Natalie Parker, M.A., CCC/SLP

Speech-Language Pathologist Founder/Co-Owner

natalie@speech-ts.com

Speech Therapy Solutions, PLLC is owned by Natalie Parker, a national certified and state licensed Speech Language Pathologist. She has been a resident of Youngsville, NC since childhood and is excited to be able to open a practice to give back to the community she has called home for so long.

Natalie attended Youngsville Elementary school and Franklinton High school. After high school, she attended the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Natalie graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Communication Disorders. She attended Appalachian State University, where she completed her Master of Arts in Speech-Language Pathology. Natalie’s practicum experiences in graduate school included acute care, inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation, a early intervention private practice, an elementary school, and a skilled nursing facility. She earned additional training in the LiPS program for children with speech and reading disorders.

During her professional career, Natalie has had the opportunity to work with a variety of populations and disorders. She also has gained experience working as a speech-language pathologist in a variety of settings including schools, daycares, and homes. Natalie worked for Franklin County public schools with special needs children and also has a great deal of knowledge and experience in early intervention.

Natalie has had the opportunity to professionally work with children  with children with Developmental Delays, Feeding/Oral Motor Disorders, Down Syndrome, Autism, Apraxia, Language-Based Literacy Disorders, Fluency Disorders, Medically Fragile Children, and Articulation/Phonological Disorders. She has received specialized training in Feeding assessment/intervention, Childhood Apraxia of Speech, Autism Spectrum Disorders, The Floortime Method, Beckman Oral Motor Assessment and Intervention, basic sign language, and the Picture Exchange Communication System. She enjoys working with individuals of all ages and their families. Natalie is licensed by the board of North Carolina and has her Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech Language Hearing Association. She is also recognized by Apraxia Kids™ for Advanced Training and Expertise in Childhood Apraxia of Speech.

Natalie married Jordan Parker in 2004. Jordan stays busy working as a Professional Land Surveyor in Wake Forest, NC. Natalie and Jordan have two girls, Savannah and Ansley.

       

Lisa Walser Pridgen, M.Ed., CCC/SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist

Co-Owner

lisa@speech-ts.com

Lisa received her Bachelor’s degree in Communication Disorders at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC in May 2009. She received her Master’s degree in Speech Language Pathology from North Carolina Central University in Durham, NC in May 2011. Lisa graduated with a specialization in Early Intervention and Assistive Technology.

Lisa’s clinical experiences include: Providing services to individuals from infancy to age 80+ and evaluating and treating individuals with a variety of disorders including: Feeding and Swallowing disorders, Articulation disorders, Language disorders, Voice disorders, Fluency disorders, Traumatic Brain Injuries, Vocal Cord Dysfunction, Autism Spectrum Disorders, Hearing Impairments, Cerebral Palsy, Prematurity, Reflux, G tube feedings, Central Auditory Processing Disorder, Sensory issues, Aphasia, Attention Deficit Disorder/Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Down Syndrome.

Lisa has had the opportunity to work with Healthy Start Academy in Durham, AT:PLAY, a pre-school for children on the Autism Spectrum, Womack Army Medical Center, Wake County Public Schools, and Carolina Pediatric Dysphagia working with pediatrics with feeding and swallowing difficulties including bottle feeding, spoon feeding, transition difficulties, chewing difficulties, gagging/choking and picky eaters.

Lisa is licensed by the board of North Carolina and has her Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech Language Hearing Association.

Morgan Berliner, MA, CCC/SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist

Morgan is from Raleigh, North Carolina. She obtained both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from East Carolina University in Communication Sciences and Disorders. Throughout college her passion for working with individuals with special needs grew while working one-on-one with children for The Autism Society of NC. Morgan’s clinical experiences include working with individuals of all ages in daycares, outpatient clinics, elementary schools, inpatient rehab hospitals, and acute care hospitals.

