Speech Therapists

Karen is a speech-language pathologist who is passionate about building meaningful and supportive relationships with clients and their families. Karen earned her Bachelor of Arts in Communication Sciences and Disorders from the University of Iowa and her Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology from Rush University. During her graduate program, she completed clinical work in a variety of pediatric settings, including Rush University Medical Center’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and Rush Kids Pediatric Therapy Clinic.

Upon graduation, Karen completed her clinical fellowship year with PlayWorks Therapy, Inc. and has loved working with the team ever since. She has gained knowledge and interest in working with children with speech and language disorders, motor-planning disorders, fluency disorders, and feeding disorders and prioritizes neuro-affirming therapy.

When not in the clinic, Karen enjoys listening to music on her record player, going to concerts, walking along the lakefront, spending time with family and friends, and cheering on the Iowa Hawkeyes (Go Hawks!).

Casey is a speech-language pathologist who is passionate about building strong relationships with her clients and their families and collaborating with a multidisciplinary team to support her clients' growth. Casey earned her Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics and Psychology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She completed her Master of Science in Speech, Language, and Learning at Northwestern University. Upon graduation, she completed her clinical fellowship year with PlayWorks Therapy, Inc., and is thrilled to have continued working with the team ever since. Her clinical interests include neurodiversity affirming pragmatic skills, early childhood language development, Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC), and autism spectrum disorders. As the Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) Coordinator, Casey enjoys working with clinicians and caregivers to support clients in obtaining AAC devices. She is passionate about educating families, care providers, and interdisciplinary clinicians on best practices in AAC evaluations, treatment, modeling, and device personalization.

Casey is Meaningful Speech GLP + AAC trained, where she gained specialized skills in using the Natural Language Acquisition (NLA) Framework for supporting gestalt language processors (GLPs) who are, or could be, AAC users. Meaningful Speech GLP + AAC is a comprehensive training on identifying, evaluating, and supporting GLPs who currently or may in the future communicate using AAC. It additionally provides specialized training in customizing AAC software and modeling approaches to support the language acquisition style of GLPs.

In her free time, Casey enjoys walking along the lakefront path, baking, spending time with family and friends, and cheering on the Michigan Wolverines!

Kayla is a speech-language pathologist who is passionate about neurodiversity-affirming care. She grew up in the Chicagoland area before attending the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for her undergraduate and graduate degrees. Following graduation, Kayla completed her clinical fellowship year at the Westerhold Early Learning Center in Des Plaines, IL. Kayla has worked in school districts across the Pacific Northwest to serve students from a wide variety of backgrounds. She is thrilled to return to Chicago and join the PlayWorks Therapy, Inc. team.

While Kayla enjoys supporting all areas of speech, language, and communication, she especially loves collaborating with families and other professionals to support inclusivity and engagement. Her clinical interests include developmental language disorders, speech sound production, and augmentative and alternative communication (AAC).

In her spare time, Kayla loves reading, listening to new music, and riding her bike around the city.

Camryn is a speech-language pathologist who strives to create an exciting, play-based learning environment for her clients. She is excited to be a part of the PlayWorks multidisciplinary team! She is passionate about the pediatric population and has experience in early intervention, outpatient clinics, and school settings. Camryn values working closely with children and families to capitalize on the child’s strengths and work towards functional speech, language, and communication goals to support the child in reaching their greatest potential!

Camryn’s extensive clinical experiences have equipped her with the skills to work with children across various ages, disorders, and diagnoses. Her areas of expertise include early language development, speech sound disorders, expressive and receptive language disorders, augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), Autism spectrum disorder, and Down syndrome.

Camryn is originally from Kansas City and moved to Chicago in July 2022! She enjoys exploring the city, trying new restaurants, walking on the lakefront, and cheering on her favorite teams back home—Rock Chalk and Go Chiefs! Camryn earned her Bachelor of Arts in Speech-Language and Hearing and her Masters in Speech Pathology from the University of Kansas. She spent her clinical fellowship year at an outpatient pediatric clinic, seeing clinic clients and early intervention clients at home and in daycares.