The SLPs have lots of knowledge and experience to help improve your students’ communication skills and provide other educational partners with excellent teaching strategies. Our district has a total of 6.6 FTE in speech-language pathologists. Get to know them better by reading their bios below:
Debra Moray, M.A.,RSLP
Debra earned her Master’s Degree in Speech Language Pathology from Western Washington University in 2005. While in her graduate program she completed clinical work at the University Clinic, local adult day health and headstart programs, and internships at Lynden School District and Federal Way Birth to Three Developmental Center. After graduation, she worked at Monroe School District for 5 years, where she enjoyed working with preschool, elementary and secondary school students with a variety of communication delays and disorders. Debra is excited to now join the vibrant team of Speech Language Pathologists at SD73 and serve the students of the Kamloops-Thompson region. She is a certified member of Speech-Language and Audiology Canada (SAC) , Speech and Hearing BC, and full registrant of the College of Speech and Hearing Health Professionals of BC. Debra also holds a Certificate of Clinical Competence (CCC) from the American Speech Language and Hearing Association (ASHA). Publications:
- Language, Mental State Vocabulary, and False Belief Understanding in Children with Cochlear Implants. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools. Jul 2009; 40:245-255.
Jason Sirianni, RSLP, M.Sc.
Jason Sirianni received his bachelor of Arts degree from the University of McGill in 1999 where he completed a double major in Psychology and Linguistics. In 2001, He earned his Master of Science in Speech Language Pathology at the University of British Columbia. He was employed by School District No. 58 (Nicola-Similkameen) in Merritt, British Columbia for five years. Jason is a full-member of both the Speech and Hearing Association of Canada (SAC) and the British Columbia Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists (BCASLPA). Jason is also a registrant with the College of Speech and Hearing Health Professionals of British Columbia. Furthermore, he is involved with the UBC School of Audiology and Speech Sciences as a Clinical Educator. Previous recognitions include 2003 CASLPA photography contest winner, BCASLPA slogan winner, and the 2004 CASLPA Editor’s Award. Publications consist of:
- Sirianni, J. (2004). Psychological stress and language processing in school-aged children. Journal of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology,28(3), 112-121.
- Bernhardt, B.M., Bacsfalvi, P., Adler-Bock, M., Shimizu, R., Cheney, A., Giesbrecht, N., O’Connell, M., Sirianni, J. & Radanov, B. 2008. Ultrasound as visual feedback in speech therapy: Exploring consultative use in rural British Columbia. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics, 22(2), 149-162.
Allison Tarlit, MSLP, RSLP
Allison is another proud product of School District 73 (although it was known as School Dist. 24 back then). Her alma maters include John Tod and Bert Edwards Elementaries, Mac Park Jr. Secondary and she graduated from NorKam in 1988. While initially interested in physiotherapy, it was at the Gorge Road Rehabilitation Hospital in Victoria where she first discovered the career of Speech/Language Pathology. She completed her B. Sc. at the University of Victoria with a double major in Linguistics and Psychology in 1996. From there, she made the move to Edmonton to earn her Master of Speech/Language Pathology from the University of Alberta in 1999. A lucky tip alerted her to a possible job opening in Merritt, BC, so she returned to Kamloops to complete her externship placements with Interior Health and School District 73. Indeed, Merritt is where Allison began her career and after 2 years there, she accepted a position with the Kamloops/Thompson School District in 2001. Employed with the District, Allison is involved in the assessment and treatment of all speech and language delays and disorders, and has a particular interest in language delays and how they affect literacy development, and phonological speech disorders. She is a certified member of Speech-Language Audiology Canada, the BC Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists, and the College of Speech and Hearing Health Professionals of BC.
Lindsay Donaghy, M.Sc., RSLP
Lindsay graduated from the University of British Columbia with her Master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology in the fall of 2008. Prior to attending the University of British Columbia, she earned a B.Sc. in Honors Psychology at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario. Lindsay is a full member of Speech-Language and Audiology Canada (SAC), Speech and Hearing BC and is registered with the College of Speech and Hearing Health Professionals of BC (CSHBC).
In her spare time, she enjoys exploring the numerous provincial and national parks found in British Columbia with her family.
Danielle Commandeur, MSLP, RSLP
Danielle first became interested in Speech Pathology when she worked at Easter Seals camps as a young adult. She was surprised at the diversity of all the children’s communication needs and impressed by all the different ways that the children used to communicate. Danielle completed her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology at the University of Calgary in 2010 and then attended the University of Alberta to receive her Master of Science in Speech Language Pathology in 2015. Having grown up in the nearby Okanagan valley, Danielle accepted a temporary contract with SD 73 in early 2016 and by the fall was working in a permanent contract with the district. She currently works with children in the areas of speech sounds, receptive and expressive language, stuttering and augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). She recently attended the International Society of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (ISAAC) Conference in Toronto in August 2016 to present a poster titled: Language use during mathematics activities: differences between directing and doing activities using a robot. Danielle is a full member of both the College of Speech and Hearing Health Professionals (CSHHP) and Speech-Language and Audiology Canada (SAC).
Haeleigh Roy, M.Sc., RSLP
Haeleigh received her Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of British Columbia in 2020. She spent her first year working at School District No. 38 (Richmond) on the hearing resource team working with children with hearing differences. Since then, she has worked at School District No. 73 (Kamloops-Thompson) with students who have a variety of communication needs. Haeleigh is a certified member of Speech-Language Audiology Canada (SAC), Speech and Hearing BC, and a full registrant of the College of Speech and Hearing Health Professionals of BC.
In her spare time, Haeleigh enjoys watching movies, reading books, and hanging out with her cat, Bear! She is always happy to chat with your child about the latest Disney or Marvel movie and loves to make therapy fun!
Brittany Sobol, MA, MClSc, RSLP (C)
Brittany received her Master of Clinical Science (Speech-Language Pathology) from Western University in 2019. Soon after, she left her home in St. John’s, NL to work with Interior Health’s Early Childhood Development Speech and Language team. After four years of providing early intervention, she joined the team at School District No. 73 (Kamloops-Thompson) where she now supports students with a wide variety of communication needs. Brittany is a certified member of Speech-Language Audiology Canada (SAC) and is fully registered with the College of Health and Care Professionals of BC (CHCPBC).
In her spare time, Brittany enjoys rock climbing, reading, crocheting, and acting as a bed for her two cats, Cricket and Leo.