Speech-Language Pathologists
Julie Burke
M.S. CCC-SLP & Owner
Julie Burke is the Owner and Director of Burke Therapy. Julie opened Burke Therapy as a therapeutic learning private practice to bridge the gap she believes exists between school and family and to help children develop the skills they need to grow into functional, independent adults by providing high quality, comprehensive services not only to the children themselves but to their caregivers as well.
Julie received her Master of Science degree in Speech and Hearing Science from Southern Connecticut State University. She holds both a Connecticut State and Department of Public Health license and a Certificate of Clinical Competency from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). As a licensed speech language pathologist, she provides direct and small group therapy, comprehensive evaluations in the areas of speech, language and social pragmatics, needs assessments, as well as professional development and technical assistance to families, public and private schools across the state of Connecticut. She specializes in the areas of Least Restrictive Environment (LRE), inclusion, language-literacy skill development, receptive/expressive and social language delays, executive functioning and pragmatic deficits, the evaluation and treatment of children and adults with feeding and swallowing disorders, articulation and phonological impairments, Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) and stuttering. Julie is also a Level 1 PROMPT therapist.
Julie is well known throughout the state of Connecticut for her comprehensive services, innovative treatment strategies, professional development and the technical assistance she provides to speech language pathologists, general education teachers, special education teachers, para-educators and families.
Cathy Marco
M.A. CCC-SLP
Cathy received her Master of Arts in Speech-Language Pathology in 1986. She holds both a Connecticut state license and a Certificate of Clinical Competency from the American Speech & Hearing Association (ASHA). She has diverse clinical experience including 18 years working with a multidisciplinary team providing services to preschool and school aged students in the Simsbury community and also part-time as a Birth to Three provider. Her interventions have included a multi-modal approach to functional communication including simple sign language, AAC (augmentative alternative communication) such as PECS, iPad communication apps, and dedicated speech output devices; as well as individual and classroom-based therapy for articulation/phonology disorders, fluency, syntax/grammar, and functional and pragmatic language
In addition to the evidence-based practice she delivers, Cathy is passionate about equipping families with the skills and tools needed to foster success within the home and community environments. This past year, Cathy has greatly expanded her knowledge and skills in the assessment and treatment of apraxia of speech, becoming Level 2 PROMPT trained and also attending Sara Rosenfeld-Johnson’s program on oral placement therapy and Nancy Kaufman’s seminar on apraxia of speech.
Cathy has worked for Burke Therapy since 2018. Her passion for children and personal goal to make therapy fun as well as effective and functional makes her an excellent addition to the Burke family.
Jaime Levesque
M.A. CCC-SLP
Jaime Levesque received her Master of Arts degree in Speech-Language Pathology in 2014 from Hofstra University. She holds both a Connecticut State License and a Certificate of Clinical Competency from the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA).
Jaime is an experienced clinician who has worked in public schools with children ages 3 to 14 with Autism, speech or language impairments, learning disabilities, ADD/ADHD, Down syndrome, and intellectual disabilities. In addition, Jaime is skilled in the implementation of Augmentative Alternative Communication (AAC), individual and small group therapy designed to improve syntax/grammar/semantics, social pragmatic language, functional communication, and literacy development.
Jaime joined the Burke Therapy team in 2016. Since then, she has expanded her therapeutic knowledge and skills in speech-sound motor disorders through minimal pairs training, focused /r/ articulation therapy, and play-based therapy. Jaime truly enjoys making her therapy sessions fun and effective, and ensures that children and families have the knowledge and tools to be successful at home and in the community.
Kaitlyn Rome
M.S. CCC-SLP
Kaitlyn received her Master of Science degree in Speech-Language Pathology in 2017 from Sacred Heart University. She holds a Connecticut State License and a Certificate of Clinical Competency from the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA).
Kaitlyn is an experienced clinician who has worked in a public school with children ages 3 to 8 years, early intervention with children ages 12 months to 3 years, and the private practice setting diagnosing and treating children, teenagers, and adults from 12 months to 70 years old. She has extensive experience working with children with Autism, expressive and receptive language delays and disorders, articulation and phonological impairments, motor planning deficits, fluency disorders, and learning and intellectual disabilities.
Kaitlyn values providing evidence-based practices and has participated in continuing education courses for the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS), Prompts for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets (PROMPT), Dynamic Temporal and Tactile Cueing (DTTC) for Childhood Apraxia of Speech, and TalkTools. Not only is she invested in continuing her education, but she also finds it essential to form a connection with the client and family to be able to provide the most appropriate and effective therapy, as well as strategies for carryover at home and in the community.
Kaitlyn joined the Burke Therapy team in 2022 and is looking forward to building strong working relationships with her clients and families. Her personal goal is to give clients and families the tools they need to feel supported outside of the school and clinic setting.
Rachel O’Meara
M.S. CCC-SLP
Rachel O’Meara received her Masters of Science degree in Speech-Language Pathology in 2015 from Southern Connecticut State University. She holds both a Connecticut State License and a Certificate of Clinical Competency from the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association (ASHA).
Rachel is an experienced clinician who has worked in the public school setting with children, teenagers, and adults ranging in age from 3 to 21 years, as well as the private practice setting working with individuals from 2 to 13 years. She has experience treating individuals in the areas of receptive, expressive, and social language delays and disorders, as well as in the areas of articulation/phonology, childhood apraxia of speech, and interventions for autistic individuals. Rachel is skilled in delivering individual and group therapy designed to improve functional communication, receptive and expressive language, and speech sound production. She has experience using low-tech and high-tech Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices to target communication growth.
Rachel believes implementing evidence-based practices is critical to success and has participated in continuing education courses for Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS), Prompts for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets (PROMPT), and Gestalt Language Processing. She believes combining research-based practices with individualized, motivating therapy techniques results in engaging, fun therapy with the most successful outcomes.
Rachel joined the Burke Therapy team in 2023. She is looking forward to forming connections with her families and providing them with the tools to foster communication growth at home and in the community.
Donny Burns
B.S. C-SLPA
Donny Burns holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Communication Disorders from Southern Connecticut State University. He is ASHA Certified Speech and Language Pathology Assistant (C-SLPA) and has accomplished over 100 hours of clinical treatment observation.
Before joining the Burke Therapy team, Donny worked as a Teaching Assistant under a trauma informed treatment model at a behavioral health school supporting early childhood through high school aged students with learning disorders (LDs), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), as well as autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Some of the roles Donny helped to facilitate were lesson planning, documenting academic progress, and the implementation of approved behavior plans/IEPs as well as crisis management.
Donny is passionate about research and using the most current evidence-based practices. Donny’s strong appreciation for clear and transparent communication between home, school, and out-side providers contributes to the overall generalization of skills from the therapeutic environment.