Melinda was on her own as she began the journey of raising a child with special needs, and she knew she never wanted another family to feel alone in the process. As the founder of Melinda Gillinger & Consultants, Melinda provides personal, respectful special education consultancy service to families of children with special needs and to their educational teams. 

Melinda and her team serve over 200 families a year, helping them get appropriate services in the educational setting across all 13 eligibilities, specializing in hearing loss. Melinda has been a guest on numerous panels for university students, been contracted as a guest lecturer at multiple universities, conducted school staff, district-wide, SELPA, and regionalized trainings, been contracted by public school districts to serve on the IEP team, and has been called as an expert witness. She has worked as a special education teacher, as an educational liaison for House Ear Institute, been a vendor for Lanterman Regional Center, and has lectured throughout the U.S. and internationally.