About Our Staff

Communication Works is a private practice of Bay Area speech-language pathologists and occupational therapists, committed to providing the highest quality of services to our clients, families, and caregivers. We thoroughly enjoy the work that we do and look forward to working with you!

Hillary Kissack, M.A., CCC-SLP
Co-Director/Owner
Email: hillary@cwtherapy.com
Hillary is the co-director/owner of Communication Works. She is a licensed and certified speech-language pathologist, who has served individuals with speech, language and social deficits, auditory processing deficits, oral motor deficits, developmental disabilities, and autism. She has provided therapy for infants up through young adults in a variety of settings; including public schools, nonpublic agencies, in the home, and in private practice.  Hillary has gained experience in dealing with challenging behaviors and behavioral management. She received her Bachelor’s Degree from California State University, Chico and her Master’s Degree from University of the Pacific in Stockton. Since 2003, she has specialized in developing and providing social language groups for children in the Bay Area. Hillary truly enjoys working with a variety of students and their families. In her spare time she is enjoying her own family, husband and children.

Elizabeth Sautter, M.A., CCC-SLP
Co-Director/Owner
Email: elizabeth@cwtherapy.com
Elizabeth is the co-director/owner of Communication Works. She is a licensed and certified speech-language pathologist who has
been working with clients and their families since 1996. Elizabeth received her Bachelor's Degree from San Francisco State University and her Master's Degree from San Jose State University. She is experienced in the areas of autism, developmental disabilities, social cognitive deficits, and challenging behaviors. Elizabeth has worked with individuals ranging from preschoolers to adults in private practice, schools, and hospitals. Since 2001, Elizabeth has focused most of her career on social cognitive and self-regulation intervention and training. She has completed
the mentorship and internship with Michelle Garcia Winner and has authored 2 children's books on Whole Body Listening. In addition, her relationship with her sister and extended family members with special needs have made her work a life-long endeavor. She is an Oakland native and lives with her husband, 2 sons and dog.

Audra L. Elliott, M.S., CCC-SLP
Director of Program Development and Supervision
Email: audra@cwtherapy.com

Audra has over 14 years of supervisory and therapeutic experience at the university level and in the private sector. She is highly regarded as an expert in the field of autism, deaf and hard of hearing populations and has vast experience with AAC. She has been involved with the development of several professional conferences both at the local and national level, provided training for professionals in the medical settings, and has professionally edited several publications in the field. Prior to joining CW, she owned her own private practice, and has been the Director of Special Programs for the Speech, Language and Hearing Clinic and Communicative Sciences and Disorders Department at California State University, East Bay (CSUEB).  Audra is an ASHA certified Speech-Language Pathologist, is on the ASHA Ad Hoc Committee on ASD and has been an Advisory Board member of the California Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities Research and Epidemiology (CA CADDRE) as well as is a member of the Deaf Counseling Advocacy and Referral Agency (DCARA) and Council for Exceptional Children.

Administrative Staff

Anthony Savala
Business Services
Email: anthony@cwtherapy.com
Anthony has over 10 years experience in sales, relationship management and business development in the private sector. As our Business Manager, Anthony is responsible for the financial and strategic planning for our office. His addition to the team allows the managing partners to focus on therapy.
When not at work Anthony enjoys reading up on the environment, sustainable living and spending time with his wife and two sons. He also enjoys traveling. After graduating from the University of Arizona he began to “shoe-string” travel and has been to 14 countries in South East Asia, Europe and Central America.

Stephanie Alvarez
Office Administrator
Email: stephanie@cwtherapy.com
Stephanie comes to Communication Works with over eight years of experience in retail management and operations, consulting/sales, and administrative assistance. She is a graduate from California State University of East Bay with a Bachelor’s Degree in Mass Communication with an emphasis in Advertising/Marketing. Stephanie is born and raised in the SF Bay Area, and enjoys hanging out with her husband, family and friends. During her free time, she also likes to shop, read, and watch Harry Potter movies.

In the Center

Erica Bland, M.S., CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist
Email: erica@cwtherapy.com
Erica is a graduate of California State University, East Bay with a Master’s Degree in speech-language pathology and audiology. An Atlanta native, Erica received her Bachelor’s Degree in special education at the College of Charleston in South Carolina. During that time, she developed an interest in the area of autism while working at Emory University in the Walden Program. Additionally, she spent time in San Diego as an in-home therapist, trained in techniques of floor time therapy, discrete-trial teaching, and applied behavioral analysis with children with autism, ranging in age from toddlers to school-age children. Also a site supervisor for a social skills training program, Erica taught social communication skills to children with autism and worked to generalize those skills in biweekly community outings. Her main areas of interest are early intervention and autism, and she specializes in social thinking, SCERTS, self regulation and sensory integration work. During her down time, Erica enjoys spending time with her family and friends.

