Meet Our Staff

Karyn earned her master's degree in Speech-Language pathology at the University of Illinois Champagne-Urbana in 1976. She worked for several years in the hospital setting with both acute and chronic brain disorders and injuries. From 1977 through 1981 she served as a member of the hospital pediatric neurology and child abuse teams.

Karyn accepted the positions of clinical supervisor, clinic coordinator and assistant professor at Elmhurst College in 1981, teaching several undergraduate courses, including autism, language development and speech disorders. She maintained that position until moving from the Chicago area to San Diego County in 1988, where she became a consultant for several facilities, including school districts, adult day care centers and non-public agencies.

Karyn is currently providing consultative and direct services to San Diego Homeschool Choice - The Learning Choice Academy (TLC).

Throughout her 32 years in the field, Karyn has become certified in several treatment programs, including PROMPT, a technique for treatment of apraxia and related oral-motor speech disorders, which she integrates into her work with both adults and children, and THERAPLAY, a program designed to facilitate parent-child interaction.

Karyn is currently a board member at-large for the San Diego Chapter of the Autism Society of America, and co-editor of their quarterly newsletter. She is also a committee member of Involved Exceptional Parent's Day.

Karyn has presented nationally for a variety of organizations, including Mitochondrial National Conference (Spring 2007), California Speech and Hearing Association (May 2008)and most recently the American Speech/Language Association National Convention, (November 2008): short course in Chicago on Empowering Parents of Children with Communication Disorders.

Karyn currently teaches a CEU course through Cross Country Education in various cities throughout the country on Early Intervention and Communication Disorders in Children.  

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Deanna M. Hughes, Ph.D., CCC-SLP has worked as a speech language pathologist in educational and medical settings with both pediatric and adult populations. In addition to her clinical work, she received her doctorate from Case Western Reserve University, and has also worked as a researcher and clinical faculty at San Diego State University. Her research interests include adolescent language development in both typical and clinical groups such as those with specific language impairment, and how language competence impacts social communication abilities.  

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Marilea Brock recently moved to San Diego from the Northwest. After completing her master’s degree at the University of Oregon, Marilea worked in private practice in Seattle, Washington where she gained experience in evaluation and treatment of children on the Austism Spectrum. She is particularly interested in working with children and their families to increase social communication skills. Recently, her brought her to San Diego where she worked with students with Autism and other disorders in the school setting. Marilea has experience working with students with motor speech delays, nonverbal learning disorders, expressive and receptive language delays, and fluency issues. Marilea has been trained in PROMPT, SCERTS, and a variety of social communication approaches.  

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Molly has her Bachelor of Science degree in Speech Language Pathology from Sacramento State University and is licensed in California as a Speech Language Pathology Assistant (SLPA). She currently works at TERI Learning Academy, a non-public school in Oceanside, as well as at CRIMSON Center. Her experience includes children with moderate to severe developmental disabilities, primarily Autism. She also has experience in behavior management and working with alternative augmentative communication (AAC) devices.  

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Melissa earned her B.A. in Communications at Michigan State University in 2001 and her M.A. in Communication Disorders at Northern Michigan University in 2003. She worked with infants and adults with acquired/traumatic brain injury for Hope Network Rehabilitation Services in East Lansing, Michigan from 2003-2005, worked with adults with CVAs and other neurological impairments for Marianjoy, Inc. outside of Chicago, from 2006-June 2007. Melissa currently works full-time at Ibarra Elementary School in City Heights for the San Diego Unified School District, and provides in-home therapy for Crimson Center.