Morgan has treated and evaluated individuals with Hearing Impairments, Dysphagia, Dysarthria, Childhood Apraxia of Speech, Articulation and Phonological Disorders, Language Disorders,Fluency Disorders, Traumatic Brain Injury, Neurodegenerative Disorders, Aphasia, Autism Spectrum Disorder, and Craniofacial Anomalies.

Morgan is licensed by the North Carolina and has her Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech Language Hearing Association. Morgan currently lives in Raleigh. She is married and a new mom. In her free time she enjoys being outside, spending time with her friends and family, shopping, and going to the beach.

Catherine Brewer, MS, CCC/SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist

Catherine is a West Virginia native who received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Marshall University in Huntington, WV. She thoroughly enjoys working with families to help reach their communication goals and feeding goals for their child.

After graduation, Catherine began working as an SLP in the WV public school system. This experience included treating preschool speech and language disorders, developmental delay, articulation/phonological disorders and language disorders. Catherine co-taught in an autism classroom and worked with children using augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). In the pediatric clinical setting, Catherine worked as an SLP providing outpatient therapy to children ages 1-16. She worked with children and their families treating feeding/swallowing disorders, apraxia of speech, children with Down Syndrome and Cerebral Palsy as well as those who were hard of hearing or had cochlear implants. In recent years, Catherine has found her passion for working with parents and their children through early intervention.

In her free time, Catherine loves being at home with her two shelter rescues, Bella and Chewy. She enjoys baking and watching all of the holiday baking shows.  On the weekends, Catherine travels to see friends and spend time with family. Her favorite places for weekend adventures include traveling back home to WV, Washington D.C., Gatlinburg, TN or spending the weekend at Wrightsville beach.

Hanna Calvo, SLPA
Speech-Language Pathologist Assistant

Hanna moved from the Northwest to North Carolina in 2011. She was raised in Montana – Big Sky Country – and lived in Billings until she moved to Oregon for college. In 2010, Hanna graduated from Chemeketa Community College in Salem, Oregon with an Associate of Applied Science degree in Speech and Language Pathology Assisting. Hanna’s internship, as part of her education, was with an outreach program at the University of Oregon called Early Childhood CARES, through their College of Education. The program provides early intervention and early childhood special education to infants, toddlers, and preschool children. It was through this hands-on, educational experience that Hanna developed a special interest in early intervention, where she learned the importance of preparing little ones for school. Playing a part in a child’s progress, and celebrating that progress, is especially gratifying to Hanna. Hanna has experience working with children with a variety of speech and language disorders including; Autism, Developmental Delays, Expressive/Receptive Language Disorders, Developmental Apraxia of Speech and Articulation/Phonological disorders. Hanna has also received specialized training in LAMP (Language Acquisition through Motor Planning).

Moving to North Carolina has been a positive experience in every way for Hanna. She met her husband Mike in Raleigh, and they were married in May 2015. They enjoy traveling and always look forward to tail-gating during NC State football season.

Hanna is supervised by Natalie Parker, SLP and is a registered speech-language pathology assistant by the North Carolina Board of Examiners for Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists.

Talia Cusanelli, M.A., CCC/SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist

Talia is originally from Connecticut and attended University of Connecticut for her undergraduate degree in Speech Language and Hearing Sciences. Talia moved to North Carolina to pursue her master’s degree in Speech Language Pathology at University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Talia has experience working in a variety of settings including home health, daycares, schools, and clinics.  She has provided speech and language therapy for children with various diagnoses including receptive and expressive language delays and disorders, articulation and phonological disorders, fluency disorders, pragmatic language disorders, and autism spectrum disorders.

Talia is licensed by the board of North Carolina and has her Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech Language and Hearing Association. She looks forward to helping your child reach their speech and language goals!

Kristen Kesler DeSena, M.A., CCC/SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist

Kristen is originally from Beverly Hills, Michigan. She graduated from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor with her Bachelor’s degree in English and Linguistics, and then moved to New England to pursue her graduate studies. Kristen attended Emerson College in Boston, MA, where she received her Master’s degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders with a focus on Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC). Kristen’s clinical experiences in graduate school included internships at Emerson’s Speech, Language and Hearing Center, Medford Public Schools, a Harvard affiliated acute care hospital, and Boston Children’s Hospital in the Augmentative Communication Program and Autism Language Program.

