Katie L. Curra, M.S., CCC-SLP
Katie L. Curra is the founder and president of Kids’ Language Center. She is an ASHA certified speech language pathologist working with children with communication disorders for over 20 years. Katie completed her Bachelor of Science degree in speech language pathology at Towson University in Baltimore Maryland in 1999 and received her Master of Science degree in speech language pathology from Loyola College in Maryland in 2001.
It was in Katie’s third year of college when she began working with twin boys diagnosed with autism in their home based, Lovaas inspired, ABA program and found her true calling. She was driven to understand children with autism and help them to communicate. She was captivated by the family’s devotion and understood that she was meant to make this her life’s work.
From there, Katie was introduced to and worked with many families needing help in their home-based ABA programs. In particular, Katie was trained by Rutgers University to implement specific ABA programs as well as a picture exchange communication system (PECS) to a very dear young boy named Alex. She worked with Alex and his family for the next 4 years while she completed her formal education. It was with this family that she gained a deeper appreciation for a family’s struggle and unending devotion as she watched them try to help their child in any and every way they could.
During this time, Katie traveled to California to meet Dr. Michael Goldberg, founder of NIDS (Neuro-Immune Dysfunction Syndromes). Please visit www.neuroimmunedr.com to read about Dr. Goldberg’s stance on autism causes and treatment. At a time when dietary interventions were considered uncommon and somewhat outlandish, Katie took advantage of the opportunity to meet Dr. Goldberg to learn more about looking at children on the spectrum from a more holistic lens and continues to implement what she learned in her practice today.
While working on her master’s, Katie worked in an inner city elementary school in Baltimore as a speech teacher, learning to work with varied diagnoses as well as families of economic diversity and hardship.
Upon completing her master’s degree, Katie relocated to Greenwich, CT where she began practicing speech language pathology full time at North Mianus Elementary School within the Greenwich public school system. She also became an independent contractor with ABILIS (formerly ARC) birth to three, continuing for 5 years to work with children of various ages and communication disorders.
In 2006, Katie started a home-based private practice, and in 2009 she founded Kids’ Language Center. Katie has presented to parents and professionals throughout the community on communication disorders, interventions, and individualized education plans (IEP). She is well known in Greenwich and Stamford for her comprehensive evaluations, innovative treatment strategies, and warm heart.
Dominique Cetale, M.S., CCC-SLP
Dominique Cetale is a dedicated and compassionate speech-language pathologist with a special interest in pediatric language and literacy. She holds a Master of Science in speech, language, and learning from Northwestern University; a bachelor’s degree from UCLA; and is proficient in Spanish. Dominique joined Kids’ Language Center as a full-time speech-language pathologist in 2023. She provides individualized therapy to toddlers, preschoolers, and school aged children with various communication difficulties including receptive and expressive language disorders, speech sound disorders, autism, auditory processing impairments, specific learning disabilities, childhood apraxia of speech, and social communication disorders. Her role involves providing evidence-based therapy, writing detailed progress notes, developing treatment plans, conducting collaborative consultations with families to ensure continuity of care, and performing comprehensive evaluations. Dominique has enjoyed following and integrating KLC’s holistic approach of child-led, play-based therapy to children of various ages. She finds this approach especially beneficial when treating children with autism.
Previously, Dominique gained experience through roles at Northwestern University’s Center for Audiology, Speech, Language and Learning (NUCASLL); Hyde Park Day School, a school for children with language-based learning disorders; and The Indy Lab, a preschool with a special emphasis on multi-sensory pre-literacy instruction. At NUCASLL, Dominique particularly enjoyed providing complimentary community-based speech/language and literacy screenings and implementing a social skills group for teenagers with autism. At the Indy Lab, Dominique provided therapy in a preschool program for children aged 18 to 28 months, focusing on early language development and integrated the pre-literacy curriculum, Sounds in Motion (an early literacy/phonemic awareness approach), into her speech and language sessions. She also provided an in-service on pre-literacy skills and pre-school language development.
Dominique has a strong background in evidence-based practices, including the Lindamood-Bell Visualizing and Verbalizing Program, Michelle Garcia Winner’s Social Thinking Curriculum, and the Story Grammar Marker curriculum. In addition, Dominique is formally trained in the Preventing Academic Failure (PAF) program, which utilizes multi-sensory techniques to teach reading, spelling, and handwriting in primary grades. This training provides a strong foundation for Dominique’s therapy, which is deeply rooted in literacy development.
When working with young children who have speech sound disorders, Dominique draws from diverse treatment techniques including: the complexity approach, cycles approach, multiple oppositions approach, and co-articulation techniques. In addition, she focuses on improving students’ phonemic awareness and literacy skills by also targeting auditory processing and phonological processing skills. These methods not only improve speech sound development, but also build foundational academic skills.
With older students who have difficulties with reading and listening comprehension, Dominique often integrates visualization strategies and teaches students how to dissect sentences to ensure their understanding of verb tenses, novel vocabulary, figurative phrases, and clauses. She is well versed in the Story Grammar Marker curriculum, which teaches the components of a narrative. Dominique uses this method to improve student’s understanding and written composition of narratives. To teach vocabulary and syntax, Dominique places a strong focus on morphology, instructing students how to change the meaning of words and sentences by adding prefixes and suffixes.
Throughout her experiences, Dominique has been committed to working with other professionals (occupational therapists, physical therapists, behavior analysts, teachers, etc.) to ensure each of her clients receive the most holistic and effective treatment. She is dedicated to building strong relationships with students and families to improve their communication skills and overall lives beyond the treatment room. Whether she is supporting a two-year-old in developing early speech and language skills or assisting a sixteen-year-old with reading comprehension and writing, her goal is to create an encouraging and positive atmosphere where every individual can feel confident and empowered to reach their highest potential. Dominique looks forward to meeting you and working with you and your child.