​Progressive Speech Therapy
Speech-Language and Feeding Services for Northern Virginia
Call Us 571-252-8833
Our Team
Progressive Speech Therapy is committed to ensuring that every single child seen receives the very highest quality of care. Each child's unique needs are assessed personally by Pooja to make individualized referrals to help establish a team of medical, allied health, and educational professionals that will maximize the child's progress. Progressive Speech Therapy takes pride in finding the person from each field who will be the best fit for each child's needs. Progressive Speech Therapy opened it's doors in 2008 to ensure that families' hopes are met with the very best progress possible for their children. Please see below for more information about our exceptional team of therapists.
Pooja Aggarwal, M.S. CCC-SLP
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Pooja is the Owner and Clinical Director of Progressive Speech Therapy. She graduated Summa Cum Laude with her Masters of Science in Speech Language Pathology from Columbia University and has 20+ years of experience helping children with communication challenges.
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She has a passion for working with children and uses an eclectic approach that combines the most current evidence-based techniques in her clinical practice. She is focused on continuing education and the latest research developments. Pooja is a repeat recipient of the ASHA ACE award (American Speech Hearing Association - Award for Continuing Education).
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Pooja’s continuing education includes, but is not limited to, DTTC (Dynamic Temporal and Tactile Cueing), PROMPT (Prompts for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets), RDI (Relationship Development Intervention), ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis), Food Chaining, Mealtime Partners, the SOS (Sequential Oral Sensory) Approach to Feeding, and LAMP (Language Acquisition through Motor Planning).
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Pooja is considered an international expert in the area of Childhood Apraxia of Speech. She was an inaugural graduate of the 2011 Childhood Apraxia of Speech Advanced Training Institute and has participated in advanced trainings in DTTC (Dynamic Temporal and Tactile Cueing) through the Once Upon a Time foundation. Along with being Apraxia Kids Recognized for Advanced Training and Clinical Expertise in Childhood Apraxia of Speech, she was an instructor for the 2021 Advanced Training Institute for CAS which aims to further elevate the clinical skills of regional experts across North America.
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Pooja frequently volunteers professionally and has served as a Regional Volunteer Outreach Coordinator for Apraxia Kids.
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Pooja frequently presents both locally and nationally to a variety of audiences including parents, speech-language pathologists and medical/allied health professionals. Pooja has presented at numerous national conventions including Apraxia Kids and American Speech Hearing Association conventions. Additionally Pooja presents full day trainings focused on evidence based diagnostics and treatment for school districts (e.g. Loudoun, Prince William, and D.C. Public School systems).
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Pooja loves working with children, mentoring passionate clinicians, and sharing her knowledge through speaking engagements.
Katie Barnes, M.A. CCC-SLP, BCaBA
Katie received her Master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology from The George Washington University in 2015. She previously attended the University of Mary Washington where she studied psychology as an undergraduate student. She is a Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analyst and has over 7 years of experience providing services in Applied Behavior Analysis for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Katie’s continuing education has included, but is not limited to DTTC (Dynamic Temporal and Tactile Cuing), PROMPT (Prompts for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets), SOS (Sequential Oral Sensory) Approach to Feeding, AAC (Alternative and Augmentative Communication), and LAMP (Language Acquisition through Motor Planning). Katie has experience working with infants and toddlers through adolescents. Katie has worked with in early intervention, private pediatric clinics, and provideed services to adolescents with emotional and behavioral disorders. Katie is experienced and passionate about providing speech, language, and feeding services to children with Childhood Apraxia of Speech, Autism Spectrum Disorders as well as a variety of other speech language disorders. Katie is enthusiastic about providing a multidisciplinary approach to intervention by combining her background in ABA with her speech and language therapy.
Emily Kurinsky, MA CCC-SLP
Emily received her Master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology from The George Washington University in 2014. She has a wide range of therapeutic experience that includes evaluating and treating children with childhood apraxia of speech, autism spectrum disorders, executive dysfunction, language disorders, developmental delays, articulation and phonological disorders, ADD/ADHD, Down syndrome, social/pragmatic language difficulties, and sensory processing disorders.
Emily has worked extensively with toddlers and school-age children diagnosed with a variety of disorders both in private practice and in a private school for children with language and learning disabilities using Greenspan’s Floortime and Affect Based Language Curriculum.
Emily is the recipient of the Award for Continuing Education (ACE) from the American Speech-Hearing Association in recognition of her commitment to lifelong learning in the field. She has continuing education in a wide range of areas including DTTC (Dynamic Temporal and Tactile Cuing), PROMPT(Prompts for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets), Autism Spectrum Disorders, SOS (Sequential Oral Sensory) Approach to Feeding, AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication), LAMP (Language Acquisition through Motor Planning), and Social Thinking from Michelle Garcia Winner. Emily has experience working with multimodal communicators and is familiar with a wide variety of high-tech, low tech, and no tech communication methods. In 2019 Emily was designated a LAMP (Language Acquisition through Motor Planning) Certified Professional by the Center for AAC and Autism.
