Talking Matters Consultants

Are you looking for someone to support you in helping your child develop communication skills and reach their potential with learning? Our speech pathologists and support workers are passionate about children's communication, and are experienced in working with children and families to develop speech, language and learning skills. Contact us to see what our friendly team can offer you and your child.  

 Carla Branson

BSpPath MSPA CPSP Speech Pathologist

Carla is a founder and director of Talking Matters. She works as a speech pathologist across various age groups including toddlers, preschoolers and school aged children.  She is Hanen certified to run the "It Takes Two to Talk (TM) parent program.  She has a special interest in working with children with Autism, Aspergers, APD, Dyslexia, attention difficulties and speech sound disorders. Carla is also able to complete diagnostic assessments for children on the Autism spectrum. Carla also has the responsibility of managing the clinical and administrative aspects of running a busy paediatric speech pathology practice. 

Joanne Brenecki

B App Sc (Sp Path) Grad Dip (Health Counseling) MSPA Speech Pathologist

Joanne is a very experienced speech pathologist who has worked in private practice in the northen suburbs of Adelaide for almost 20 years. A founding member of Talking Matters, Joanne now works part-time in the practice while she also pursues some interests outside of speech pathology. She brings to the team decades of clinical experience that she willingly shares with the rest of the team. Joanne has a particular interest  in working with children on the Autism spectrum and is a registered with Autism SA to provide diagnostic assessments. Joanne works with Talking Matters clients in the Elizabeth East office two days each week and also provides a service one day a week at the Kapunda office.

Joanna Craig

BSpPath (Hons) MSPA CPSP Speech Pathologist

Joanna has now been consulting with us since January 2009 , after graduating in 2008 from Flinders University with an Honours degree in Speech Pathology.  Joanna comes to us with previous experience in working with children with additional needs and has worked in special schools and for Foundation 21 who provide support services for children with Downs Syndrome. She has completed additional training in Picture Exchange Communication Systems (PECS) and Auslan signing. She provides individual and group services in a number of school settings and at the Talking Matters offices. Joanna  has a keen interest in working with children with Downs Syndrome and those who attend special schools.

Keira Stone

BSpPath MSPA  Speech Pathologist

Keira completed the final year of her speech pathology degree in 2009 and joined us as a fully qualified speech pathologist in January 2010. Keira works with children in the office and at a number of local schools and preschools. She has a bubbly and highly energetic approach to her work and is always looking at ways to do things better. Keira works with children with a wide range of needs and also has a special interest in working with children with fluency difficulties (stuttering) and adults with swallowing difficulties. Keira is available to provide dysphagia assessments in nursing homes and other care facilities. 

Louise Moon

B.T.(ECE), BSpec Ed, Grad Cert Spec Ed, MSpPath MSPA Speech Pathologist

Louise Moon joined the team as a speech pathologist in January 2010. Louise also has a Bachelor of Teaching (Early Childhood Education), Bachelor of Special Education and a Graduate Certificate of Education (Special Education). Louise has worked in Special Education with the public and private education systems for the past 15 years and brings a wealth of experience to the position. Louise has a special interest in children's feeding difficulties and can assist families overcome difficulties around meal times. Louise also has an interest in Childhood Apraxia of Speeach (also known as Verbal Dsypraxia). We are very excited to have Louise as part of our team, working with children individually in the office and in school settings.

Jessica Rossiter

Masters Sp Path MSPA Speech Pathologist

Jess joined Talking Matters as a speech pathologist in 2011, having completed a Degree in Psychology and a Masters in Speech Pathology. Jess is working with children both in the office and in a number of local schools and has settled into her role very well. She is managing a large number of schools as well as clients in the office. Jess also enjoys the arts, and can regularly be seen on the stage in amateur productions. We are keen to have her using her theatrical skills in the future to bring an exciting dimension to the teams speech pathology services.

Sasha Tomlinson

Ba Spath MSPA Speech Pathologist

Sasha joined the practice in 2011 and has settled into the team very well. She graduated as a speech pathologist at the end of 2010, having completed a 4 year undergraduate degree. Sasha has completed placements with the Department of Education and worked within the special school setting amongst other placements. Sasha has a keen interest in working with children on the Autism Spectrum as well as with children with speech, language and literacy learning needs. She will be providing services in some private schools from term 4 2011 as well as seeing children in the office.  Her time with us will increase over the next few months and she will work fulltime with Talking Matters from term 1 2012. We hope you will join us in welcoming Sasha to the team. 

Lauren Payne

Ba Spath MSPA Speech Pathologist

Lauren completed her Bachelor of Speech Pathology at Flinders University in 2011 where she completed placements and developed her skills in working with preschool and school aged children. Lauren has a keen interest in working with children with speech, language and literacy learning needs and will be working with children both in the office and at a number of schools in the area.  Lauren has settled in very well and is already proving to be a real asset to the practice. 

Michelle Musolino

Ba Spath MSPA Speech Pathologist

Michelle graduated as a speech pathologist at the end of 2010 and joined our team in January 2012. She has completed placement with Disability SA (Early Childhood Program) and within mainstream and special schools. Michelle with be providing services within the private school setting and in the office. Michelle has a keen interest in working with children with special needs. We are thrilled to have Michelle working with us as part of our team.

Jodie Merola

Jodie is our office manager and comes to us with a wealth of experience in administration. She fulfills a vital role helping clients to book appointments and answering parent queries about services and funding options. Jodie also manages the accounts for the speech pathologists and is extremely busy trying to ensure everything runs as smoothly as possible. Her role ensures clients experience a professional service from booking and beyond.  She is available to assist clients with enquiries from 9.00am to 5.00pm Monday to Friday. 

Saara Joyce

Saara supports Jodie in the office on part-time basis. She assists with client enquiries and bookings as well as general office tasks to help Jodie keep up to date with a busy workload. Saara's bubbly personality and exceptional people skills make her an ideal person to assist our clients and make them feel welcome.

 Elizabeth Matthews

Elizabeth Matthews is a final year speech pathology student. While Elizabeth completes her final placements she will be working with us in a part-time capacity. She will be working part-time in the reception area as well as using her skills on Saturday mornings to support children in the "Succeeding with Reading" and "Speech Assistant" programs. In the short time she has been with us she has already demonstrated a strong commitment to clients and professional speech pathology practice. Please welcome her to the team.

Raelene Smith

Raelene began working with our clients in term 2, 2010. Raelene works in a local private school as an Education Support Officer. Over the last 11 years she has been involved in various programs to support children to develop their speech and language, learning and literacy and social skills within the school setting. Raelene has completed training at TAFE in working with students with autism spectrum disorder and is currently completing further studies in the disability field. We are thrilled to have her available to work with our families.

Bronwyn Whitelaw

Bronwyn joined the team of speech assistants in term 3, 2009. Bronwyn comes to us with over 11 years of experience in working with children with special education and communication needs. She has worked in the past in a project position as a speech assistant for the Department of Education and Children's Services. She is currently working fulltime for DECS and studying part time to complete her Bachelor of Education. She works with students from a wide age range of backgrounds and with varying needs.