About The Granite Bay Speech Team

Christine is passionate about supporting neurodivergent individuals with communication using multiple modalities for self-advocacy. Christine has varied work experience with children and adults. She began her career as a Speech Language Pathology Assistant with medically fragile children in a Pediatric Prescribed Extended Care (PPEC) center. She continued her career as a Speech Language Pathologist in the public school system, skilled nursing facilities, assisted living facilities, and home health. Christine has worked in several facilities across different states including
Florida, Nebraska, Iowa, and California.

Christine views neurodiversity as a natural human variance that should be embraced. Autistic communication and social skills are naturally effective, and her goal is to assist parents and teachers understand their communication differences and foster relationships.

In her leisure time, Christine enjoys traveling with her husband and three children. Her hobbies also include baking, reading, and exploring the outdoors. She is enthusiastic to be joining the Granite Bay Speech therapy team and looks forward to working with new clients.

Lael has worked in the Oakland Public Schools, Easter Seals Bay Area, and the San Juan Unified School District.  She currently performs speech and language assessments for the Department of Social Services. Lael is also trained in AAC and holds a certificate in Accent Modification from the American Speech and Hearing Association.

In addition, she is a choral conductor who has lead choruses for over 20 years, with a strong interest in voice and vocal pathologies as well as the incorporation of music in her therapy.

After earning her M.A, Rima worked at pediatric clinics all throughout the Chicago area, providing individual and group therapy in both the home and clinic settings. A large part of her caseload included treating children ages birth to three years old, through the early intervention program in the state of Illinois. Upon returning to her hometown of Los Angeles, Rima joined a multidisciplinary pediatric clinic and worked closely with other professionals to treat children on a global level that also addressed physical, sensory, and social-emotional needs of each client. Rima’s areas of expertise for the pediatric population (birth-twelve) include receptive and expressive language disorders, motor speech and articulation disorders, language-based learning disorders, auditory processing difficulties, and social/pragmatic challenges.

Rima began mentoring interns, clinical fellows, and other speech-language pathologists while continuing to build her repertoire of skills through training such as PROMPT, Hanen: It Takes Two to Talk, Social Thinking, and Sequential Oral Sensory Approach to Feeding (SOS). Rima loves working with children and their families, believing that parent education and training are essential for optimal success and carryover of skills across settings.

Outside of work, Rima is busy raising her two little kiddos, learning a new recipe, reading, spending time with her family, and enjoying the California sunshine.

Heather has worked in the field of education for over twenty years. Her experience spans a wide age range, from birth to adolescence. She has worked with a variety of communication challenges, including, expressive and receptive language, auditory processing, dyslexia, articulation, apraxia, stuttering, phonological disorders, and social language skills. She most recently worked as a speech-language pathology assistant in the Folsom-Cordova Unified School system. She is excited to bring her therapy, parent training and counseling skills to the Granite Bay Speech clinic.

Heather’s approach to therapy is play-based, using positive reinforcement. She personalizes each therapy session to achieve maximum progress. She engages each child by focusing on their high-interest topics and utilizes a variety of activities. She welcomes parental involvement in sessions to achieve carryover of skills at home, in school, and in the community.

“I strive to use my knowledge of child development and early childhood education as a resource to support parents in their efforts to achieve optimal communication goals for their children. Along with my continued higher education and professional development, I look forward to collaborating and expanding my skills with the talented therapists at Granite Bay Speech.”

Sylvia is a lifelong learner with a passion for providing the highest quality service and treatment to all individuals.

Sylvia gained clinical experience through the Sacramento City Unified School District. She has experience working with individuals who have speech language impairments, specific learning disabilities, developmental delays, established medical disabilities, intellectual disabilities, and other health impairments including ADD, ADHD, and decreased vitality and alertness due to health problems. She strives to provide therapy tailored specifically to each individual’s needs and interests. She is dedicated to enhancing functional communication skills by helping individuals communicate their wants and needs with greater ease.

Sylvia has worked as a teacher with young children for years. Her experience spans from birth to young adolescence. She’s worked at multiple preschools throughout her career, with her most recent position being an Assistant Director at a Child Enrichment Center. She is passionate about early intervention and creating a positive space that fosters growth.

In her free time, Sylvia enjoys traveling, gardening, preparing plant-based meals, and spending quality time with loved ones. She is incredibly excited to gain new experiences and join the Granite Bay Speech team!

Kelli utilizes motivating and appropriate therapy materials for both in-person and telehealth therapy. She has experience with phonological disorders, articulation, expressive and receptive language disorders, and other speech and language impairments including learning disabilities, developmental delays, ADHD, and ASD. Kelli has worked with a wide variety of ages, including early intervention, preschool and elementary school children.