 

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Linda received her Bachelor of Science in Communication Disorders and her Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of South Florida in Tampa. She has over fourteen years of experience in working with children and adults in a variety of settings such as private practices, schools, hospitals, and early intervention programs. She has provided therapy to children with articulation delays, phonological disorders, apraxia, language delays, central auditory processing disorders, social skill deficits, feeding and swallowing problems, and fluency and voice disorders. Linda has significant experience treating children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, developmental delays and mental and emotional handicaps. Her work with adults has included patients experiencing acute, chronic, and progressive neurological and neuromuscular impairments, traumatic brain injury, and feeding and swallowing difficulties. Linda has also completed certification in the Compton Accent Modification Program and served as a clinical supervisor.  

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Jessica earned her Master’s of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders in 2003 from the MGH-Institute of Health Professions in Boston, MA. Her decision to attend this graduate program was prompted by working at a residential school for children with various disabilities such as behavioral disorders and children on the autism spectrum. During this period, Jessica became familiar with Applied Behavior Analysis and the field of speech language pathology.

Since earning her graduate degree, Jessica relocated to San Diego and has enjoyed working in the San Diego City Schools, as well as a clinical setting. She has worked with children ranging from preschool through high school and has experience with a variety of speech and language disabilities, such as articulation/phonological delays, receptive/expressive language disorders, autism, and social language disorders. Jessica maintains her position as an SLP in a San Diego middle school while working at the Crimson Center.  

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Jamie recently moved to San Diego from northern Virginia to begin her career as a speech-language pathologist. She earned her bachelor of science in Communication Sciences and Disorders from Northeastern University and her masters of science from James Madison University.

Jamie has worked and gained experience in a variety of clinical settings while attending school, including: early intervention, a school for autism and behavioral difficulties, a summer camp for autism including sensory integration at the children’s rehabilitation hospital and feeding clinic at Kluge Medical Center at University of Virginia, and a private practice providing therapy across the lifespan to every population.

With her past experiences Jamie has worked with other professionals in the field while evaluating and providing therapy to client’s with specific disorders, syndromes, and deficits, such as: autism spectrum disorders, down syndrome, cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injury, Parkinson’s disease, language delays, social skills, voice, apraxia, phonology, articulation, swallowing, and feeding. She has also participated in training seminars for different Augmentative Communication Devices as well as Edythe Strand’s principals of motor learning for apraxia of speech.  

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Hong Vong, M.S. CCC-SLP, earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Communication Disorders at the University of Arkansas in 2002, and her Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts in 2005. She has experience evaluating and treating a variety of ages,from preschool to adult. She evaluated and treated children in both individual and group settings at the Communication Enhancement Center at Children's Hospital, Boston, where she learned to organize, program, and utilize a variety of communication devices (low to high tech). Hong also has experience from Brigham & Women's Hospital, where she focused on the diagnostic and follow-up of speech and swallowing patients, and ran an adult aphasia group that emphasized functional language. From 2005-2008, she worked full-time as a speech-language pathologist in both high school and elementary school settings within San Diego County. Hong began facilitating Paired-Peer groups at Crimson Center in 2006, where she also provided individual weekend therapy. In June 2008 she joined our staff full-time!

 

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The newest addition to the Crimson Center team is Sherry Casper. Sherry is a psychologist and owner/director of the Center for Thoughtful Lasting Change, Inc. For six years she worked at the San Diego Regional Center overseeing autism services. Currently, she provides behavioral, educational and psychotherapy services to children and adults. She has more than 15 years experience working with children with ASD, emotional disturbances and traumatic brain injury. To contact Sherry, please email at: drsherrycasper@gmail.com

 

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Yawi joined Crimson Center in October 2008, and has completely revamped our system, bringing sanity to most of us!  

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Jan has been a diligent protector of family insurance plans. Working with Crimson since 2004, she helps families determine what services are covered by their policies. Jan also is incredibly instrumental in organizing insurance appeals, no matter how long it takes!  

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Josh graduated from the University of Illinois School of Law in August 2007, and passed the California State Bar in February 2008. A 2004 graduate of the University of California, Irvine, he spent one year studying at the University of Madrid. Josh coordinates human resources, insurance agreements and all business related issues.  

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