About Us
This team of seasoned professionals is on your side, and ready to help.
Meet the Interact Team
MA, CCC-SLP
Linnea McAfoose
Linnea is a Speech Language Pathologist with 32 years of clinical experience in Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC), Articulation and Language intervention, and Social Skills development. Since 2019, Linnea has expanded her practice to include a teletherapy component, delivering services to individuals with speech-language needs in the US. She has worked with a range of clients across different ages and diagnoses, focusing primarily on autism and developmental disabilities. While Linnea has treated many types of speech-language disorders, her passion for the last 30 years has been AAC. Fueled by personal experience and the desire to ensure all people have the most basic of human rights, Linnea has sought to expand her skills in this area through work with various researchers, master practitioners, and individuals using AAC and their families. Linnea specializes in AAC evaluation, intervention, and coaching. During her 32 years of practice, her passion for this area has led her to work and coach individuals all around the globe. She has presented nationally and internationally on the use of AAC and coached in classrooms and programs in the United States and numerous countries worldwide.
Linnea is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh. She has worked for The Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children, Tobii Dynavox, Presence Learning, and Interact Therapy. She is an active member of ASHA with licenses in Pennsylvania, California, New Jersey, and Alaska.
MS, CCC-SLP
Stephanie Ekis
Stephanie is a Speech Language Pathologist with a passion for helping individuals realize their full potential. With over 30 years of experience, Stephanie has provided assessment and treatment for children and adults with complex communication needs. With a specialty in augmentative and alternative communication, she is committed to helping support teams and families successfully implement practical strategies to encourage language, literacy, and social skills development using both low and high-tech solutions. Stephanie has led several initiatives to increase awareness about diversity and representation for AAC users. She believes in an interdisciplinary approach where the entire team works together to find the best solutions to help clients meet personal, educational, and vocational goals. Stephanie has presented at both national and international conferences with a focus on successful assessment and therapy outcomes for service delivery teams. Stephanie is a graduate of the University of Louisville and has worked for Enabling Technologies of Kentuckiana and Tobii Dynavox. She is a member of ASHA and licensed in Pennsylvania.
MS, CCC-SLP
Marleah Herman-Umpleby
Marleah is a Speech Language Pathologist with over two decades of experience in empowering individuals to communicate more effectively. She provides evidence based strategies to assist educators, therapists and families to collaborate for successful outcomes. Passionate about language and literacy, Marleah brings energy and excitement to teams and offers practical solutions to increase engagement and participation.
Marleah has a wide range of experience in providing AAC and language therapy to individuals of diverse backgrounds and can customize effective interventions. She makes listening to ideas and perspectives of others a priority when collaborating.
Marleah’s background and clinical experience includes work at the Children’s Institute in Pittsburgh, several Pittsburgh area school districts, outpatient centers, early intervention, hospitals, and skilled nursing facilities. She is teaching both undergraduate and graduate level courses at Duquesne University and Point Park University, coaching and mentoring, and training and delivering presentations at many national and international events. While on the clinical team at the Tobii Dynavox, she had a role that focused on cultivating connections with AAC users and teams and bringing their experiences and voices to the product development process in usability testing and research.
Marleah was graduated from Penn State University with a Masters in Communication Disorders with focus on AAC. She also completed post graduate certificate programs at Western Carolina University and Penn State University. She is a member of ASHA with licenses in Pennsylvania and Ohio.