We are excited to offer services in two locations (Fremont and North Queen Anne) and hope that our experience, training and education can help serve your child. This is a field where experience and training make all the difference in success. The more experienced and well-trained the clinician, the more quickly the disorder is diagnosed and the more efficiently treatment techniques are synthesized to best suit your child. The result is a more productive therapy plan and quicker success for your child. This field is both an art and a science--working with kids, making therapy fun, helping kids feel successful, and weaving in a research-based treatment plan.
About the Owner
Jen Wagner, M.A., CCC-SLP Jen is a practicing Speech-Language Pathologist with over 28 years' experience and is the owner of Wagner Pediatric Speech and Language (WPSL). She started her career after graduating from Western Washington University where she earned a Master of Arts in Speech-Language Pathology. Jen has gained knowledge over the years, working in children's hospitals, in the schools, and most recently at private practices. She is skilled in providing exceptional services and has worked with children with childhood onset fluency disorder, cleft palate, tongue thrust, childhood apraxia of speech, autism spectrum disorder, feeding, higher-level language disorders (often seen in children with ADHD), and articulation disorders. She is PROMPT Level I trained (Prompts for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets) and has been putting that technique into practice for over a decade. Jen enjoys the great outdoors, traveling, playing in a tennis league, and spending time with her husband and 3 children. In undergrad, at Santa Clara University, she was named the student-Athlete of the year and went on to coach Western Washington University's women's soccer team and later the FC Royals and Eastside FC. She also spent a year as a team member, and coach, on the Seattle Sounders Women's soccer team. In addition to the years of coaching she has under her belt, Jen has supervised graduate student interns and clinical fellows in this field, making her a great leader for this practice!
Meet Our Therapists
Melissa Stark, M.A., CCC-SLP Melissa graduated from Western Washington University with a B.A. in Communication Sciences and Disorders and a Master of Arts degree in Speech-Language Pathology. Melissa has experience working with children of all ages, with a variety of communication disorders including receptive and expressive language disorders, motor speech disorders, autism spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy and Down syndrome, and is extremely passionate about working with those with complex communication needs. She is trained in the Speech-EZ Apraxia Program (a multi-sensory approach that incorporates visual, auditory, proprioceptive, gestural and tactile input in order to teach children the correct movement sequences for speech). She has taken several other courses related to motor speech disorders including the Kaufman Approach, she is PROMPT Level II trained, and she attended the CASANA (The Childhood Apraxia of Speech Association of America) conference. Melissa is also a certified instructor in Hanen "It Takes Two to Talk" and is trained in the Sequential Oral Sensory (SOS) Approach to Feeding. She loves working closely with families during their child’s feeding journey. Melissa is passionate about supervision of graduate interns and Clinical Fellows and currently serves as WPSL’s Clinical Services Director, handling the onboarding for interested observers and graduate interns. Melissa has supervised over 500+ direct therapy hours for University of Washington interns, as well as interns attending other universities, including distance-education programs. When not at the clinic, Melissa stays busy exploring the PNW with her two young children, and spending time with family and friends!
Bailey Hanson, M.Ed., CCC-SLP Bailey graduated with a Master of Education in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of Virginia. In addition to experience with a wide range of communication disorders, her clinical interests include autism, AAC, fluency, cleft palate, and articulation disorders. Bailey was a valuable member of a research team out of UVA that aimed to use imaging technology to improve communication outcomes for individuals with cleft and craniofacial differences. Her research resulted in presentations at the university and national level. Bailey’s graduate internship placement was completed at ICAN (International Center for Autism and Neurodevelopment) in Bellevue, WA. Additional internships have included work at a local aphasia center and in the Seattle Public Schools. In her free time, Bailey enjoys painting and playing guitar!