Following graduate school, Kristen moved to North Carolina and began her professional career as a Speech-Language Pathologist in the schools. She has experience evaluating and treating children aged preschool through high school and presenting with a wide range of communication impairments. Kristen has worked with individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders, Developmental Delays, Learning Disabilities, Intellectual Disabilities, Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, Visual/Hearing Impairments, Expressive/Receptive Language Impairments, Fluency Disorders, and Articulation/Phonological Disorders. She is especially passionate about following a family-centered approach to therapy and also implementing AAC systems and strategies when appropriate to ensure every individual is given an equal opportunity to communicate.

Kristen is licensed by the board of North Carolina, has her Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech Language Hearing Association, and is an active member of the North Carolina Augmentative Communication Association. Aside from being a Speech-Language Pathologist, Kristen is also an avid runner, a frequent beach-goer, and a devoted Detroit sports fan. Kristen currently lives in Durham with her fiancée, Thomas, and their Jack Russell terrier, Loki.

Elissa Pyon, M.S., CCC/SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist

Elissa has over 12 years of experience treating pediatric patients. She holds a Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech-Language- Hearing Association and she is licensed by the board of North Carolina and the board of New York.

Elissa completed her undergraduate studies at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Communication with concentrations in Communication Disorders and Public Relations. She continued her education at East Carolina University earning her Master of Science in Speech Language and Auditory Pathology in 2006. Her practicum included school-based therapy with Wake County Public Schools and adult dysphagia and cognitive communication disorders at Dorothea Dix Hospital in Raleigh.

Elissa began her career working with Johnston County Schools in Smithfield, North Carolina, where she was the speech-language pathologist at Corinth-Holders Elementary school from 2006-2013 and an itinerant therapist serving middle school and high school students in regular education and cross-categorical special education classrooms.

Elissa transitioned to private practice in 2014 where she has served as a supervisor to a speech-language pathologist-assistant and provided early intervention and preschool-aged services to children in homes, private preschools and a multi-disciplinary clinic in both North Carolina and New York.

As a member of a preschool evaluation team in the state of New York, Elissa conducted weekly evaluations, often consisting of a team of psychologists, occupational therapists and physical therapists. She has acted as a representative for her agency, presenting team findings before the Committee for Preschool Education in various school districts.

Elissa has joined special interest groups for continuing education in counseling and research findings for SLPS serving the pediatric population; as a result, she is skilled in selecting evaluation tools to diagnose a variety of speech/language disorders and counseling families during the evaluation process. Elissa is passionate about working closely with caregivers to provide holistic, child-centered programming within the framework of a family’s daily routine.

She has experience in treating individuals with Receptive and Expressive Language Disorders, Cognitive-Communication Impairments, Apraxia of Speech, Fluency Disorders, Articulation and Phonological Disorders, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Feeding Disorders, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Sensory Processing Disorder, Attention-deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Intellectual Disabilities and Language-Based Learning Disabilities.

Elissa lives in downtown Raleigh with her husband Peter and her son Henry.

Clare Rahill, M.S., CF/SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist

Clare is originally from small town Northeast Ohio. She attended Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for both her undergraduate and graduate studies, receiving a Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences and Master of Science in Speech Language Pathology. Clare is licensed by the Board of North Carolina for her clinical fellowship.

Clare’s clinical experiences include an Autism-inclusive preschool, skilled nursing facility, and a children’s hospital outpatient clinic, working with individual’s of all ages. Clare’s has experience working with individuals with Autism, specific language impairment, articulation and phonology disorders, Apraxia of speech, TBI, dementia, dysphagia, and cleft palate. She has a particular passion for include practices and parent education as she believes family and peers have a huge impact on development.

Clare recently moved to North Carolina and is excited to explore all that Raleigh and Durham have to offer. She is looking forward to working with you and your family!

