OWNER
Krista, the passionate owner and lead clinician at The Speech Therapy Center, is a licensed Speech Language Pathologist by the State of Massachusetts and holds a Certificate of Clinical Competence through the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA). Krista is PROMPT trained, LSVT certified, and BLS certified. Krista recently received her certification as an Autism Spectrum Disorder Clinical Specialist (ASDCS).
After working in a variety of settings including acute care, outpatient rehab, skilled nursing, and mobile endoscopy, Krista decided to bring her expertise to her own private practice. The Speech Therapy Center has allowed Krista to service her clients with more flexibility and individual care. She treats individuals from birth through geriatrics and has a special interest in working with children with developmental delays including Autism Spectrum Disorders and adults with acquired neurological impairments; therefore, these populations have become the heart of her practice.
Krista strives for ongoing education to provide her patients with the best possible care. Krista has received specialized training in the areas of Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy, Lee Silverman Voice Therapy (LSVT), Prompts for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets (PROMPT), VitalStim, and FEES. Continuing to expand her knowledge outside of the clinic through research and ongoing education has allowed her practice to remain at the forefront within the speech community.
When not caring for her patients, Krista enjoys spending time with her daughter, hiking with her dogs, and learning to play golf with her husband. She also remains passionate about gymnastics, which is the sport that provided her with a hardworking and dedicated foundation.
Krista is willing to go the distance for each one of her clients
OFFICE MANAGER
Tatiana Brainerd
Tatiana brings 20+ years experience working behind the scenes in companies large and small. Before she came to The Speech Therapy Center, Tatiana was involved in running a local tea and spice company, and flower farm. She can now be found recommending tea to the clinicians or talking plants and flowers with them at lunch. Tatiana believes a safe, comfortable environment aids learning and positive change, so she’s happy to help provide that for our clients. She is insatiably curious about how the world works and enjoys applying what she learns to make the immediate surroundings work a bit smoother and easier whenever possible.
Tatiana has taken over the scheduling for the practice and can be reached directly at scheduling@thespeechtherapycenter.com.
When not in the office, Tatiana loves making music and art, looks forward to travel with family, and relishes music/dance adventures with friends.
SPEECH LANGUAGE PATHOLOGISTS
Ellen Bachrach, SLP
Ellen is a licensed speech language pathologist by the state of Massachusetts. She holds a certificate of clinical competence through the American Speech and Hearing Association. Ellen received her Master of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders from the University of New Hampshire.
Ellen has a passion for working with patients and their families to develop individualized treatment plans. She has experience evaluating and treating children and adults with articulation and phonological disorders, expressive and receptive language delays, Childhood Apraxia of Speech, autism spectrum disorders, fluency disorders, and individuals using Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC). Ellen has led social skills groups for children on the autism spectrum while implementing the Social Thinking Curriculum. Additionally, Ellen is a trained Myofunctional Therapist.
Ellen implements both play based therapy and structured therapy tasks into her treatment. She works hard to collaborate with family members, educators, and other medical professionals to ensure the success of her patients. Her past experiences include working with pediatric and adult populations in an outpatient hospital clinic, a multidisciplinary private practice, an acute care hospital, and in the public schools.
In her spare time, Ellen enjoys running, hiking, skiing, and diving into a good book on the beach.
Rebecca Cann, SLP
Rebecca is a licensed Speech Language Pathologist by the state of Massachusetts. She holds a Certificate of Clinical Competence through the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA) as well as a Certification of Teacher of Students with Speech and Language Disorders (TSSLD). Rebecca has training in the Sequential-Oral-Sensory (SOS) approach to feeding therapy for pediatrics, Talk Yoga, and Tactile and Temporal cueing for Childhood Apraxia of Speech.
Rebecca has experience working in many different settings including the public school system, inpatient rehabilitation hospital, and skilled nursing facility, treating individuals ranging from preschool through geriatrics. She has specific interest in treating individuals with feeding/swallowing disorders, language disorders and incorporating yoga practices into therapy. She enjoys working with both children and adults, which is why The Speech Therapy Center is such a great fit!