Kelli personalizes each client’s session to promote progress in their communication skills. She uses positive reinforcement and parent education to ensure carryover skills at home and throughout the client’s life. Kelli strives to establish a collaborative partnership with her clients and their families in order to achieve maximum progress and meet individualized goals.

McKenzie is passionate about focusing on clients as individuals and tailoring treatment to meet each client’s unique needs. She utilizes individualized and developmentally appropriate therapy materials and activities to help client’s reach their goals and improve their communication. She strives to tailor therapy sessions to focus on each client’s needs and interests.

McKenzie gained clinical experience through the Eureka Union School District. She has experience with articulation, phonological disorders, language disorders and other speech and language impairments. McKenzie has worked with a variety of ages in both individual and group settings.

McKenzie has worked in the field of Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) as an instructional assistant and a registered behavior technician, working one on one and in group settings with children with autism. She has experience working with children from preschool to adolescence. She has worked in various settings including clinics, in-home, and schools helping clients to reach their individualized goals and improve their communication and problem-solving skills.

McKenzie believes in the importance of developing positive and collaborative relationships with clients and their families. She believes it is important to incorporate caregivers and family into therapy to allow for carryover of skills into a client’s home and community. She is excited to join the team at Granite Bay Speech.

Madison has worked with children since high school; she was the neighborhood nanny for approximately 8 years and later worked in a daycare while pursuing her Associates Degree. She has worked in private practice and school settings with children ages 2-22 years old. Madison has experience with a wide variety of communication disorders, including articulation, phonology, apraxia, stuttering, ASD, ADHD, language delay and social language skills. Madison uses positive reinforcement and a play-based therapy approach for children to ensure that they are learning while having fun in their sessions. She encourages parents to sit in on sessions, ask questions, and implement therapy approaches at home.

Off the job, Madison enjoys spending time with her husband and two Australian Cattle Dogs, taking them on hikes, and to any dog friendly restaurant. She enjoys baking with her sourdough starter, cooking authentic recipes from other countries, and exploring new cities/countries. She is thrilled to be part of the Granite Bay Speech Team!

Chris obtained his associates degree in administration of justice from American River College and has since transferred to Sacramento State University and switched his major to communication sciences and disorders in hopes of one day becoming a Speech Language Pathologist. Originally, Chris joined our family here at Granite Bay Speech as a client when he received his speech easy and required additional therapy to enhance the effects of the device. Since joining Chris has seen drastic changes in his speech and looks forward to helping clients achieve the same level of success he has.

Chris is also the leader of a few of our fluency groups here at Granite Bay Speech and is dedicated to creating an environment where you can relax and be yourself while learning new ways to manage your stutter around people that can relate to what you are experiencing.

Erika’s superior work as a behavioral technician was recognized by her employer and she was promoted and began working as a Consultant for ABA services. She trained and counseled parents and managed client treatment plans while considering the development of the whole child. She supported staff development and provided advice on improving client services.

Erika is furthering her career as she expands her administrative and management responsibilities. Erika continues to utilize her counseling, parent training and time management skills to benefit the entire team and our families at Granite Bay Speech.

Natalie is a very skilled and experienced therapist who has worked with children, adolescents, and young adults. Areas of expertise include articulation/speech sounds, phonological processes, apraxia, early intervention, receptive and expressive language, social and pragmatic language, stuttering and family support and education.

Natalie meets each client’s needs by individualizing their therapy program. Goals are developed which improve daily communication. Practice is incorporated outside of the sessions through meaningful activities. Client and family preferences are respected and incorporated into each therapy session. Maximum communication progress is supported through client selected family, peers, teachers, teammates, and community members.

Natalie is a very kind, compassionate and knowledgeable therapist who establishes strong emotional bonds with her families. She is driven to serve others in therapy, as well as in the wider community. She is passionate about giving to others. She has served through missionary trips in orphanages in Mexico. She has collected and donated clothing, educational materials, school supplies and food to families in need.

We are very excited about Natalie joining our wonderful team at Granite Bay Speech.

Since graduating she has spent the last 7 years specializing in pediatrics, working with diverse populations including articulation, phonological, early language, and neurodivergent. She is trained in the parent education program “More Than Words” by the Hanen Center. She has completed the first level of training for PROMPT, which elevated her therapeutic skills in articulation. She has also completed LAMP training (Language Acquisition through Motor Planning) in order to better serve her non-verbal clients who use speech generating devices and other forms of AAC to communicate.

In her spare time, she can be found in her garden with her dog and three cats, or having tea with her grandmother. She is looking forward to meeting your child and assisting them achieve their speech and language goals!