Katie joined the CHAT team in the fall of 2014, when she moved to Chicagoland and saw an opportunity to provide services in a variety of settings to children regardless of need. Before joining the CHAT team, Katie worked in the public school system servicing preschool through junior high students, and worked in early intervention servicing children in the birth to three population. Katie feels fortunate to find a strong and collaborative team with CHAT that she had not found in her other work settings.
CHAT has allowed Katie to develop her passion for working with children with complex language and behavioral needs including the use of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) systems during her time in therapeutic day schools. She now brings her knowledge to support our clinicians in therapeutic day schools with the communication and behavioral needs of students with autism spectrum disorder and other emotional and behavioral disorders. In Spring of 2019, Katie was promoted to Assistant Director, gaining responsibility for our Lombard clinic. In this role, she helps our clinic team to ensure that clients receive comprehensive and quality, client-focused services that incorporate the needs of the entire family.
Katie holds a BS from Eastern Illinois University, where she majored in Communication Disorders and Sciences and minored in Psychology. She received an MS in Speech Language Pathology from Eastern Illinois University, where she completed graduate level research investigating the relationship between executive functions and language in preschool children. She currently lives in Downers Grove and enjoys being close to her nieces that live in Chicago.