Lauren Delucchi, B.A., SLPA
Speech-Language Pathology Assistant
Email: lauren@cwtherapy.com
Lauren received her Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders at California State University, Chico. Currently as a SLPA with CW, Lauren has worked with preschool, elementary, and high school children ranging from moderate to severe disabilities for seven years. AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) is her area of interest as well as self-regulation and social thinking work. She has worked to support individuals with complex communication needs through the use of low-tech, mid-tech and high-tech communication systems for several years in various settings. Lauren is excited to be a part of this new and growing field - providing many with the technology they need in order to be heard. After living in Northern California for several years, Lauren is excited to be back in the Bay Area with her friends and family. When not working, you will find Lauren at a baseball game, swimming, golfing, or just outside enjoying the weather.

Leah Kuypers, M.A. Ed., OTR/L
Occupational Therapist/Autism Specialist
Email: leah@cwtherapy.com
Leah comes to Communication Works from the Midwest, where she earned her bachelor’s in occupational therapy from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a graduate certificate in autism and M.A. in education from Hamline University in St. Paul, MN. She has practiced, as an occupational therapist in the school and clinical settings, specializing in sensory processing disorder, motor coordination and self-regulation needs. Leah has worked with students with autism since 1999 as an ABA therapist, occupational therapist, and most recently as an educational autism specialist in the school system. Her experience includes working with students of all ages and challenges, including mental health disorders, motor impairments, anxiety disorders, social cognitive difficulties, ADHD/ADD, and other neurobiological disorders. Over the last 10 years she has extended her education in behavior management, therapeutic listening, TEACCH, social thinking, ALERT program, Braingym, Neuronet, sensory processing, visual strategies, assessments and evaluations including the ADOS as well as others. Leah has developed and presented to parents and professionals on a curriculum she terms “The Zones of Regulation”, which is an evidence based curriculum designed to help clients learn strategies to self-regulate their sensory needs and emotions.

Liz Lang, M.S., CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist & Lead Therapist
Email: liz.lang@cwtherapy.com
Liz received her Bachelor’s Degree in Speech-Language Pathology from San Diego State University and a Master’s Degree in Speech-Language Pathology from San Jose State University. While at SJSU, she completed a thesis investigating the effectiveness of behavioral checklists in measuring treatment outcomes in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and has specialized in working with children with ASD ever since. For the past 3 years, she has worked and trained with a co-author of the SCERTS Model, and has also been formally trained in the SCERTS approach to home and school based intervention for children with ASD (www.scerts.com).  Liz is certified in the Hanen It Takes Two to Talk and More than Words programs and has experience running these programs which focus on helping parents better communicate with their children with language delays and ASD (www.hanen.org). She is also trained in the Kaufman approach to working with children with apraxia of speech.  She comes to CW from Oakland Childrens Hospital where she worked on a multidisciplinary autism intervention team, utilizing her experience with SCERTS and Hanen and gaining experience inDIR/Floortime (www.icdl.com) and sensory integration therapy.  Liz lives in San Francisco and enjoys running, yoga, and playing soccer, and the many events offered by the city including live music, baseball games, and fine dining with friends and family.

Stephanie Lee, M.S., CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist
Email: stephanie.lee@cwtherapy.com
Stephanie received her Bachelor's Degree in Marketing at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. While teaching English abroad, she decided to pursue a career in Speech-Language Pathology. Stephanie received a Master's degree in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology from California State University, East Bay. She has worked in hospital, clinical, and school settings.  Stephanie?s experience includes serving individuals and groups with articulation/phonological disorder, expressive/receptive language delay and disorder, auditory processing difficulties, autism spectrum disorder, and social communication deficits.  Her main area of interest is early intervention and preschool-age children. However, she enjoys working with adults, children of all ages, and their families.  Stephanie is trained in the Kaufman approach to working with kids with apraxia of speech. She also incorporates the SCERTS approach, Hanen, DIR/Floortime, Relationship Development Intervention, and Lindamood-Bell's Visualizing and Verbalizing program in her therapy.  When not working, Stephanie enjoys spending time traveling with her husband and son.