Rebecca prides herself in ongoing education for both herself and those who she treats. She has presented a poster on “Sarcopenic Dysphagia” at the 2018 ASHA convention, as well as provided in-services to the schools in which she has worked. She believes that continued education for all team members is the key to success when working to improve speech/language and feeding disorders.
When not working, Rebecca enjoys spending time with her bulldog, cooking new recipes from Trader Joe’s, being active and doing puzzles.
Sophie O’Connell SLP
Sophie is a licensed Speech Language Pathologist in the state of Massachusetts. She holds a Certificate of Clinical Competence through the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA). Sophie received her Master of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders from the University of New Hampshire.
Sophie is passionate about making connections with her clients and joining their unique journeys to find their individual voices. Sophie has experience evaluating and treating children with expressive and receptive language disorders, articulation and phonological disorders, Childhood Apraxia of Speech, feeding, social pragmatic disorders and fluency in settings including Early Intervention, public schools, private practice and outpatient clinics.
Sophie has a decade of experience supporting younger children who are neurodivergent and have developmental delays including Autism Spectrum Disorders and Down Syndrome. She has assessed children who can benefit from using Augmentative and Alternative Communication and has written grant proposals for them to receive speech generating devices.
Additionally, Sophie is a bilingual Speech Language Pathologist and has worked with public schools to conduct evaluations and provided consultations for bilingual Korean-English students. In her spare time, Sophie enjoys spending time with her family in nature, traveling, gardening, kickboxing and trying new recipes.
Lauren Peduto, SLP
Lauren is a licensed speech-language pathologist in the state of Massachusetts. She holds a Certificate of Clinical Competence through the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA). Lauren received her Master of Science degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders from Worcester State University.
Lauren has experience evaluating and treating children and adults with articulation and phonological disorders, expressive/receptive language delays, fluency disorders, pragmatic language disorders, Autism, Apraxia of Speech, Down Syndrome, and individuals using AAC. Lauren has previous experience working in outpatient, private practice, and public school settings.
Lauren is passionate about her clients receiving individualized treatment so they can communicate across a variety of communication partners and environments. Lauren implements both play based therapy and structured therapy tasks into her treatment. She looks forward to continuing her education in the field of Speech-Language Pathology in order to provide the most effective, evidence-based treatments.
In her spare time, Lauren enjoys running, reading, and cooking!
Sheeva Abolhassani, SLP
Sheeva is a pediatric speech and language therapist who has earned her Master’s Degree from Teachers College, Columbia University. Sheeva has over 10 years of experience working in the school, hospital, nursing home, clinic, and home settings serving children and adults with needs ranging from mild to complex needs from an array of socio-economic and cultural backgrounds.
In 2015, Sheeva moved to London in the United Kingdom where she worked in a mainstream primary school for three years before then working for a special school with a key population of autistic teens as well as other special needs. She then went on to work for the National Health Service (NHS) working with children ages 0-5 with a range of speech and language difficulties.
Since arriving back in the US Sheeva is working full time to develop an application for autistic children to aid them in their speech, language, and communication skills. Sheeva is a licensed speech language pathologist in the state of Massachusetts. She holds a certificate of clinical competence through the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA) and is a member of the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).
When she is not working, Sheeva enjoys ice skating, organizing, traveling, and spending time with family and friends.
Ashlyn Murphy, SLP
Ashlyn is a licensed Speech Language Pathologist with a Master of Science in Communication Science and Disorders from Emerson College. She received her undergraduate from the University of New Hampshire where she majored in Communication Sciences and Disorders.
Ashlyn has experience working in a school, outpatient clinic, and private practice. She has experience evaluating and treating children with expressive and receptive delays/disorders, articulation disorders, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), individuals who use an Augmentative Alternative Communication (AAC) device and feeding disorders. Additionally, Ashlyn is a trained orofacial myofunctional therapist.
Ashlyn is very passionate about building strong client relationships and providing family and client-centered care. She implements both play based and structured therapy into her treatment sessions.
In her spare time, Ashlyn enjoys cooking, yoga, and spending time with her friends and family.
