About Peer Projects

Linda Murphy M.S., CCC-SLP, CEIS founded Peer Projects in 2005 when she began running social pragmatics groups for young children at Emerson College. Peer Projects has a family-centered approach, which means family members are included in therapy sessions and provided with carryover activities week to week. This all-important “homework” lets children practice so they can make progress. Parents are given ideas and strategies specifically tailored to their child’s situation – for example, they may be instructed on how to interact with their child in a slightly different way, given a story written with their child in mind, or coached on how to create opportunities for better communication in daily life. Our focus is on creating ways to address a child’s goals within everyday settings and set the stage for a child’s real success in the real world.

 

Linda Murphy M.S., CCC-SLP, CEIS
Pediatric Speech Language Pathologist
RDI® Program Certified Consultant

Linda has been a speech language pathologist since 1999. She is also a Certified Early Intervention Specialist and an RDI® Program Certified Consultant – in fact, she is one of the few people in Massachusetts certified to offer the RDI® program. She graduated from Boston College in 1993 with a degree in Mathematics. After spending two years working with adults with Autism, she decided to pursue a Master’s Degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders at Emerson College. Since then, Linda has provided services to children ranging from toddler to adult in a range of educational and other settings, including schools, daycares, homes, summer camps, playgrounds, her office, and university clinics. She enjoys working collaboratively with families and other members of a child’s team.

 

Linda has recently had an article on Episodic Memory published in the Fall 2010 issue of Autism Spectrum Quarterly and has also been writing articles for the Boston Autism & Parenting topic at Examiner.com. Click to view Linda's most recent articles.

 

Melissa Andrichak M.A.T.

Melissa has been an elementary school teacher for over 20 years. She has a B.S. in Psychology from the University of Denver and a Master of Arts in Teaching from Tufts University. In addition to her classroom focus, she has worked with children in residential settings, as a tutor and as a summer camp coordinator. While she loves the academic focus of public school, she really cherishes the time that she can spend helping children grow socially and emotionally.

 

Janice Coughlin B.S.

Janice started as a graduate from Syracuse University with a degree in Communications and a minor in French. While working at Mullen and Fulgent New Media Group as an Interactive Media Director, she continued to work with children as a mentor, a tutor and substitute teacher. In 2005, Janice left her agency work to start working as a SPED TA in the Hamilton Wenham School district and fell in love with the concept of helping to create, develop and aid children on the spectrum. She spent several years there while doing home based ABA services for a company in Waltham. She also spent a year working in the intensive program in the Hamilton Wenham School District and gained much knowledge from both the children as well as the teachers. In August 2009, Janice started working at the Beverly School for the Deaf/The Children’s Center for Communication as a Para-Professional for children on the spectrum. She loves what she does, enjoys working with children and is grateful for the opportunity to grow and develop with them.

 

Jennifer Hewitt M.S., CCC-SLP

Jennifer Hewitt graduated from the Honors College at the University of Arizona cum laude with a B.S. in psychology in 2004. After a stint doing lab work at Stony Brook University in New York researching the precursors of depression in 3-year-olds, Jen moved to Boston to pursue her M.S. in Speech-Language Pathology at Boston University’s Sargent College. Upon graduation, she earned her Certificate of Clinical Competence and Massachusetts licensure while working in the Waltham Public Schools. There, she evaluated and treated students from PreK through 5th grade on the Autism Spectrum who were enrolled in substantially separate classrooms. In 2009, Jennifer joined the rehabilitation department at Cambridge Health Alliance, where she remains on staff as a pediatric and adult outpatient speech-language pathologist. Jennifer brings a unique combination of experience with children and adults, evaluating and treating speech-language disorders from apraxia to voice disorders and everything in between. She embraces the opportunity to work with a broad base of clients and to address the individual needs of each.