Katie Reid, M.A., CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist
E-mail: Katie@cwtherapy.com
Katie received her Master’s Degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder and her Bachelor’s Degree from Miami University of Ohio. Katie is trained in the Kaufman approach to working with children with apraxia of speech, the Introduction of PROMPT, and Visual Phonics. Prior to joining Communication Works, Katie was with a private practice for two years where she specialized in early intervention for English and Spanish-speaking children implementing assessments and individual therapy. At Denver Children’s Hospital, she worked with children with traumatic brain injury, feeding disorders, expressive language delays, autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and articulation and phonological disorders. Katie is also trained in the Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT) for working with adults with Parkinson disease. She enjoys implementing accent modification therapy with adults. Katie lives in San Francisco and enjoys being active and adventurous during her free time.

Veronica Torres, B.S., SLPA
Speech-Language Pathologist Assistant
E-mail: veronica@cwtherapy.com
Veronica received her Bachelor's Degree in Speech Language Pathology and Audiology from California State University, East Bay and her SLPA license from Delta College. She has worked in the clinical, in-home, and school setting in ages ranging from preschool to the elderly. She thoroughly enjoys her experience of working with children on the autism spectrum with social cognitive deficits in speech and language as well as articulation therapy and working with aphasia patients and in home settings as a lead therapist in behavior intervention. She currently works as a bilingual therapist in the preschool setting in Northern California where she was born and raised. In her spare time, Veronica enjoys reading, sports, learning languages, eating, dancing, traveling, knitting and spending time with her family.

Robyn Wu, OTD, ORT/L, BCP
E-mail: robyn@cwtherapy.com

Robyn received her Bachelor of Science in Occupational Therapy from San Jose State University and her Master of Science and Doctor of Occupational Therapy degrees from Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions.  She has been practicing since 1994 and has extensive experience working with children of all ages in the school, medical, private practice, and home/community settings.  She is experienced in addressing sensory processing, oral motor, fine/gross motor, and cognitive-perceptual challenges in order to promote children’s optimal participation in self care, school, play, and social activities.  Robyn is board certified in pediatrics by the American Occupational Therapy Association and certified in sensory integration by the University of Southern California/Western Psychological Services.  She was a principal writer for the Physical Development chapter of the California Preschool Curriculum Framework, Volume 2.  In addition to clinical practice, Robyn is an assistant professor in the Occupational Therapy Department at Samuel Merritt University and a consultant for the California Department of Education, Child Development Division. 

In the Field

Susan Carlson, M.S., CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist
Email: Susan@cwtherapy.com
Susan received her Bachelor’s Degree from UC Berkeley in Art History and a Master’s Degree in Speech-Language Pathology from California State University of the East Bay.  She has worked with preschoolers and school age children in the hospital and school settings for over 11 years, specializing in articulation and language disorders.  Susan served as a clinical supervisor in the Speech and Language Clinic at Cal State, East Bay. Currently, she is a supervisor at CW working with Speech Pathology Assistants and with therapists completing their Clinical Fellowship Year.  When not working, Susan enjoys painting, golfing, fly fishing and spending time with her family. 

Shannon Cavanaugh, B.A., SLPA
Speech-Language Pathology Assistant
Email: shannon.cavanaugh@cwtherapy.com
Shannon has a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from UC Berkeley and an Associate of Science Degree in Communication from San Joaquin Delta College. While in college, she worked specifically with children with autism spectrum disorders. After college, she worked with children experiencing emotional disturbances and who required specific behavior intervention. She spent a year in Yokohama, Japan teaching English to junior high school students and became inspired to start a career in the field of speech-language pathology. Shannon joins CW as a speech language-pathology assistant to work with a wide range of children experiencing disabilities involving speech and language deficits. She is bilingual in English and Spanish. Shannon enjoys traveling abroad and learning more about language and therapeutic tools for speech and communication.  

Jaclyn Chang, M.S., CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist
Email:  jaclyn@cwtherapy.com
Jaclyn received her Bachelor’s Degree in linguistics at the University of California, Berkeley, and her Master’s Degree in speech-language pathology and audiology at California State University, East Bay. She has worked with children of all ages, from preschool through high school, but her particular areas of interest are early intervention, preschool, and elementary school-aged children, and she enjoys working with a variety of children and their families. Since 2007, she has specialized in receptive and expressive language, articulation, and phonological disorders. Jaclyn was born and raised in the East Bay, where she still resides with her husband. When not working, she enjoys a good cup of Peet's coffee, traveling, and spending time with her extended family.

Theresa Christiansen, M.A., CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist
Email: Theresa@cwtherapy.com
Theresa is a graduate of California State University, Chico with a Master’s Degree in speech pathology and audiology. Theresa has practiced as a speech pathologist in the school, clinical, hospital and private practice settings. Her professional interests include early intervention, phonology, articulation, receptive and expressive language, and social learning. When she is not working Theresa enjoys running and biking. Most weekends you will likely find her on a sports field happily cheering for one of her three children. Theresa and her family currently reside in the East Bay.

