Speech Language Pathologists

Mariana Marchitto received her Bachelor’s degree in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences and Human Development and Family Studies with a concentration in Early Childhood Development from the University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT and her Master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology from Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven, CT. During her graduate studies she gained extensive experience working with a diverse caseload through pediatric outpatient rehabilitation facilities, specialty learning centers, public schools, university clinics, and telehealth experiences. She has worked with children with language disorders, articulation and phonological disorders, childhood apraxia of speech, fluency disorders, voice disorders, and feeding deficits. She also has had experiences working with children with autism spectrum disorder, Down syndrome, cleft lip and palate, and velopharyngeal dysfunction. 

Mariana is particularly passionate about working with infants and children ages birth to five and values the importance of building strong relationships with her clients and their families. She strives to implement an individualized, holistic approach to therapy that involves families and caregivers in treatment to provide support and carry-over into their homes and everyday lives. 

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A few of Mariana's additional trainings and certifications include: 

• Lively Letters + Sight Words You Can See

• PROMPTS for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets (Level I)

• How to Identify and Treat the Sensory Component of Pediatric Feeding Difficulties

• Building a Treatment Plan for Feeding Success: Tools for Your Toolbox

• Adventures in Early Intervention: Navigating Goals, Strategies, and Families

• Responsive Opportunity to Responsive Guidance in Pediatric Feeding Therapy: Considerations for a Responsive Use of Tools in Therapy

• How Breastfeeding "Ties" Into Feeding Therapy

• Picky Eating in the Preschool Classroom: MD & SLP Team Up to Solve the Problem

• Picky Eaters vs Pediatric Feeding Disorders vs Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder: Using a Differential Diagnosis Decision Tree to Guide Intervention

• Feed the Peds by Learning to Screen the Peds

• Trauma and Feeding: Supporting Families at Mealtimes with a Trauma-Informed Lens

In her free time, Mariana enjoys being outside, hiking and playing games, spending time with her family and friends, and playing with her dogs.

Sarah Aimone received her Bachelor’s degree in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences and Human Development and Family Studies from the University of Connecticut in Storrs, CT and her Master’s degree in Speech Language Pathology at the MGH Institute of Health Professions in Boston, MA. Sarah has clinical experience working in a variety of settings including adult and pediatric outpatient facilities, public schools, and telehealth experiences. She has experience working with children with receptive and expressive language disorders, articulation and
phonology disorders, autism spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy, and children who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices.
 

Sarah is passionate about supporting her clients in communicating and expressing themselves through the most functional method that meets their individual needs. Sarah believes in the importance of incorporating the family into the therapeutic process to provide holistic care and support carry-over across environments. She is passionate about making therapy functional,
personalized, and most importantly fun for her clients.

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A few of Sarah's additional trainings and certifications include:

• AEIOU: An Integrated Approach to Pediatric Feeding

• Lively Letters + Sight Words You Can See

In her free time, Sarah loves to hike with her dog, cook delicious food, practice yoga, and spend time with her friends and family.

Paula Calandra received her Bachelor’s degree in Nutrition Sciences from North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, and her Master’s degree in Speech Language Pathology from the University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT. She has clinical experience working with patients across the lifespan in a variety of clinical settings including outpatient facilities, public elementary and preschools, university clinics, and long term acute and chronic care hospitals. 

Paula is so excited to be working full time with the pediatric population! She has worked with children of all ages in various capacities throughout her life including roles as a nanny, summer theater camp choreographer/music director, and community music group leader. Clinically, Paula has experience working with children, adolescents, and their families to establish and strengthen receptive/expressive language, pragmatic language, speech sound production, and overall functional communication including various levels of alternative and augmentative communication systems. She is passionate about collaborating with caregivers and following a family-centered approach to speech and language intervention. She aims to foster caregivers’ confidence in promoting their child’s communication in natural environments through open communication, strong collaboration, and home carryover strategies. 

A few of Paula’s additional trainings and certifications include:

• PROMPTS for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets (Level I)

• Diagnosis and Treatment of Childhood Apraxia of Speech using Dynamic Temporal and Tactile Cueing (DTTC)

• AEIOU: An Integrated Approach to Pediatric Feeding

• Interdisciplinary training for personnel working with the Early Intervention population

In her free time, Paula enjoys going to the beach, singing, practicing yoga, watching her houseplants grow, and spending time with family, friends, and her dog Beni Bear!

Marina Lajoie received her Bachelor's dual degree in Cognitive Science and Speech, Language & Hearing Sciences from the University of Connecticut and her Master's degree in Speech Language Pathology from the University of Connecticut. She has gained clinical experience working in a variety of settings including adult and pediatric outpatient facilities, inpatient hospital settings, public preschool and elementary schools, university clinics, and telehealth platforms.

Marina is excited about working with the pediatric population. She has worked with children of all ages who have articulation and phonological disorders, receptive and expressive language disorders, fluency disorders, voice disorders,  acquired brain injuries and pragmatic language deficits. She also has experience working with children who have medical diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder, Down syndrome and cerebral palsy. In addition to clinical experience, Marina has a strong research background where she utilized fMRI, EEG, and eye tracking technologies to analyze the psychological processes of language production and comprehension. Marina also recently participated in the Disney College Program where she was able to make magic for children from all over the world as an employee of the Walt Disney company. Marina strives to implement a multidisciplinary, collaborative approach to intervention that is fun and engaging for her clients and accessible for caregivers.

