Dr. Morton grew up the Appalachian region of Virginia, and she was involved in band, public speaking, and volleyball in high school. While attending Radford University in Radford, VA, she served as her college Sigma Alpha Iota International Music Fraternity chapter president and was a national winner of the E. Thayer Gaston writing award. She was also involved in several martial arts, earning belts in judo and karate. After completing an internship at William Pat Day Early Childhood Center in Cleveland, OH, Dr. Morton received her Bachelor of Music Therapy degree with honors, becoming the first college graduate in her family. After completing her undergraduate degree, Dr. Morton taught preschool music classes before working with adult and geriatric psychiatry patients in Kingsport, TN as a Board-Certified Music Therapist.
Dr. Morton moved to Chicago, IL and obtained her master’s and PhD degrees in clinical psychology from Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science. She completed a doctoral internship in neuropsychology at the Jesse Brown Veterans Affairs Medical Center and a postdoctoral fellowship in pediatric neuropsychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. While living in Chicago, Dr. Morton was active in recreational soccer leagues.
After leaving her private pediatric and developmental neuropsychology practice in Chicago, Dr. Morton moved to Fort Worth, TX to work as a staff neuropsychologist at Cook Children’s Medical Center. Her primary specialty areas are stroke, concussion, demyelinating disorders, and congenital heart defects. Because of her strong desire to advocate for her patients on a systemic level, Dr. Morton also completed a public school policy fellowship with Leadership ISD in Tarrant County, TX as well as the Lone Star Governance training for school board members through the Texas Education Agency. Although she was unsuccessful in her campaigns for the Texas State Board of Education and the Fort Worth ISD School Board, Dr. Morton remains active in politics as well as advocating for high-quality public education for all children, access to mental and physical healthcare services, and social justice issues. She also helped create a Special Education PTA in the Fort Worth ISD.
Dr. Morton lives with her husband, two sons, and three dogs. Dr. Morton, along with her sons, train at Fort Worth Judo Club. Her children attend elementary school in the Fort Worth public school district, and her younger son is in the gifted and talented program. Dr. Morton’s older son survived a perinatal stroke, and he has received special education services since 3 years of age. His current challenges include ADHD, speech disorder, and hemiparesis. Dr. Morton wrote about her son’s journey in a series of articles:
http://www.checkupnewsroom.com/a-stroke-at-birth-1/
http://www.checkupnewsroom.com/en-us/stroke-at-birth/