Francine DeMarco, M.S., CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist
Email: francine@cwtherapy.com
 Francine earned her Bachelor’s Degree from Whittier College in Child Development with a minor in Psychology.  She earned her master’s in Speech Language Pathology at The University of the Pacific in 2009.    She has experience working with students from preschool to high school with various ability levels.   She current works with students with moderate to severe autism under the SCERTS model. Before entering the speech world, Francine worked in the non-profit world and in Student Affairs at a university in Southern California. Francine is a Southern California native and when not working, Francine enjoys exploring San Francisco with friends, and traveling.

Alanna Dutra, M.A., CF 
Speech Language Pathology, Clinical Fellow
Email: alanna@cwtherapy.com
Alanna received her Bachelor's Degree in psychology from Humboldt State University and her Master's Degree in speech-language pathology from San Jose State University. While at San Jose State, Alanna participated extensively with the Preschool Screening Project, helping to screen area preschool students for speech and language disorders. Alanna has worked with clients ranging in age from preschoolers to adults and has experience with autism spectrum disorders, special needs populations, and receptive/expressive language disorders. When not working, Alanna enjoys travel, reading, vegetarian cooking, theater, and riding the Tilt-A-Whirl.   

Mary Fales, M.S., CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist
Email: mary@cwtherapy.com
Mary received her Bachelor’s Degree at San Diego State University, and her master's at California State University, East Bay, both in speech language pathology and audiology. She specializes in working with the deaf and hard of hearing population. Her interest in this population developed many years ago when she became involved with various types of individuals who were hard of hearing or deaf. She is skilled in sign language and knowledgeable in aural rehabilitation. Mary was born and raised in the Bay Area and enjoys the diversity of people here. In her free time, Mary enjoys being with family and friends, playing with her dog, and being outdoors.

Erica Gauuan, B.A., SLPA
Speech-Language Pathology Assistant
Email: erica.gauuan@cwtherapy.com
Erica received her Bachelor’s Degree in Speech Pathology and Audiology from California State University, Sacramento. Erica has worked with all ages from preschool to adults, but her particular area of interest is with adolescents on the Autism Spectrum. She currently works in the public school system and the private setting where she leads numerous social-learning groups. When not working, Erica enjoys spending time with her three children, weekend getaways, and running marathons for charities.

Jody Hamon, M.S., CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist
Email: jody@cwtherapy.com
Jody is a native of the Bay Area who received her undergraduate degree in Child Development Psychology from Saint Mary’s College of California and a Master’s Degree in Speech and Language Pathology and Audiology from California State University, East Bay. For the past ten years, Jody has worked with children of all ages from preschool through middle school with a variety of speech and language disorders and cognitive profiles.   Jody has most recently discovered her passion for working with children with moderate to severe disabilities.  She enjoys the challenges and rewards that the career of speech and language pathology provides.  In her free time, Jody enjoys spending time with her husband and son, stamping greeting cards and traveling whenever possible.

Regina Hawkins, M.S., CCC-SLP
Speech Language Pathologist
Email: regina@cwtherapy.com
Regina is a licensed and certified speech-language pathologist with 15 years of experience working with children and adults of all ages.  For the past 12 years she has focused on early intervention, preschool, and elementary age students treating a variety speech and language disorders.    She has vast experience and expertise in the area of Augmentative and Alternative communication (AAC), social pragmatic disorders, articulation, phonology, language delays, auditory processing, fluency, oral motor, and developmental delays. She also supervises graduate student interns, SLPA's and CFY's. Regina received her Undergraduate Degree at the University of Toronto where she first learned about the Hanen program and is now certified in "It Takes Two to Talk". She earned her Master's Degree at Emerson College in Boston, MA. In her free time she enjoys traveling, yoga, mindfulness, and spending time with her two school aged children.

Krista Jacobson, M.A., CF
Speech Language Pathology, Clinical Fellow
Email: krista@cwtherapy.com 
Krista Jacobson received her Bachelor's Degree and Master's Degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders at California State University, Chico. She has extensive experience working with children and adults with developmental disabilities. Her main areas of professional interest include social thinking, and augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). She has worked to develop and implement augmentative communication systems to support individuals with complex communication needs through the use of light-tech, mid-tech, and high-tech communication systems. Krista lives in San Francisco and enjoys traveling, reading, spending time with family and friends, and exploring the beautiful Bay Area.

