Speech-Language Pathologists

Carmen Rathert, M.S. CCC-SLP, COM®, Owner

Carmen was honored to receive her first job with the Warrensburg Public School District as Speech-Language Pathologist for the Early Childhood Special Education Program. Carmen worked closely with students, parents, teachers, and therapists over the next six years assessing and treating a variety of speech and language disorders, developing and implementing Individualized Education Plans, and learning how to manage student behaviors. It was here that she developed her passion for working with this population.

Carmen left the Warrensburg Public Schools in search of part-time employment due to the birth of her first son, Nolan. Carmen accepted a part-time position with Western Missouri Medical Center in Warrensburg, Missouri, as a pediatric outpatient Speech-Language Pathologist. Carmen immensely enjoyed working one-on-one with pediatric patients and their families and quickly saw the importance and effectiveness of parental involvement within the treatment setting as well as in the home environment.

In 2012, Carmen and her husband were delighted to find out they were expecting identical twin boys; however, at 20 weeks, they discovered their boys were suffering from Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS). (www.tttsfoundation.org) Tyson and Carmen lost their son, Luke, due to the disease that April. Carmen was monitored closely at the University of Kansas Hospital and welcomed the birth of their son, Lane, at 32.6 weeks. Lane spent 9 weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Carmen gained a lot of perspective through this experience about pediatric feeding and swallowing and the emotional roller-coaster of having a child in the NICU. Lane received occupation and physical therapy through the Missouri First Steps program from the first 6 months he was home. The family was responsible for following through with Lane's home programming.

Carmen continued at Western Missouri Medial Center for three years before returning to the public school system. In 2014, Carmen and her family moved to her home town of Clinton, Missouri. She became the Speech-Language Pathologist for the Early Childhood Program and served for one year before opening her private practice.

Carmen immensely enjoyed working one-on-one with pediatric patients and their families and quickly saw the importance and effectiveness of parental involvement within the treatment setting as well as in the home environment. Carmen has a strong clinical background in early childhood speech and language development which includes phonological processing disorders, articulation, childhood apraxia of speech, receptive language and auditory comprehension and memory, expressive language, and Autism Spectrum Disorders. She enjoys challenging patients and loves working with families. Carmen never stops learning and is always looking for new tools/strategies for her therapy toolbox.

Carmen has completed her certification in Orofacial Myology (COM) through the International Association of Orofacial Myology (IAOM) in March of 2019.

Megan Boben, M.S. CCC-SLP

Megan began her career at the Missouri Veterans Home in Warrensburg, MO. In her short time there, she had the opportunity to serve local veterans by ensuring comfortable and safe eating and swallowing. While she enjoyed working for and interacting with the gentlemen, she found that she longed for a greater variety in her caseload and missed working with children.

Soon after her realization, Megan was blessed with the opportunity to accept a position as Speech-Language Pathologist at Western Missouri Medical Center at the beginning of 2013. Here, Megan has broadened her scope of experience by working with children and adults, and training in videofluoroscopic swallow study. She also gained immense appreciation in working closely with families, speech language pathologists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, and nursing staff. It was also here that Megan first met Carmen, where Carmen recognized her learning style and fostered her clinical skills by encouraging open communication and collaboration in treatment approaches.

In 2015, Megan was thrilled to join her friend and mentor, Carmen Rathert, as a contract therapist for Carmen’s new practice. Through Chatterbox, Megan is able to provide accessible services within the Warrensburg and Whiteman Air Force Base communities. She is enjoying the opportunity to gain experience in new settings, and is pleased to provide convenient therapy services for the busy lifestyles of today’s families.

Megan considers herself a “generalist” and has experience in working with a wide variety of diagnoses across the lifespan. Megan particularly enjoys working with pediatric language delays and disorders, phonological processing disorders, childhood apraxia of speech, literacy and dyslexia, and adult dysphagia. Megan enjoys thinking outside of the box and incorporating learning input strategies she has learned in collaboration with physical therapists and occupational therapists. Megan feels that it is important to offer learning opportunities through a variety of input channels, including tactile, auditory, and visual experiences.

