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Clinical Staff
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Lynn Medley, M.S., CCC-SLP - Communication and Educational Specialist, Co-Director, MMTA

Lynn is a speech-language pathologist, with a rich variety of training from which she combines current methods for the treatment of individuals with ASD, dyspraxia, and other significant communication disorders.  Lynn earned her undergraduate degree at Vanderbilt University, and her Master’s Degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she received additional training at the TEACCH program, in a Sensory Integration private practice, and in a range of home programs utilizing Applied Behavioral Analysis principles.

In 1995 Lynn moved to Baltimore, where she worked for the Center for Autism and Related Disorders of the Kennedy Krieger Institute.  During her time at CARD as a communication specialist and later as the Clinical Director and eventually Assistant Director, Lynn assisted in starting the Achievements Therapeutic Day Program, consulted to school systems in several states, lectured internationally, and provided advocacy and expert witness services for children with autism and their families, while also participating in direct interdisciplinary evaluation and therapy service provision.  From 1999-2000 Lynn served as an Adjunct Professor in the School of Continued Studies in Business and Education at the Johns Hopkins University, where she taught students in the Masters Certificate program in Autism, the first of its kind in the country.

Early in 2002 Lynn moved to Pennsylvania and opened a private practice providing therapy, advocacy, and consultation to individuals with autism and their families, and consultation and training to school systems.  In 2005, Lynn’s friend and colleague from Kennedy Krieger, Janice Mesaric, joined her in partnership, and they opened Medley & Mesaric Therapy Associates, LLC.  Lynn continues to specialize in social engagement and social cognition across ages and diagnoses, providing evaluative and therapeutic services with individuals with communication disorders, and consultative services to schools and school systems.

Janice Mesaric M.S., CCC-SLP - Communication and Educational Specialist, Co-Director, MMTA

With more than 20 years of experience working with individuals with autism, Janice brings both research and clinical experience to her roles as a treating speech-language pathologist, clinical supervisor, personnel manager, and office overseer of MMTA.

Janice earned her undergraduate and Master’s degrees at Loyola University in Baltimore, and began her career there at the Center for Autism and Related Disorders at the Kennedy Krieger Institute.  At KKI, Jan participated in research, multi-disciplinary evaluations, and individual therapy, taught in the Achievements Therapeutic Day Program, and lectured at the local and state level. She worked closely with a range of professionals, including psychiatrists, neurologists, psychologists, occupational therapists, and behavioral specialists.

In 2002, Janice moved to San Francisco, CA where she worked at SPEECH, Inc., a private pediatric speech-therapy practice, initially as a staff clinician, later as a clinical supervisor and the practice’s clinical specialist in autism, and eventually as the acting Assistant Director.  There she provided direct therapy to a continuum of ages ranging from 12 months to 21 years and to a wide spectrum of neurological and genetic disabilities including autism, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, and 18P.  In addition to direct therapy, Janice consulted to classrooms and was a member of many children’s therapeutic home teams where she worked closely with behavior therapists, early interventionists, and occupational therapists.

In July, 2005 Janice moved to the Philadelphia area to join forces with Lynn Medley to form MMTA.  Here she specializes in working with children with dyspraxia, and engagement and social cognition skills in individuals ranging from toddlers through to young adults. Her passion is working with those individuals who clearly have something to say but haven’t yet found their voice.

Jill Hendricks, M.A., CCC-SLP

Jill joined MMTA in 2011 as an intern and began working as a clinician during the summer of 2015. Jill received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Speech, Language, and Hearing Science and graduated Magna Cum Laude from the Temple University Honors Program.  As an undergraduate student, she volunteered in Temple University’s Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory under the direction of Dr. Gerry Stefanatos. During graduate school, Jill worked with a variety of populations from preschool through adulthood. She presented case studies to graduate students and faculty in the Communication Sciences and Disorders department on topics ranging from language regression in autism to assessing receptive language in bilingual children to multi-modal intervention for an adult with severe global aphasia.

 

Between degrees Jill became a behavior therapist in Montgomery and Philadelphia Counties and worked in home, school, and community settings in Early Intervention throughout graduate school. After graduate school she became certified in the Lee Silverman Voice Therapy (LSVT) program and briefly worked as a teacher assistant at the HMS School for Children with Cerebral Palsy and Multiple Disabilities in West Philadelphia.

 

At MMTA Jill conducts evaluations and provides individual and group therapy to the full age spectrum of clients.  Jill’s interests include AAC, voice, social engagement, and social cognition. She enjoys collaborating with other professionals and with family members to help each child reach his or her full potential.

Brittany O'Brien, M.A., CCC-SLP

Brittany received her Bachelor of Science degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders from Pennsylvania State University, where she graduated with honors. Following the completion of her Bachelor’s degree, she continued her education at Temple University, where she earned her Master of Arts degree in Speech-Language-Hearing Science. While she was a student at Temple, she worked with children and adults in a variety of settings including public schools, specialized schools, private practice, and skilled nursing facilities. While interning in the public schools, she implemented classroom-based language intervention to students while instructing them in the language arts and mathematics curriculum, with specific interest in reading instruction using a multisensory approach. During her time with EBS Children’s Institute, she aided in the development and implementation of a therapeutically-driven playtime program for children with autism and Down Syndrome, and of an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) summer camp. She also presented case study research regarding cochlear implantation in adventitious hearing loss to Temple faculty and graduate students at the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorder’s Proseminar Series.

Brittany joined MMTA as a full-time clinician in 2015. Here she conducts evaluations and provides individual and group therapy services to clients from toddler to adult ages. Brittany’s interests include social engagement, social cognition, AAC, voice, and fluency disorders. She is passionate about working with children and their families to facilitate communicative, social, and academic success across all environments.