Haley Reconnu, M.S., CCC/SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist

Haley is originally from New Hampshire and grew up in Raleigh, NC. She graduated from Appalachian State University with a Master’s degree in Speech Language Pathology as well as Bachelor’s degrees in Spanish and Communication Sciences and Disorders. Haley is licensed to practice by the Board of North Carolina and has her Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech Language Hearing Association.

Bilingual in English and Spanish, Haley has worked with multilingual families in a number of settings including preschools, clinics, and full-immersion daycares. She has clinical experience with pediatrics and adults diagnosed with a variety of disorders including Down Syndrome, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Cerebral Palsy, TBI, Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Cleft Palate, Pediatric Feeding, as well as Articulation/Phonological and Receptive/Expressive Language Disorders and Delays.

Haley now lives in Wake Forest, enjoys cooking, hosting game nights, hiking with her dog Luna, and watching the New England Patriots.

Alyson Reed, M.S., CCC/SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist

Alyson graduated from East Carolina University with both a Bachelors and Masters degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders.  She has experience working in a variety of settings, including preschools/daycares, homes, clinics, schools and rehabilitation hospitals.  She is skilled at providing therapy for various speech and language disorders, including articulation/phonology, receptive and expressive language, social/pragmatic language, fluency, and childhood apraxia of speech.  Alyson also enjoys working with children on the Autism Spectrum, and is experienced at providing both individual and group speech therapy to help these children learn and use appropriate social skills.

Alyson has a passion for working with young children and has particular interest in early intervention for treatment of language delays and articulation/phonology disorders.  She believes that caregivers are a vital part of our team and provides strategies and activities to facilitate speech and language development at home.

Alyson holds her national certification from the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association, as well as her license to practice speech-language pathology in North Carolina.  She welcomes the opportunity to work with you and your child!

Megan Sheridan, M.S., CCC/SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist

Megan graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Communications. She earned a Master’s degree in Communication Disorders at North Carolina Central University. While at NCCU, Megan received specialized training in supporting children with disabilities from culturally diverse backgrounds through her participation in a federally funded grant.

Megan has gained clinical experience through her work in various settings including Healthy Start Academy, Neurogenic Aphasia Group, UNC Rex Hospital Outpatient Rehab, and private practice. She has additional experience in supporting children with developmental disabilities through her implementation of ABA based behavior plans as a Behavior Instructor and her provision of enrichment groups at a speech therapy clinic, both in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has served individuals of all ages with Developmental Delays, Receptive and Expressive Language Disorders, Articulation/Phonological Disorders, Fluency Disorders, Voice Disorders, Childhood Apraxia of Speech, Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Traumatic Brain Injury, Feeding Disorders, Dysphagia, Aphasia, and Parkinson’s Disease. Megan holds her national certification from the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association, as well as her license to practice speech-language pathology in North Carolina.

Megan currently lives in Apex with her husband, Alan, and son, Caleb. She looks forward to the opportunity to work with you and your family!

Lauren Kircheval, M.A., CCC/SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist

Lauren recently relocated to the area from Gainesville, Florida. She received her Bachelor of Health Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders and her Master of Arts in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of Florida. Lauren is licensed by the board of North Carolina and has her Certificate in Clinical Competence from the American Speech Language Hearing Association.

Lauren’s clinical experiences include working with both pediatric and adult patients in various settings, including hospital, private practice, and school. She has worked with individuals with a variety of diagnoses, including autism spectrum disorders, developmental delays, medically fragile children, articulation/phonological disorders, receptive and expressive language delays/disorders, childhood apraxia of speech, and dysphagia. Lauren is licensed by the board of North Carolina and has her Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech Language Hearing Association.

Lauren recently moved to Raleigh with her boyfriend, dogs (Tucker, Olivia, and Charlie) and kitten (Finn). She is enjoying exploring all there is to do in North Carolina. Lauren is looking forward to working with you and your child!

Elizabeth Varnum, M.A., CCC/SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist

BIO COMING SOON!