In 9 short years as an SLP, Megan has completed many continuing education coursework. Megan has experience in error-less learning and discrete trial training through her time as an ABA tutor while in Graduate School. Megan has also been trained in the Institute of Multi-Sensory Education’s Orton-Gillingham literacy and dyslexia treatment program. She also completed a 28-hour introductory orofacial myology course in July of 2020. Megan recently completed training in DIRFloortime® and achieved her Certificate of Competency as a Basic DIRFloortime® Provider in June of 2021.

Amanda Littrell, M.S. CCC-SLP

Amanda began her career working for the Warrensburg School District in 2012 as an early childhood speech language pathologist. While working there, she evaluated, treated, and provided materials to children 3-5 years old with a wide range of diagnoses. She was blessed to have the opportunity to collaborate with a wonderful team of teachers, occupational therapists, physical therapists, and an educational interpreter, which allowed her to implement various modes of communication for her students to include assistive technology devices, pictures exchange systems, and sign language.

While she loved working for the school district, Amanda found herself looking for part-time work following the birth of her son. She was soon blessed with the opportunity to work part-time for Carmen at Chatterbox Speech Therapy, LLC in April of 2016. Amanda has enjoyed the challenge of expanding her repertoire from only serving early childhood to serving children from birth to 18 years old. She enjoys learning and tailoring new techniques and strategies to meet the individual needs of her clients. Amanda is pursuing certification in Orofacial Myology (COM). Amanda also specializes in infant feeding and infant suck retraining.

Jami Voelmeck, M.S. CCC-SLP

Upon graduating from college Jami began her career working in the rehabilitation field working for rehabilitation therapy companies for two years in the hospitals and nursing homes. Jami loved performing video swallows and working with diet changes for patients that had suffered strokes. Upon returning to Clinton Jami was blessed to interview for a position in the Clinton School District where she had grown up and attended school. Jami has now been working for the Clinton School District for 20 years. She has had the privilege of working with students aged preschool through high school. Jami currently works at the intermediate school and works with students in grades 3-5. Her students have a wide range of diagnoses that she learns from everyday. She has had the privilege and opportunity to work with students that have been diagnosed with Autism, ADD, ADHD, Downs Syndrome, and Retts Syndrome.

She works with students that have been identified with speech and/or language deficits, as well as, some augmentative communication devices. Jami had the opportunity to work part-time for Carmen Rathert at Chatterbox Speech Therapy , LLC in November of 2018. This has been a wonderful experience to widen her scope of practice and learn the differences between private practice and educational speech therapy services.

Kim Shields, M.S. CCC-SLP

Kim obtained a Bachelors in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology and a minor in Early Childhood Education from Central Missouri State University (now University of Central Missouri). Following graduation, Kim pursued her Masters in Speech-Language Pathology from CMSU. Upon graduation, Kim began her career at the Clay County Health Department in Liberty, Missouri. During her time there, Kim provided speech and language services to children and adults with various cognitive-communicative disorders. Although she enjoyed working at the health department, she knew her passion was in the school setting. She spent the last 29 years in the public-school system, 25 of which were with the Clinton School District.

During her tenure in the Clinton School District, Kim was honored to be recognized by her peers and community by receiving Optimist Educator of the Year, CSD Educator of the Year, Outstanding Service Award, and CSD PTO Kindness Award.

Kim strongly believes communication is the golden thread that runs through everything. Because of this belief, her 29 years in public education were spent with early childhood and early elementary students and included a variety of diagnoses, such as articulation and phonology, language disorders, social communication, autism spectrum disorders, fluency, and chromosomal anomalies. While in public education, Kim worked collaboratively with parents, teachers, and colleagues to prevent, assess, diagnose, and treat communication disorders in children. She also provided training and education to families and caregivers to promote generalization and carryover into natural settings. Kim also had the privilege to supervise several speech-language pathology practicum students from UCM. Kim is trained in Orton Gillingham dyslexia treatment program, Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS), and regularly attends continuing education conferences to remain current in the ever-changing field of speech pathology.

Kim is excited to work at Chatterbox and continue serving communicatively impaired children!