A few of Marina's additional trainings include:

• Lively Letters + Sight Words You Can See

• Diagnosis and Treatment of Childhood Apraxia of Speech using Dynamic Temporal and Tactile Cueing (DTTC)

• The Meaningful Speech Course

  • Focus on gestalt language processing and the Natural Language Acquisition (NLA) framework​

In her free time, Marina enjoys baking, listening to music, spending time with friends and family, and playing with her new puppy, Baci!

Vanessa Harris received her Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Quinnipiac University, Hamden, CT and her Master's degree in Speech-Language Pathology from Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven, CT. She has clinical experience in a variety of settings, including university clinics, public schools, and outpatient pediatric specialty centers. She has supported children with language disorders, communication delays, articulation/phonological disorders, fluency disorders, social communication disorders, voice disorders and feeding/swallowing disorders. 

Vanessa is thrilled to be working full-time with the pediatric population! She has worked with children of all ages in various capacities throughout her life including roles as a summer student facilitator at Wesleyan University and babysitting. Clinically, Vanessa has experience working with children, adolescents, and their families to establish, improve and maintain receptive/expressive language, pragmatic language, speech sound production, and overall functional communication. She strives to create lifelong connections with caregivers and employs a family-centered approach to speech and language intervention. Vanessa aims to educate, encourage and collaborate with caregivers to ultimately help her patients achieve their goals. She is passionate about continually expanding her clinical knowledge, interdisciplinary collaboration, caregiver education and training, and providing home carryover strategies. 

In her free time, Vanessa enjoys spending time with her loved ones (including her dog Lola), watching movies, music and shopping.

Jillian Murphy received her Bachelor's degree in Communication Disorders and her Master's degree in Speech-Language Pathology from Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven, CT. Jill has clinical experience in a variety of settings, including university clinics, outpatient therapy centers, public schools, and telehealth. She has supported children and young adults with language disorders, communication delays, articulation/phonological disorders, fluency disorders, social communication disorders, and feeding/swallowing disorders. Jill is passionate about creating a therapeutic environment in which she can openly collaborate with families. She strives to make therapy both functional and exciting for her clients. Jill utilizes evidence-based practice to develop treatments and goals that align with the individual needs of children and their families. She greatly values being a lifelong learner and loves to bring her passion for positivity and personal growth into therapy!
 

In her free time, Jill enjoys traveling, going for walks with friends, reading, baking chocolate chip cookies, skiing, and going thrift shopping!

Keirstyn Yaccarino received her Bachelor’s degree in Communication Disorders from Southern Connecticut State University and her Master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology from Sacred Heart University. Keirstyn has clinical experience in various public school settings, serving students PreK- through high school. Keirstyn also has clinical experience serving students in a highly behavioral school setting, focusing on emotional regulation techniques. She has experience working with children and young adults in areas of expressive and receptive language, autism spectrum disorder, fluency, pragmatic language and articulation. 

Christina Renzoni received her Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Quinnipiac University, Hamden, CT and her Master's degree in Speech Language Pathology from Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven, CT. She has experience supporting speech and language skills in children across various settings, including public schools, programs for autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and university clinics. Currently, she hold a full time position at Beecher Road Elementary School in Woodbridge, CT, supporting students in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) use, social communication, functional language, language, articulation/phonology, and early literacy skills. 

Christina is most passionate about the implementation of AAC, including eye tracking systems, across home and school environments, and she has supported students in various programs for ASD around the state. Additionally, she has experience working with children diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy, Rett syndrome, Down syndrome, Hearing impairments, ADHD, and various behavioral needs.  She strives to provide evidence-based practices through client-centered sessions and places emphasis on collaboration with families to support generalization of skills.  

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A few of Christina's additional trainings and certifications include:

• TouchChat, Proloquo2Go, Snap Core First Implementation 

• PROMPTS for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets (Level I)

• PCeye Tracking System Implementation

• Early Autism Advances in Research and Clinical Practice

• Neural Correlates of Audio-Visual Speech Perception in Autism

In her free time, Christina enjoys spending time with her husband and children, visiting the beach, and traveling to NYC to see family. 

Meredith Wilson received her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN and her Master’s degree in Communicative Disorders from East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN. She has clinical experience in a variety of settings including pediatric and adult outpatient clinics, public schools, university, adult voice clinic, and autism clinics. She has provided therapy for children with autism spectrum disorders, cerebral palsy, fluency disorders, ADHD, expressive and receptive language disorders, social language impairments, Down syndrome, articulation delays, phonological impairments, and childhood apraxia of speech. 

Meredith is excited about working with the pediatric population! She has worked with children in a variety of capacities for 17 years including as a preschool teacher, nanny, and special education paraprofessional. She is passionate about meeting children where they are and working alongside parents and families to develop functional therapy goals. Meredith is adept at utilizing evidence-based strategies to integrate speech and language techniques into everyday routines and activities. She strives to treat every child as an individual and to help them reach their full potential through play-based, engaging, and hands-on experiences and activities. 

A few of Meredith’s additional trainings and certifications include: 

•  Diagnosis and Treatment of CAS Using Dynamic and Temporal Tactile Cueing (DTTC)

•  Evidence-Based Tips for Implementing Augmentative and Alternative Communication

•  Using Dynamic Assessment to Reduce Bias and Identify Learning Potential

•  Using Video Modeling to Teach Play Skills in Children with Autism

In her spare time Meredith enjoys reading, exercising, being outdoors, and spending time with her husband, children, and two dogs.