Lindsay Bacalles, M.S., CCC-SLP

Lindsay first became interested in a career as an SLP after working as a TSS for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. She attended Penn State University, where she transcribed language samples as part of the Speech, Language, and Literacy Project and volunteered in the Laboratory for Cognition and Action. She earned her masters degree in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences at Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY, graduating with distinctive honors.  While in graduate school, she performed hearing screenings at local Head Start Programs and conducted research for the Early Language Literacy Project as a graduate assistant. She also provided speech and language therapy to clients in a variety of settings as a clinical intern.

After earning her degree at Hofstra, Lindsay moved to Baltimore where she completed her CFY in the Howard County Public School System.  There she worked in an inclusive kindergarten classroom and with elementary school students in both inclusive and pull-out settings. Since 2009, Lindsay has worked for Central Bucks School District, gaining experience with both the elementary and middle school populations. Lindsay joined MMTA in the winter of 2010 to provide 1:1 and small group therapy to our after-school clients.

Lindsay is currently pursuing her ESL Certification from Eastern University to gain more of an understanding in the development of English as a Second Language.

Alexa Busler, M.A., CCC-SLP

Alexa began her journey into the speech therapy world after exploring possible careers while getting her undergraduate degrees in psychology at the University of Pittsburgh. She has enjoyed working with children in many different capacities, working summer camp and after-school jobs during high school and college. This passion followed her through graduate school where she received her Masters in Speech-Language Pathology in 2015 from the University of Pittsburgh. While in graduate school gained experience working with both children and adults with diverse speech and language disorders in schools, outpatient offices, and hospitals.

 

After graduating, Alexa returned home to the Philadelphia area working at a pediatric outpatient center. There she gained experience working with a diverse caseload of clients, including children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, fluency disorder, auditory processing disorder, apraxia of speech, articulation/phonological disorder, and expressive/receptive language delay. She especially enjoyed collaborating with a team of occupational therapists, speech therapists, and parents to maximize treatment gains.

Additionally, Alexa works in early intervention in Philadelphia county, providing home and school-based therapy to children birth to five years old,

 

Alexa join MMTA in 2017 working part-time in the evenings. She conducts evaluations and provides individual or group  speech and language therapy to clients with a range of disorders and difficulties. Her interests include Autism Spectrum Disorders, preschool/early language development, and childhood fluency disorders. She enjoys working with families to facilitate improved communication of her clients across environments.

Gina Nicolosi, M.S., CCC-SLP

Gina first learned about the field of Speech Language Pathology many years ago when her Aunt
asked to record her voice for one of her student’s communication devices. It was then she knew
that she wanted to pursue Speech Therapy as an occupation. Gina went to Penn State
University to achieve a Bachelor of Science degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders
with a minor in Psychology. During her time at Penn State, she was a captain for Penn State
MaraTHON Philanthropy, a leadership retreat counselor for the college of health and human
development and worked part-time as a teacher’s assistant at a daycare. Following Penn State
Gina received a Master of Science degree from LaSalle University. While attending LaSalle she
worked at a private clinic with adults, an elementary school, an 18-21 vocational program, a
preschool for children with hearing loss, and a hospital-based sub-acute skilled nursing care and
rehabilitation facility. While at LaSalle Gina helped start a mentorship program for first-year
graduate students in the program and was granted the LaSalle Service Award “for outstanding
service to the school”.


Gina completed her clinical fellowship at United Cerebral Palsy, a reverse-mainstream
preschool that also provided services to preschool aged students in North Philadelphia and to
early intervention clients in Montgomery County. After United Cerebral Palsy Gina moved to a
private non-profit school, The Nexus School, which provides services to students age 6-21 with
developmental disabilities, primarily Autism Spectrum Disorder. At the Nexus School Gina
works very closely with other SLPs, Occupational Therapists, Behavioral Analysists and special
education teachers to provide individualized teaching to an involved caseload addressing their
speech and language, sensory, educational, vocational, and behavioral needs.


In addition, Gina works part-time as an early intervention contractor through a private
company in Philadelphia. Gina joined MMTA as a part-time clinician in 2019 providing 1:1
therapy and evaluations to after-school clients. Gina’s interests in the field include
augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), early intervention and play-based therapy,
training and coaching of families, social engagement, and conversation and pragmatic language
skills.

Laura Giglio, M.A., CCC-SLP

Laura completed her undergraduate and graduate degrees at Temple University where she studied Speech-Language-Hearing Science. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from the Temple University Honors Program where she graduated with honors. As an undergraduate student, Laura volunteered with adults with aphasia in a program called Coffee Hour Aphasia Time (CHAT), held a leadership position in Temple University’s chapter of the National Speech, Language, and Hearing (NSSLA), and was a preceptor for the Research Methods in Communication Sciences course. As a graduate student clinician, Laura worked with adults and children with a range of disorders and speech and language impairments including aphasia, dysphagia, voice disorders, autism spectrum disorder, and childhood apraxia of speech. She gained experience working with clients in a variety of settings including Temple’s clinic, both outpatient and inpatient hospital settings, and the school setting. Through clinical experiences and specific coursework at Temple, Laura gained special knowledge and training in the area of childhood apraxia of speech. As a part of Temple’s Department of Communication Sciences and Disorder’s Proseminar Series, Laura presented case study research of male to female transgender voice therapy to faculty and fellow graduate students. 

Laura began her professional career as a clinical fellow with Speech Pathology Consultants where she first worked at Mariana Bracetti Academy and later at Elwyn’s Davidson School. She gained experience working with a wide range of students including those with multiple disabilities and complex medical needs.

In February of 2020, Laura joined MMTA where she provides speech and language services to clients with a variety of difficulties and disorders. Her areas of interest include childhood apraxia of speech, early language development, and social cognition.

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