Georgia Hunt, SLP
Georgia is committed to client- and family-centered, neurodiverse affirming care to meet each client where they are. She has experience treating clients across the lifespan in early intervention, hospital settings, public school systems, and private clinics. Her specific clinical interests include early language intervention, caregiver involvement, gestalt language learners, pediatric feeding disorders, expressive and receptive language disorders, and speech sound disorders. She recently attended the Massachusetts Early Intervention Consortium and took and an Introduction to DIR Floortime course.
Georgia is a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist by the state of Massachusetts. She holds a certificate of clinical competence through the American Speech and Hearing Association. Georgia received her Master of Science in Speech Language Pathology from Boston University.
Georgia implements child-led, play-based therapy in conjunction with structured therapy activities in her sessions. She works to collaborate with family members, educators, and medical professionals to ensure carryover and success for her clients. She is devoted to life-long learning and is excited to pursue more continuing education opportunities to best support her clients.
Outside of work, Georgia enjoys trying new restaurants, hitting a workout class, traveling, and spending time with friends and family.
Ariel Hylton, SLP
Ariel is a licensed Speech Language Pathologist in the state of Massachusetts. She holds a Certificate of Clinical Competence through the American Speech-Language Hearing Association. Ariel received her Bachelor of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders and Bachelor of Arts in Spanish Language, Literature, and Culture from Syracuse University. She obtained her Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology from Northeastern University.
Ariel has clinical experience working with children of all ages using AAC and presenting with receptive and expressive language disorders, speech sound disorders, social-pragmatic language disorders, fluency disorders, written language disorders, voice disorders, and feeding disorders. Her experience working with adults includes improving their cognitive-linguistic skills secondary to a stroke, traumatic brain injury, and degenerate disorder. As a bilingual speech-language pathologist, Ariel also treats individuals who speak Spanish.
Ariel is passionate about family-centered care and works hard to create individualized treatment plans for each client based on their unique needs. In her free time, Ariel enjoys traveling, baking, and spending time with her family and friends.
Melissa Romero, SLP
Melissa is a licensed Speech Language Pathologist in the state of Massachusetts. She holds a Certificate of Clinical Competence through the American Speech-Language Hearing Association.
Melissa is a bilingual Speech Language Pathologist and has experience in working with Spanish speaking clients. She is a Natural Language Acquisition (NLA) trained clinician. She is passionate about collaborating with families in order to empower their children, and is committed to providing individualized care.
Melissa has worked with pediatric clients in private practice and school-based settings, and has previous experience in a variety of areas, including receptive/expressive language disorders, pragmatic language disorders, early intervention, speech sound disorders, feeding disorders, and augmentative alternative communication (AAC).
In her spare time, Melissa enjoys spending time with family and friends, traveling, reading, and taking care of her plants.
OCCUPATIONAL THERAPISTS
Tess Clark, OTR/L
Tess is a “Double Jumbo” who received her bachelor’s degree in Child Development and master’s degree in Occupational Therapy from Tufts University. Over the past ten years, Tess has brought her passion for pediatrics to an array of home, community, academic, and clinic settings. Her strengths-based, holistic, and compassionate approach to work positively impacts the lives of her clients and their families. In conjunction with her role as a therapist, Tess has embraced being a mentor, fieldwork supervisor, playgroup co-leader, and mental health advocate. She has presented to therapists, parents, and teachers on mindful parent-therapist collaboration, parent coaching, self-regulation, and supporting children’s transitions.
Tess has received specialized training in sensory processing and integration; mental health; oral motor, feeding, and eating skills; trauma-informed care; therapeutic listening programs; auditory processing; craniosacral therapy; neurodiverse learning; play, movement, and communication supports. Tess’ ongoing investment in continuing education is rooted in her commitment to providing effective and evidence-based care.
Outside of work, Tess enjoys spending time outdoors with her family (dogs included!) and friends. She loves nature, art, tending to her indoor garden, and growing her library of self-care books, journals, and mindfulness supports for both children and adults. Tess looks forward to providing your child and family with heartfelt, mindful, and highly individualized therapy.