About Excel Speech Therapy Center

Excel Speech Therapy Center, Inc is a centrally located private practice specializing in providing speech and language therapy services to children. Excel therapists are friendly, energetic and dedicated to providing quality therapy services in family-centered clinics.

Meet Our Staff.

Katherine

M.A. CCC-SLP
Owner


Katherine M. M.A.CCC-SLP, Katherine owner of Excel Speech Therapy Center for over 23 years, is originally from Northern California. Katherine is the second oldest of six children and spent her early years taking care of younger siblings and babysitting for families throughout her teenage years. She was an instructional assistant for children with special needs during her college years and enjoyed working with children. She received her Masters degree at California State University Fresno and completed her internship in the skilled nursing facilities, learning how to administer modified barium swallow exams as well as diet modifications for patients with dementia and/or Alzheimer’s. She moved to Los Angeles, working as a traveling speech therapist in the schools, then moved back to Northern CA, working for a private pediatric practice for several years. Katherine then moved to San Diego to open her own private practice. She worked as a traveling speech therapist for the San Diego school district and spent evenings and weekends working as a home health contractor and in skilled nursing facilities while building her clientele at Excel Speech. Katherine strives to maintain integrity and good rapport with her staff as well as with the families attending Excel Speech clinics, focusing on a strong team based approach. In her free time, Katherine enjoys spending time with her family and dogs, Olive and Forrest, traveling and going to the beach.

Mary

M.A. CCC-SLP


Mary H. M.A., CCC-SLP. Mary graduated with her Master’s degree in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences from San Diego State University. She specializes in bilingual/multilingual language development and disorders across the lifespan. She is originally from Los Angeles, but she moved to San Diego 7 years ago to begin her education and career. She initially began a research career studying patterns of language development in bilinguals and best practices for treatment. Mary moved into a clinical career to pursue her passion for providing bilingual/Spanish-speaking clients with equal opportunity for speech and language treatment. Mary has experience working with neurological disorders in an acute care hospital setting as well as private practices and schools. She has also worked with bilinguals and monolinguals with autism spectrum disorder, developmental delays, social pragmatic disorders, swallowing disorders, and fluency disorders. Mary values individualized treatment with a client-centered approach and clinician-caretaker collaboration.

Rachel

M.A. CCC-SLP
Director of San Marcos Clinic


Rachel T. M.A., CCC-SLP: Rachel is a San Diego native and graduated with her Master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology from San Diego State University. Prior to becoming a speech-language pathologist, she worked in the school system as an elementary school teacher. Rachel focuses on using play-based and child-led interventions, together with parent training, to help her clients learn and grow into effective communicators. While she has experience treating a range of speech and language disorders, she specializes in autism and childhood apraxia of speech (CAS). She is a certified DIRFloortime® therapist and has experience running Hanen’s More Than Words® parent training program. She is also trained in PROMPT (PROMPTS for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets) and DTTC (Dynamic Temporal and Tactile Cueing) for children with CAS. When she is not at work, Rachel enjoys hiking with her family and going on scooter rides with her 2 sons.

Danielle

M.S., CCC-SLP


Danielle P., M.S., CCC-SLP: Danielle is originally from Ridgecrest, California, and moved down to San Diego to obtain her undergraduate degree in Human Development at the University of California, San Diego. She graduated with her Master's degree in Speech-Language Pathology from Emerson College. Prior to her career in speech therapy, Danielle worked as an ABA therapist for 7 years. She also has experience as a Special Education Classroom Aide across a broad range of ages (kindergarten through 12th grade). She has experience evaluating and treating children of all ages with a variety of communication disorders including, articulation, phonology, fluency, receptive/expressive language, and social pragmatic language. Danielle enjoys working with children and is passionate about tailoring therapy to each individual's needs to create a positive and empowering experience for both the child and their families. When Danielle is not working, she enjoys playing golf, reading books, playing video games, gardening, and spending time with her dog, Boba.