Alex Rainsdon M.A., CCC-SLP
Alex received her Master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology from The George Washington University in 2020. She previously attended Brigham Young University, where she received her bachelor’s degree in Communication Disorders with a minor in Linguistics. Alex has experience working with a wide range of individuals as a Speech-Language Technician at a facility for individuals with developmental disabilities. Alex also has clinical research experience working in the Lab of Autism and Developmental Neuroscience at George Washington University where she collaborated with other researchers regarding eating/feeding behaviors of children and adults with autism. Alex successfully completed and defended her Master’s thesis entitled, “Feasibility and Need for a Parent-Implemented Picky Eating Intervention for ASD.” Alex is passionate about providing evidence-based practice speech therapy services to individuals with autism, social pragmatic/communication disorder, receptive/expressive language disorders, feeding disorders, speech sound disorders, Childhood Apraxia of Speech, and Alternative and Augmentative Communication.
Alexis Wood MS CCC SLP
Alexis received her Master of Science degree in Speech-Language Pathology from Utah State University, where she graduated summa cum laude in 2007. For nearly a decade she worked with preschool- and school-age students in public school settings. She evaluated and treated students with a wide range of needs, and became an advocate for evidence-based practice in schools.
Alexis later worked as a private practitioner based in Sarajevo, Bosnia for several years. She provided speech and language therapy for English-speaking expatriate clients, provided training at local centers for children with disabilities, and provided speech services via teletherapy for many U.S. military and foreign service families around the globe.
Alexis values life-long learning and is dedicated to keeping up with best practices in speech-language pathology. She has co-authored papers and presentations on child language & literacy development. Her primary areas of interest include speech sound disorders (including articulation, phonological, and motor speech disorders such as Childhood Apraxia of Speech), expressive, receptive, and pragmatic language disorders, and written language disorders (reading, writing, and spelling). She is happy to be back in the D.C. area, and is excited about working with families in Northern Virginia.
Megan Nickey M.A., CCC-SLP
Megan Nickey graduated summa cum laude from Montclair State University in 2021 with a Master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology. She previously graduated from Mount St. Mary’s University with a Bachelor’s degree in Health Sciences and a minor in psychology. Megan has experience working with preschool and school-aged students with a variety of communication disorders in the public-school and outpatient hospital settings. Her experience includes treatment of individuals with speech sound disorders, receptive and expressive language disorders, fluency disorders, Autism Spectrum Disorder, and Childhood Apraxia of Speech. Megan has a passion for integrating evidence-based research into clinical practice. During graduate school, she worked as a research assistant in the Montclair State University Clinical Biofeedback Laboratory to support research regarding the use of biofeedback in the treatment of residual speech sound errors. Megan also assisted in the development of a published resource containing research-based tools for SLPs implementing multi-tiered systems of support in the school setting.
Emma Klein M.S., CCC-SLP
Emma received her Master's degree in Speech-Language Pathology from Northeastern University in 2017. She has worked with toddlers through adolescents in a variety of settings including private practice, public, and private schools. Emma has clinical experience treating children with autism spectrum disorders, expressive and receptive language disorders, developmental delays, articulation and phonological disorders, social and pragmatic language difficulties, ADD/ADHD, Down Syndrome, as well as children who use Alternative and Augmentative Communication. She is excited to be working with children and families providing evidence-based speech therapy services!
Maddie Kim, MA, CCC-SLP
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Maddie graduated from George Washington University with her Master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology. She previously attended James Madison University where she received her bachelor’s degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders with a minor in Exceptional Education. Maddie has experience working with an array of populations and finds the most joy in working with pediatrics. She has had experience working in many different settings ranging from schools to inpatient hospitals. She is passionate about her work in the areas of receptive and expressive language, articulation, and sensory-based feeding difficulties. Prior to graduate school, Maddie worked as an ABA therapist for school-aged children with Autism. While attending JMU Maddie assisted in a research study dedicated to understanding the developmental norms of Bahamian-Creole English and transcribing language samples. Maddie was also a graduate assistant at GWU and was a teaching assistant for Intro to Audiology as well as aided in research for the publication of a book about stuttering. She is very excited to be working in the field and implementing evidence-based practices for all families.
Vickie Reisman, Bachelors in Business Administration - Accounting
Vickie received a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Public Administration from Armstrong State College. She completed a Bachelor’s degree in Business and Accounting from Savannah State College where she graduated summa cum laude. Vickie has experience working in accounting and Financial Analysis for a tertiary care hospital. She has extensive experience in cost accounting and Governmental reporting for Medicare and Medicaid.