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Speech Therapy

Our Speech Pathology Services

Speech Therapy has the opportunity to change lives.  Over the years, Speech Therapists have re-defined and broadened the health advantages to both the health care community and the world of patients needing this special approach.

Our Speech Therapists have joined in a collaborative model with the Kinect and K2 team to deliver a whole body connection to their powerful experience.

Speech Language Pathologists, or SLPs work with people on a variety of conditions impacting their ability to think, communicate, and swallow.  We take a hands-on patient-centered approach to truly understand your goals and challenges, and collaborate during treatment to make sure your objectives in pursuing treatment are being met.  We currently specialize in adult-based speech language pathology.

 

Conditions treated include:

  • Cognitive-Linguistic abilities (Thinking abilities such as attention, memory, processing speed, and executive function)
  • Language/Aphasia
  • Motor Speech (speech clarity, for example slurred speech after a Stroke or TBI)
  • Accent modification
  • Voice (vocal nodules, vocal cord polyp, performance voice health, aging voice, occupational voice use)
  • Swallowing
  • Parkinson’s Disease Swallowing and Voice
  • Head and Neck Cancer Swallowing and Voice
  • Alternative and Augmentative Communication including Speech Generating Device Evaluation and Training
  • Speech, Language, and Swallowing changes related to progressive neurological disease such as ALS and/or PNP
  • Transgender Voice

 

Other Specialty Services Available:

  • Vital Stimulation for Swallowing
  • LSVT Loud
  • SPEAK OUT ®
  • Myofascial Release for Speech, Swallowing, and Voice
  • Airway balancing and optimization

About Our Speech Pathologiest

Katie grew up in Washington State, just 30 minutes south of the Canadian border. After attending college in San Diego and studying French, Katie found herself traveling the world.  She interacted with people from all walks of life, and central to those interactions was communication and language. It was these travels and interactions that lead her to the Speech Language Pathology field.   The profession allows her to connect with people and families, encouraging them to enhance and optimize their swallowing, cognitive, and communication potential.

She attended Western Washington University for post-baccalaureate work, and then received her Master’s in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences from the University of Colorado in 2013. She knew she was passionate about working with adults in a rehabilitative setting.  She was awarded a competitive internship at the Veteran’s Affairs Healthcare Setting in Long Beach, California, and then was offered the highly sought after year-long clinical fellowship at the Veteran’s Affairs Hospital in San Diego.

During her fellowship Katie was able to work with veterans who suffered strokes, Traumatic Brain Injuries that were returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, spinal cord injury patients, head and neck cancer patients, veterans with voice and speech disorders, and veterans who used technology to help them communicate (Alternative and Augmentative Communication). After completing her fellowship Katie worked in a variety of settings including acute care, acute rehabilitation, and outpatient clinics.

As a testament to her passion for this profession and patient care, she has pursued specialized certifications to enhance her treatment skills.  Katie became a Certified Brain Injury Specialist through the Brain Injury Association of America in 2014. This required completion of 500 hours of care under mentorship for individuals with brain injury including traumatic brain injury (TBI) and stroke (acquired brain injury), and passing a rigorous certification examination.  She continues to maintain this certification and is passionate about working with people who have sustained a brain injury on reaching their goals and improving their participation at home and in the community. Additionally, she holds certification in LSVT LOUD and SPEAK OUT!®. These evidence based treatment paradigms facilitate improvement in speech and voice abilities for patients with Parkinson’s disease. She has also pursued continuing education in manual therapy and Vital Stimulation certification, expanding the role of physical/structural manipulation paired with traditional therapy techniques.

In her free time Katie enjoys spending time outside hiking with her family, reading, learning languages, and planning future travels.