Morgan

M.S CCC-SLP
Director of Chula Vista Clinic


Morgan F.; M.S CCC-SLP: Morgan graduated with her undergraduate degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders and Master’s degree in Speech Language Pathology from Baylor University in Waco, Texas. She is originally from St. Paul, Minnesota and has been enjoying the warm weather and beautiful beaches in San Diego. She has experience working at a children’s hospital and private practice in both individual and group speech therapy sessions. Through these experiences she has worked with children of all ages in the areas of articulation, phonology, language, literacy, and social/pragmatic language. She is passionate about working to support each child in achieving his or her goals in a positive, fun, child-directed and family-oriented manner. Morgan is trained in the use of PROMPT (PROMPTS for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets) and Hanen’s More Than Words parent education program.

Laura

M.S CCC-SLP


Laura W., M.S. CCC-SLP: Laura is originally from San Diego, California. She received her Master’s degree in Communicative Disorders from the University of Redlands. After graduation, Laura began working at Excel Speech Therapy Center in June of 2019. She has experience working with children of all ages with a variety of communication disorders including articulation, phonology, fluency, language, and social/pragmatic language. Laura is passionate about working with children and their family members to create engaging therapy sessions that target their goals in a fun and meaningful way. Laura is also trained in Hanens More Than Words parent education program. In her free time she enjoys going to the beach, hiking, and reading a good book.

Abigail

M.S CCC-SLP


Abigail E. M.S., CCC-SLP. Abigail graduated with her master’s degree in Communication Science and Disorders in Speech Language Pathology from Baylor University. She is originally from Camino in Northern California, also known as Apple Hill. She moved to San Diego four years ago, where her husband is stationed on Coronado Island- Go Navy! For the past six years, she has worked exclusively with children with autism, fluency disorders, articulation, developmental language delays, and social pragmatics. Abigail has experience working with swallowing and cognition disorders within the hospital and SNF settings as well as experience in schools and private practices. Abigail finds happiness in watching each child grow as an individual while helping families along their communication journey. In her free time, she enjoys reading, baking and being with her four furbabies.

Aliyah

MS. CF-SLP


Aliyah M., MS.,CF-SLP graduated from San Diego State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Kinesiology. After working as a Behavioral therapist for 2 years, she went on to receive her Master’s Degree in Speech-Language Pathology from Baylor University, and worked as a Paraprofessional in Special-Education while earning her Master’s. Through her clinical training, Aliyah has worked in the school setting, private practices, and in a skilled nursing facility. She has experience in working with children with Autism Spectrum Disorder including other developmental disorders in the areas of pragmatics, expressive and receptive language disorders, articulation and fluency disorders. Aliyah has a passion for working with children and their families in reaching their goals with therapeutic techniques based in all types of play. In her free time, she enjoys playing volleyball, hiking, and singing karaoke.

Madison

M.S CCC-SLP


Madison D., M.S., CCC-SLP: Madison is originally from New Jersey and moved to San Diego in 2020. She graduated with her Master's degree in Speech-Language Pathology from Monmouth University. Prior to her career in speech therapy, Madison worked as a therapeutic recreation aide in a children’s rehabilitation hospital as well as an ABA therapist. Madison has speech therapy experience in an elementary school, a pediatric outpatient hospital, a private practice, and in-home therapy. She has experience evaluating and treating children of all ages with a variety of communication delays and disorders including, articulation, phonology, fluency, receptive/expressive language, and social pragmatic language. Madison has always loved working with children and aims to make speech therapy as enjoyable as possible for both the child and their family. Outside of work, Madison loves to read, hike with her cute dog, and attend pilates/yoga classes!

Excel’s Speech-Language Pathologists are CA licensed and members of ASHA. Our therapists continue to obtain evidence based certifications and continuing education curriculum, including the following:  

  • PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System)
  • Beckman Oral Motor Technique
  • PROMPT (PROMPTS for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets)
  • SCERTS®
  • Social Thinking®  curriculum.
  • Hanen’s It Takes Two to Talk®
  • Hanen’s More Than Words®
  • Hanen’s Talkability®
  • Lindamood-Bell’s Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing® Program for Reading, Spelling, and Speech (LiPS®)
  • Lindamood-Bell’s Seeing Stars for Reading and Spelling
  • LAMP (Language Acquisition for Motor Planning)
  • PRT (Pivotal Response Treatment)