Our Mission Statement
King’s Speech and Learning Center has a team of specialized therapists and educators to meet the individual needs of their clients. We strive to hire the most dedicated and passionate professionals to support our mission to train speech, social, academic and life skills for success in the 21st Century. We can work with all ages, from 1 to 90 years old!
Our Story
King’s Speech and Learning Center began seven years go as Wait Your Turn, LLC in Avon. Wait Your Turn was formed to to focus on the functional or pragmatic aspects of communication problems. This meant working extensively with our young client’s caregivers and family to address the daily issues affected by communication and learning challenges. For teens and adults, this meant incorporating meaningful contexts into the therapy process, such as career or homework tasks, interviewing, public speaking, and informal social conversations. “Wait Your Turn” was chosen to emphasize the importance of a give- and- take structures in order to balance interactions and strengthen social connections. Wait Your Turn, LLC incorporated this structures for all of its speech- language programming for both children and adults.
As a result of our enormous response to such a functional treatment approach, it became necessary to expand in size, name, demographics, and scope of practice. As of September 1, 2011, Wait Your Turn, LLC moved to Simsbury, added a second location in New Britain (although now in Cromwell), and changed its name to King’s Speech and Learning Center. Named after the award winning movie, the name reflects our goal to always keep our clients’ emotional side in mind, and our therapists’ coaching side in mind as we work together to achieve success. The name, “Wait Your Turn” will continue to live on as the name of our social communication program for pragmatic language disorders.
King’s Speech and Learning Center uses a holistic approach to provide speech-language services for Autism Spectrum Disorders and Asperger’s Syndrome, second language learners, ADD/ADHD, shyness, social anxiety/selective mutism, speech-language delays, Sensory Processing Disorders, Apraxia, Stuttering, Dyslexia, Nonverbal Learning Disorder, Neurogenic Communication Disorders (including geriatric), and Auditory Processing Disorders, as well as the general population without disabilities who are interested in self improvement and/or career growth. We offer speech-language therapy, social communication training and public speaking.
Dr. Melissa Saunders,
Executive Director
Dr. Melissa S. Saunders serves as the Executive Director of King’s Speech and Learning Center, bringing decades of experience working with providers across disciplines to serve individuals. Melissa has a doctoral degree in Organizational Leadership and is licensed to practice as a behavior analyst in both Connecticut and Massachusetts. Melissa has been delivering direct and consultative services in various settings since 2004. At King's Speech and Learning Center, Melissa leverages her expansive background to provide high-quality, evidence-based services and is committed to maintaining a team of clinicians who prioritize each client's individual strengths and needs with compassion and understanding. Melissa clinical specializations include social skills, language and life skills development as well as severe problem behaviors and caregiver supports and training.
She has held several leadership positions within professional organizations where she has been actively involved in promoting practice standards, establishing consumer protections and licensure, and improving service access and quality for individuals.
Hannah Bassett M.S. CCC-SLP, Office Manager
Joined the King’s Speech and Learning Center team during her graduate intern experience and decided to come back for her Clinical Fellowship. She earned both her undergraduate and graduate Speech-Language-Pathology degrees from Southern Connecticut State University. Hannah has experience working with both children and adults, as well as experience working within the school system. Hannah’s special interests include: expressive language delays, dyslexia, cognitive functioning, and fluency.
Laura (Bartus) Eldridge, M.S., CCC-SLP
joined our team after relocating to Connecticut from the Boston area where she worked in a private speech center for four years. Laura is highly skilled in the areas of autism spectrum disorders, apraxia of speech, auditory processing disorders and general speech and language developmental disorders, and is trained in the PROMPT approach to remediate speech disorders. She is an enthusiastic clinician who knows how to bring out the best in her clients. Laura received her Master of Science degree from William Paterson University in New Jersey, and her Bachelor of Science from Elmira College in New York. Laura works part time in our Avon office.
Makenna Calabrese, MS CCC-SLP, Office Manager
joined our team during her clinical fellowship. She received her Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology and her Bachelor of Science in Communication Disorders from Southern Connecticut State University. She has experience in providing speech, language, and feeding therapy to children and adolescents. Her passions include early language development, social language skills, and remediation of childhood apraxia of speech. She is level one PROMPT trained, an approach that remediates speech disorders. Makenna services children in the CREC school district and in our Avon office.
Danielle Metcalf, MS., CCC-SLP
joined our team during her clinical fellowship. She received her Master of Science in Communication Disorders from Emerson College and her BA in American Sign Language & Deaf Culture and BA in Art History from the University of Connecticut. She has experience working in a variety of settings, including elementary and middle school classrooms, adult home-care, and within the Deaf Community. She believes in the power of communication and strives to motivate clients to express themselves through different modalities, be it spoken, visual or gestural language. Danielle provides services for children and adolescents in the CREC school district and in our South Windsor office.
Anna Barnes M.S., CCC-SLP
Anna earned her undergraduate degree in Neuroscience from Trinity College and her Graduate Degree in Speech and Hearing Sciences from the University of Connecticut. Anna pursued her clinical fellowship at a pediatric clinic and has experience working in a school setting as well. Anna's special interests include AAC, Gestalt Language, and Autism and Apraxia.
Amanda Rodriguez M.S., CCC-SLP
Amanda Rodriguez joined the King’s Speech and Learning Center team in April 2024. She earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Connecticut and graduate degree at Iona University. Amanda has experience working with both children and adults, as well as experience working within the school system. Amanda’s special interests include Articulation, AAC, and pragmatic language skills.
Mollie Rogan M.S., SLP-CF
Joined King’s Speech and Learning Center during her Clinical Fellowship! She earned both her undergraduate and graduate Speech-Language Pathology degrees from Sacred Heart University. Mollie has experience working with school-age children and adults in both school and medical settings. Her special interests include cognitive-communication disorders, social communication, apraxia of speech, and language-based impairments!
Karen Rosen M.S., CCC-SLP
Karen joined King's Speech and Learning Center at the end of August 2023 after retiring from the Farmington Public School System. She earned her undergraduate degree from Southern Connecticut State College (B.A. in Communication Disorders) and her graduate degree from Northeastern University (M.Ed. in Speech and Language Pathology). Over the years, Karen has worked with adults and children- with the most recent experiences having been with children. Her areas of expertise include receptive and expressive language, speech intelligibility, Selective Mutism, fluency, dyslexia, and Autism. Karen is married with three grown children and two grandsons. Her personal interests include reading, pilates, and traveling.
Faye Tine M.S., CCC-SLP
Faye is a certified Speech-Language Pathologist who received her Master of Arts degree in Communication Sciences: Speech, Language, and Hearing from the University of Connecticut. She has worked in school and hospital settings in the past and enjoys working with clients of all ages and abilities. She is a member of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. In her spare time, she volunteers for Girl Scouts of Connecticut and the Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind.
Katrina Zaffetti M.S., CCC-SLP
Katrina is a licensed speech-language pathologist passionate about early intervention and communication development. She provides fun, personalized interventions for diverse communicators and empowers families with effective learning strategies. Her experience spans public elementary and intermediate schools, as well as outpatient settings. A Connecticut native, Katrina is deeply connected to her community. She holds a Master’s degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders from The College of Saint Rose.
Alicia Rodriguez, M.S., CCC-SLP
Alicia joined the King’s Speech and Learning Center team shortly after completing her Clinical Fellowship Year in September 2024. She earned her Master of Arts degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders from Iona University. Alicia has experience working with children in school settings. Her special interests include Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC), expressive/receptive language, and articulation.