Marisela Isais, B.A., SLPA
Speech-Language Pathology Assistant
Email: marisela@cwtherapy.com
Marisela received her Bachelor of Arts degree from California State University, East Bay in Communicative Sciences and Disorders accompanied by a minor in Sociology. Currently, she is working as a bi-lingual Speech Language Pathology Assistant in the public schools serving students preschool to 5th grade. Marisela is a native Spanish speaker and is excited to deepen her knowledge in the areas of speech, language and social learning. Her professional focus is helping the Hispanic community by increasing their awareness of resources available to help strengthen their child’s speech, language and social skills. She grew up in the Bay Area in a Spanish speaking household with eight other siblings.  She is the first in her family to receive a Bachelors degree and plans to continue on for her Master’s Degree. When not working, Marisela enjoys spending time with her family, shopping and enjoying the outdoors.

Laurie Matte, M.S., CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist
Email: laurie@cwtherapy.com
Laurie received her master’s degree from California State University, East Bay in Speech-Language Pathology. She has worked with both children and adults in multiple settings over the years, but has extensive experience working with developmentally delayed / disordered children with behavioral challenges.  Approximately 75% of her current caseload is providing speech and language services for school-aged students with Autism. Laurie enjoys working for CW providing supervision for SLPAs working with developmentally delayed students. Laurie is a baseball and volleyball mom for two older children and treasures a hectic, happy life with her family.  When time permits she loves reading crime mysteries and historical fiction. 

Holly McCarthy, M.S., SLPA
Speech-Language Pathology Assistant
Email: holly@cwtherapy.com
Holly received her Bachelor’s Degree in linguistics from Scripps College, and her Master’s Degree in education and teaching credential from Pepperdine University.  She taught kindergarten and 1st grade in Orange County (Santa Ana) for 4 years prior to becoming a speech language pathology assistant.  Having studied Spanish her whole life, as well as studying in Spain, Holly's interest lies in working with English Language Learners, and currently conducts therapy sessions in both English and Spanish.  Holly grew up in the East Bay and recently moved back to her hometown!  When not working, Holly enjoys cooking with her husband.

Jigna Patel, M.S., CCC-SLP
Speech Language Pathologist
Email: jigna@cwtherapy.com

Jigna received both her Bachelor's Degree (1998) and Master's Degree (2000) in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology from California State University, East Bay. She has worked with children of all ages, from preschool through high school with a variety of speech-language disorders. She has worked with a variety of populations, including children with autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, head injury, etc. Her particular areas of interests include early intervention and preschool-aged children. Jigna became PROMPT trained in October 2011. She serves as a Supervisor, working with Speech-Language Pathology Assistants. In her spare time, Jigna enjoys cooking, dancing, reading, and spending time with her family. 

Judy Ramos, M.S., CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist
Email: judy@cwtherapy.com
Judy Ramos received her undergraduate and Master’s Degree in Speech-Language Pathology at California State University, Hayward.  She grew up in New York City and Puerto Rico where she began her interest in working with bilingual children and second language acquisition.  Judy has had the privilege of working with families and their children in different cities throughout Alameda County.  Her main areas of interest are in the assessment of bilingual learners, using appropriate evaluations of English Language Learners (ELL), and differentiating between language differences and language disorders in ELL children between the elementary and middle school ages.  Outside of work, Judy enjoys reading, dining out, entertaining friends, the opera, the symphony, and traveling.

Kari Schaiman, M.S., CF
Speech-Language Pathology, Clinical Fellow
Email: kari@cwtherapy.com
Kari received her undergraduate and Master’s Degree in Speech-Language Pathology from San Francisco State University. Kari has experience in public and private school settings with children from kindergarten to twelfth grade with a variety of speech and language disorders.  She works with students with mild-moderate learning differences, many of whom are on the autism spectrum. She especially enjoys working with students with social learning challenges.  When she is not working, Kari enjoys spending time with her husband and dog, traveling, and playing soccer.

Corinne Vairora, M.A., CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist
Email: corinne@cwtherapy.com
Corinne received her undergraduate degree at California State University, Northridge with a degree in Deaf Studies. She originally set out to be a teacher of the Deaf but found her passion in communicative disorders. She completed her Master’s Degree in Speech Language Pathology at San Jose State University.  She’s a Bay Area native and has an extensive background working with children with special needs. She is proficient in American Sign Language (ASL) and has worked in a number of school settings with children and families in preschool through 5th grade.  When not working, Corinne enjoys traveling, snowboarding, waterskiing, and spending time with family and friends.