Meet the Speech Space Team
Megan C. Littlepage, MS, CCC-SLP, Co-Owner |
Monica T. Phillips, M.E.d, CCC-SLP, Co-Owner |
Megan graduated in 2006 with a Masters in Communication Disorders from University of Texas at Dallas. She has worked in public schools, along with DC charter schools and private clients in the home, school, daycare and clinical settings. Megan specializes in oral-motor therapy, Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS), feeding, and language delays in children from 12 months to 5 years old and has experience working with a variety of children who exhibit speech and/or language disorders, apraxia, motor planning delays, and oral motor weaknesses. She incorporates functional play into her sessions, giving feedback on why each skill in important. Megan believes that open and frequent communication with families is an integral part of working with young children and encourages active participation from family members of the children she works with. Megan lives in NW DC with her husband, daughter, and french bulldog. In her free time, she enjoys practicing yoga, exploring DC, reading, eating cookies, and traveling. Learn more about Megan's background and approaches.
Rachel Oakford, MS, CCC-SLP
Rachel graduated in 2019 with her Masters in Communication Disorders from Emerson College in Boston. During her graduate career, she was fortunate to work with clients in a wide array of settings including public and specialized schools, a clinic, and a rehabilitation hospital. Rachel is passionate about working with the pediatric population and is particularly interested in early speech and language delays, augmented and alternative communication, and autism spectrum disorder. She prefers a play-based approach to therapy to allow children to learn skills in the most meaningful, fun way possible! Prior to her work in speech therapy, Rachel studied linguistics at the University of Michigan (go blue!) and spent 3 years as a behavior therapist at an early intervention autism center. She is currently enjoying working her way through the Smithsonian museums, exploring the DC food scene (recommendations welcome), and conquering the NYTimes Sunday crossword puzzle.
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Monica graduated in 2010 with a Masters in Speech Pathology and Audiology from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. She specializes in working with young children (12 months to 6 years of age) and prefers a play-based approach, as it is vital for kids to have fun in order to learn and make progress! Monica has a passion for working with children who exhibit delays in speech and language development, feeding, oral motor weaknesses, difficulties with language organization, delays with social and problem solving skills, and Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS). She has experience working within DC schools, as well as, working with private clients in their homes, daycares and schools. Monica grew up in south Florida, but has enjoyed living in DC since graduation, despite the cold winters! When not working, she enjoys traveling with her husband and daughter (especially to warm locales!), trying to get better at yoga and seeking out new restaurants to share meals with friends. Learn more about Monica's background and approaches.
Anna Carr, MSP, CCC-SLP
Anna earned her Masters of Speech Language Pathology from The University of South Carolina in 2010. She has a wide range of experience in a variety of settings. She has worked in inpatient and outpatient hospital settings, private practices, schools, child find, and has supervised several graduate students within the field. Anna has experience working with a variety of speech and language delays and disorders. She specializes in childhood voice disorders, articulation therapy, and early language development. She is certified in PECS and the Hannen It Takes Two To Talk program. Anna enjoys collaborating with other professionals and parents in order to ensure success for all the patients on her caseload. She is passionate about involving families in the therapy in order to maximum progress and results. Anna lives in Northern VA and in her free time enjoys running, reading, crafting, and traveling to see her friends and family.
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Janki Boghara, MS, CCC-SLP
Janki graduated in 2017 with a Masters in Speech Language Pathology from Loyola University Maryland. After graduate school, she worked in a DC charter school and was trained in Floortime and PROMPT treatment approaches. Janki specializes in articulation, fluency, expressive-receptive language, and social skills in children from Preschool to Middle School, who exhibit a wide variety of deficits and disorders. She incorporates functional play and communication in her therapy to help children generalize skills throughout all environments to increase their growth and independence. She values open communication and family support to help children reach their highest potential. Janki grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia and now lives in Maryland. Janki enjoys cooking/baking, finding new TV shows, traveling, and eating lots of ice cream and chocolate.
Our Specialties
Speech & Articulation Oral Motor & Feeding
Articulation refers to the way children produce sounds in words. We work with children who have delays or weaknesses in their acquisition and development of sounds due to developmental delays, oral-motor weaknesses, phonological processes and apraxia of speech.
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Children with oral-motor weaknesses often have difficulties with their articulation development, as well as with feeding and eating ("picky eaters", not getting adequate nutrition, etc). We work to strengthen and build awareness of children's oral musculature through a variety of activities, such as whistles, bubbles, or feeding and drinking activities.
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Language Development Social Skills & Play
We help children with both expressive and receptive language, as well as language processing. Receptive language is the ability to understand what is being said and can include things like following directions or understanding questions, Expressive language is the ability to use language and includes things like grammar, vocabulary and answering questions. Language processing is the ability to understand and use vocabulary, grammar & follow directions seamlessly when the burden of language is on a person. Weaknesses in these domains of language can occur due to a variety of diagnoses, such as, autism spectrum disorder, developmental delays and language processing disorder.
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Play is the foundation of critical thinking and problem solving. We help children navigate their social and play environments with peers by working on critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Difficulties with social skills and critical-thinking skills can stem from a variety of underlying reasons, including weaknesses in attention, foundational language skills and other diagnoses.
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