Ginny (Virginia) Shayne, M.S., CCC-SLP Ginny has worked in a variety of pediatric settings since graduating in 1989 from University of Wisconsin-Madison with a Master of Science - Communication Disorders in Speech-Language Pathology. She has extensive experience working in multiple settings, and across the United States. She worked in the schools in North Carolina, was at a nonprofit center in Kansas City, and was the clinical director and mentor at Speech, Language and Learning Services in Bellevue Washington. Ginny ran a valley-wide program in Montana serving students with autism spectrum disorders and then went on to lead a district-wide program providing services in communication, life skills, and academic skills for K-8th grade students with ASD. In that setting, she served as the SLP developing and adapting academic instructional materials and training and supervising paraprofessionals. Ginny returned to Seattle in 2015, where she worked at Pediatric Speech and Language Therapy, now Wagner Pediatric Speech and Language. She is especially interested in providing therapy for articulation disorders, childhood apraxia of speech, alternative/augmentative communication (AAC), challenges with spoken language comprehension and oral expression, and learning disabilities in reading (phonological awareness, decoding, reading comprehension) and writing (spelling and written language). In her free time, Ginny enjoys cooking, reading, hiking and kayaking in the beautiful PNW.
Hayley Nystrom, M.S., CCC-SLP Hayley hails from both undergraduate and graduate school at Washington State University where she earned her Master of Science in Speech and Hearing Sciences. She joined our team at WPSL in early fall 2023 after previously working as an SLP in a speech and hearing clinic setting (Evergreen Speech and Hearing Clinic) where she served all ages with a broad range of communication-related challenges. Hayley has experience working with patients who have hearing loss, auditory processing disorders, and executive functioning deficits. Her love for pediatrics guided her to our clinic, and she comes with special interests and skills treating speech sound/articulation disorders, fluency, social communication/pragmatics, autism spectrum disorder, and early and school-aged language. Hayley's undergraduate degree in psychology, combined with strong interpersonal skills make counseling aspects of speech and language interventions and family collaboration an area of expertise. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, yoga, and spending quality time with loved ones (especially her kitty cat Junie).
Brianna Mtuke, M.S., CCC-SLP Brianna is new to our team as of summer 2024 and new to Seattle! She and her husband moved here from New York City and are enjoying getting to know the beautiful PNW. Brianna completed her undergraduate Communiation Sciences and Disorders studies at Boston University with a minor in Deaf Studies. She returned to her home state of New York to complete her Master of Science at Teachers College, Columbia University. After graduation, she completed her clinical fellowship at Lexington School for the Deaf in Queens, NY. Although she is experienced with a range of communication disorders, her interests include language development in the birth-to-three age range, hearing impairments, and articulation disorders. In her free time, she enjoys getting outside, reading, exploring new places, trying new foods, and spending time with family and friends.
Joanna Valencia, M.S., CFY-SLP Joanna received her graduate certificate in Communication Sciences and Disorders and her Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, Texas. She has worked in pediatric settings for several years, including graduate externships in a variety of private practices and schools, and most recently, as a clinical fellow with a different Seattle-based therapy center. She has experience working with kids of all ages and who have a variety of needs including children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorders (ADHD), articulation disorders, receptive and expressive language difficulties, Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC), and childhood onset fluency disorders. Joanna played Division I softball at the University of Texas at Arlington, where she reached a career low ERA of 2.97 (lowest ERA on the Maverick's pitching staff), her final year on the team. In her free time, she loves reading, music, movies, exercise, and traveling to Texas to see family and friends, with her dog Calluna in tow.
Meet our Office Manager
Robin Rineman, B.S. Sociology The first of her family to receive a bachelor's degree, Robin graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Sociology from Southern Oregon University in Ashland, Oregon. She's been in the service industry since her first job at 16 years of age. Determined to find a daytime, Monday through Friday job, she transitioned from a GM position at an upscale, boutique movie theater and event venue, into the position she has now, with Pediatric Speech and Language Therapy in 2017. Her roles with us include, but are not limited to, scheduling/managing calendars, providing support to our therapists and making sure day to day operations run smoothly. Robin is passionate about helping others while providing the best customer service possible, and loves being in an atmosphere with children and families. Learning how impactful speech therapy can be and working with all the diverse populations we see, are two things that make her adore this role! Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her wife, Wendy and their two dogs, Wiley the westie (whom you may spot in her office from time to time), and Kona the border collie. Her favorite past-times are tending to her 45+ house plants, creating art, downhill skiing, hiking, kayaking and spending time with her family in Southern Oregon as much as possible.