Lauren O'Hare, M.S. CCC-SLP

Lauren is a certified, speech-language pathologist with a passion for working with the pediatric population. She currently works with patients in their homes and through the school setting. She enjoys working closely with students, parents, and a variety of therapists and professionals dedicated to supporting the development of children with a variety of diagnoses. She recently earned her Master’s in Communication Disorders in December of 2018 and continues to work with Chatterbox to provide speech and language therapy to students at Knob Noster Middle and High School. Lauren has been trained in the Institute of Multi-Sensory Education’s Orton-Gillingham literacy and dyslexia treatment program as well as orofacial myology. She loves researching and finding new ways to provide successful and evidence-based treatment to her clients. Lauren is excited to continuing learning about AAC, orofacial myology and dyslexia.

Katelee Miller, M.S. CCC-SLP

Katelee Miller graduated from the University of Central Missouri with a Masters in Speech-Language Pathology. She started her career at Mosaic Life Care, working in the hospital setting with the geriatric population. Her true passion came forward when she began working with children with an array of communication and speech difficulties. She is excited to start this new chapter in her career and is ready to see what new experiences and opportunities she can obtain through Chatterbox Speech Therapy!

Go Chiefs!!

Holli Meuschke, M.S. CCC-SLP

Holli is a retired United States Air Force Chaplain Corps sergeant. She is working on her second career as a certified, speech-language pathologist with a passion for working with the pediatric population. She recently earned her Master’s in Communication Disorders in December of 2019. She currently works outpatient services in our Clinton and Knob Noster locations. She enjoys working closely with students, parents, and a variety of therapists and professionals dedicated to supporting the development of children with a variety of diagnoses. Holli has been trained in the Institute of Multi-Sensory Education’s Orton-Gillingham literacy and dyslexia treatment program. She loves researching and finding new ways to provide successful and evidence-based treatment to her clients. Holli’s plan is to focus on developing advanced skills for working with medically complex patients as well as professional presentation, leadership, and clinical teaching skills.

Holli is married to novelist and podcaster, Jason A. Meuschke and they share 4 children and 5 grandchildren together.

Morgan Renick, B.S. SLP-A

Morgan graduated from Ouachita Baptist University in 2019 obtaining a Bachelors in Speech-Language Pathology. After graduating, Morgan stayed at home to help take care of her 4 little brothers while her mom was finishing up her own schooling. The fall of 2019 came around and Morgan was looking for a job and her cousin reached out to her about Chatterbox Speech. Morgan's cousin takes her son there and said she loved all the staff and thought that Morgan would be a great fit. That winter, Morgan had put in her application, but due to COVID19, was not able to start with Chatterbox until the following summer. Morgan started out working with MO First Step kids until the fall of 2020 when she transitioned into the pediatric population at the Windsor school district. This is where Morgan grew up and she is happy to be back in her hometown working with teachers that were her teachers when she was in school. Morgan is still working with MO First Steps and loves being with the littles. Morgan loves working for Chatterbox because of the close knit relationships she has built with coworkers and watching the kids she works with grow during each session!

Kirsten Weston, M.S. CF-SLP

Kirsten completed both her undergraduate and graduate degrees at the University of Central Missouri. She is originally from Knob Noster, and moved to Clinton in March 2020. During the summer of 2020, she was given the opportunity to complete an offsite placement at Chatterbox. She fell in love with the therapists and the patients and families they served! She is looking forward to providing a combination of First Steps and school-based services this upcoming year!

Jordana Mancini, M.A. CCC-SLP

Jordana grew up in Denver, Colorado and attended Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia where she studied psychology and linguistics. While completing her undergraduate degree, she volunteered weekly at the Marcus Autism Center in their Feeding Disorders and Language and Learning clinic. Additionally, Jordana completed research in child development and traveled to New Zealand and the independent nation of Samoa to conduct research as part of her psychology program. She graduated in 2018 with her Bachelor’s of Arts before continuing on to the University of Kansas to complete her Master’s of Speech-Language Pathology. While in graduate school, Jordana worked part-time with a variety of educators and students in the Kansas City, Kansas school districts by providing training and conducting research on a new assessment for nonverbal individuals. Once she graduated in the summer of 2020, Jordana began her first position as a speech-language pathologist serving the geriatric population in a variety of senior living communities, primarily with individuals with dementia as well as other disorders common in the aging population. Jordana discovered the opportunities at Chatterbox Speech Therapy when the Knob Noster location opened up a mere half mile away from her fiancé’s house. Jordana enjoys working with people across the lifespan, from infancy to end-of-life care, and is excited to begin serving the pediatric population and their families.