Vanessa P. O’Callaghan, MA, CCC-SLP, is a speech language pathologist in the Learning and Development Center and the Autism Center at the Child Mind Institute. She works with infants, school-aged children, and young adults with autism spectrum disorder, social communication disorder, speech sound impairments, childhood apraxia of speech, language delay, receptive and expressive language disorders, executive functioning deficits, learning disabilities, and ADHD. While conducting speech and language evaluations, Vanessa utilizes standardized and informal measures of assessment as she aims to identify each child’s skill set as well as their learning potential. Vanessa also identifies the significant impact speech and language disorders have on a child’s overall academic and social development. She prioritizes gathering information from and having strong connections with the children and families she is working with to develop a specific diagnostic and treatment plan for each child.

Prior to joining the Child Mind Institute, Vanessa conducted evaluations and treatments at Dramatic Pragmatics, a speech, language, and social development center in Westchester, New York. During her tenure at this position, Vanessa specifically trained in pragmatic language diagnostics and intervention as she treated children and young adults in individual and group settings. At this practice, she had extensive experience with the “Social Thinking” curriculum, which targets self-regulation, social-emotional learning, executive functioning, perspective-taking and social problem-solving. Vanessa is skilled in identifying and understanding a common discrepancy between a child’s academic success and their social development. For many of these children, acquiring social skills is not intuitive and many of these skills need to be broken down, clarified, and exercised. She is passionate about supporting these children whose speech and language difficulties affect their social interactions and ability to navigate the social world.

• Speech Language Pathologist, Dramatic Pragmatics Speech and Language Center
• Consultant, Teachers College, Developing Language and Literacy Lab

• Clinical Fellow, Dramatic Pragmatics Speech and Language Center
• Graduate Intern, P.S. X721 Stephen McSweeny School, District 75
• Graduate Intern, White Plains Hospital

• MA, Communication Sciences and Disorders, Iona College
• BA, Health Sciences, Gettysburg College

• Iona College Communication Sciences and Disorders Department Medal for Academic Success and Clinical Achie