 

Angela Lengerich, MS, CCC-SLP, CEIS

Angela Lengerich has been practicing as a speech-language pathologist since September 2004. She graduated from Butler University with a bachelor’s in speech-language pathology and continued on to gain her master’s in speech-language pathology from Northeastern University. She began her career in Early Intervention where she worked with children and families to provide services to a wide range of communication disorders, cultures, and socio-economic backgrounds. These evaluations and treatment sessions were family-centered and provided in the child’s home or daycare. She has also worked in settings including charter schools for middle and high school, a horse farm, pull-out therapy at a public school for preschool-aged children, an outpatient clinic, and schools that serve children ages 3-21 years old with autism using an ABA approach as well as other behavior modification strategies. Angela has also served as a supervisor for speech-language pathology assistants at schools. Angela enjoys giving children the tools they need to effectively communicate with others so that they can feel successful.

 

Leigh-Anne Postizzi M.S., CCC-SLP

Since graduating from Emerson College in 2003, Leigh-Anne has practiced speech language pathology in both private practice and school systems in California and Massachusetts. She has extensive experience working with children, adolescents and adults with Autism spectrum disorders, motor planning/Apraxia, receptive and expressive language deficits, augmentative alternative communication, executive functioning and social pragmatic deficits. She has advanced clinical training in PECS, PROMPT, DIR®/Floortime™, Talk Tools and Social Thinking curriculum by Michelle Garcia Winner. Leigh-Anne utilizes a family centered approach in her therapy and is certified in Hanen’s ‘It Takes Two To Talk’, a program designed specifically for parents of young children identified with language delays.

 

Marlena Primo, M.Ed

Marlena has worked with children on the Autism Spectrum for over 5 years. She has worked providing services in the home and more recently within the school. Marlena has a Bachelor’s degree in Human Development from Lesley University. She is currently working towards her Master’s degree with a focus on Applied Behavior Analysis and Special Education. Marlena believes that the best approach for working with children with diverse needs is a combined approach that meets the child’s individual needs. She enjoys facilitating social pragmatics groups at Peer Projects and watching the children enhance their social competence while also having a great time!

 

Lesley Scully, M.Ed, BCBA

Lesley is a licensed special education teacher as well as a Board Certified Behavior Analyst. She has been working with students on the autism spectrum since 2005. After graduating from the University of Rhode Island with a degree in Psychology, she began her career working as a provider in an intensive early intervention program for 0-2 year olds with ASD. Lesley then left early intervention to work with school-age children in a PDD classroom in both rural and inner-city school settings. She began working toward her Master's in Special Education and Behavior Analysis from Endicott College while gaining work experience in a private school that utilized ABA techniques. This school is where she gained invaluable experience working with children who present with a wide variety of learning styles and strengths. Currently, she is a autism inclusion teacher in a public school district, working in a fifth grade classroom under a co-teaching model. There she is able to use combination of ABA and RDI techniques to effectively teach her students on a daily basis. She also serves as a behaviorist and parent trainer within the district. Lesley also consults for a home based ABA firm, teaching daily living, academic, and social skills, and also conducting functional behavior assessments and implementing behavior plans. What Lesley enjoys most about her work is helping each child gain confidence in academic and social situations so they can reach their full potential!

 

Julie Sella M.S., CCC-SLP, CEIS

Julie is a speech language pathologist and graduate of MGH Institute of Health Professions. Since graduating in 2004, she has worked in a variety of therapeutic settings including schools, clinics, early intervention programs, and in private practice; through which she has seen children and adults in their homes and/or in an office setting. Julie also holds a Certificate of Early Intervention Specialty (CEIS) and has worked extensively with children on the autism spectrum, children and adults with language/communication delays, children and adults with motor speech and articulation concerns, children and adults with hearing loss, children who use Augmentative Alternative Communication, and children with sensory and motor based feeding difficulties. Julie’s clinical interests include social pragmatic methods and approaches such as RDI®, the work of Michelle Garcia-Winner and Jed Baker, Executive Functioning skills, and work by Sara Ward. She values the relationship between sensory integration and communication and has developed clinical expertise in this area. She enjoys working with families to help build developing skills in settings that are meaningful for each client. She is excited to be part of the Peer Projects team!