STS Clinic Team

Kimberly received her master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of the District of Columbia and has completed the Assistive Technology Applications Certificate Program at California State University, Northridge. Kimberly moved from the east coast and now calls sunny San Diego home. She brings experience in both the pediatric clinical and special education settings.

Kimberly strives to provide a warm and nurturing clinic environment for clients, their families, and staff. Her extensive experience includes working with autistic children as well as developmentally delayed, hearing impaired, and verbally challenged children aided by the support of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC).  In the area of AAC, she completes assessments, programs systems, provides direct sessions, and training/consultation for families and educational teams.  She believes in the importance of focusing on these three key points:  presume competence, model, and add joy to communication. 

She is intermediate level proficient in American Sign Language and is a Natural Language Acquisition (NLA) trained clinician.   Kimberly especially enjoys working with young children and their families, focusing on child led play-based therapy to facilitate and enhance communication with a neurodiverse affirming approach.

Outside of work, Kimberly enjoys time with her family, traveling, the beach, and yoga.

Sheena received her B.S. in Communicative Disorders and Deaf Education from Utah State University and her M.S. in Communicative Sciences and Disorders from New York University. She is licensed by the State of California and holds a Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA). Sheena has worked for Specialized Therapy Services at The OAS Center since 2020. She has clinical experience, working in-person and virtually, serving both charter school students and pediatric outpatient clients with a wide variety of support needs. Her clinical interests include play-based early intervention, neurodiversity-affirming therapy, and school-age stuttering therapy. In her free time, Sheena loves spending time with her husband and son. They enjoy going camping in their RV and relaxing on the beach.

Yasleen, AKA “Yas”, began her experience working in special education classrooms with the San Diego Unified School District in 2016 and provided in-home respite care services for children/teens with disabilities. She received her bachelor’s degree in Speech Language and Hearing Sciences from San Diego State University in 2018 and completed her SLPA Certification with CSUN in 2022. Her passion for inclusivity and advocacy has led her to join the STS Clinic team as a Spanish speaking, bilingual service provider. Yas focuses on building meaningful connections with her clients and making therapy fun! In her free time, Yas practices salsa dancing, enjoys thrift shopping, and visits her family in the Antelope Valley!

Nicole earned her doctorate in physical therapy from Columbia University in 2007 where she was honored with the Excellence in Pediatrics award.

Dr. Irizarry is passionate about empowering her clients through therapeutic play and helping families achieve their goals through easy to follow home programs. Since 2010 she has been using yoga as part of her practice to help keep children engaged while in physically challenging poses.

Aside from being a guest lecturer at the University of Southern California, Dr. Irizarry is also a certified Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Specialist who enjoys working with individuals with lung and heart disease to improve quality of life and teach that exercise is possible. Dr. Irizarry is looking forward to joining the team at STS!

Suzanne has been working with STS as an Assistive Technology Specialist since 2019.  She graduated from San Diego State University with her undergraduate degree in Speech-Language and Hearing Sciences. She graduated from Cal State University, Northridge with a master’s degree in Assistive Technology Studies and Human Services. Suzanne has also completed the Assistive Technology Applications Certificate Program (ATACP).  After working in schools with students with complex communication needs and learning disabilities as a SLPA, it was then that Suzanne decided she wanted to expand her scope to support students in reaching their communication and academic goals.  During her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family, dogs, and hiking at Mission Trails.

Jennifer is a board-certified music therapist providing music therapy for STS by utilizing music as an educational-related service to promote learning and skill acquisition in domain areas related to the scope of special education curriculum and programming and collaborating with related service providers and educational teams to support and generalize skills from music therapy to non-music settings. She is passionate about working with preschool and kindergarten-age students on social skills and using songs to create awareness around the impact of musical elements on our experiences and lives. She is finishing her thesis for her master’s program at Augsburg University discussing song autobiographies and their use in music therapy. In her spare time, she enjoys role-playing games and can be found swimming at the beach or working on a craft or puzzle at home.