Meet Our Team

We’re a team of pediatric speech therapists and moms (some who are both!) Together we have over 40 years of experience working as pediatric speech therapists, so you can imagine we’ve met other families just like yours!

Our goal is to teach you what we know so you can support your child's communication development at home.

Stephanie Keffer, MS CCC-SLP

Toddler Talk Founder & Certified Speech Therapist in California and North Carolina

Stephanie Keffer is an ASHA certified speech-language pathologist, licensed in California, and now North Carolina. She has 5 years of experience working with children and their families to evaluate and treat children with speech and language disorders. Stephanie collaborates with both monolingual and bilingual families (Spanish/English) to address each families unique communication goals and needs. Additional areas of expertise include: early intervention (Birth-3), autism spectrum disorder, acquired brain injury, assistive technology, and speech and language treatment as part of a multidisciplinary team to support children who are hospitalized.

Stephanie earned her BS (majored in Speech-Language Pathology) at Boston University. She then went on to earn her MS in Speech-Language Pathology from Columbia University in New York City. She has experience working as a speech therapist with children in both the inpatient and outpatient settings. She also has participated in research related to speech language pathology. At this time, Stephanie has dedicated herself fully to her vision of increasing access to care for all young children in need of speech therapy.

When not hard at work, Stephanie enjoys spending time with her friends and family. She lives in California where she enjoys nature year round. She enjoys surfing, swimming, skating, biking, running, hiking, and skiing. Stephanie also loves gardening, reading, and preparing delicious meals. She is the proud auntie and loves visiting her family in North Carolina!

Stephanie Burgener-Vader, MA CCC-SLP

Stephanie Burgener-Vader is a ASHA certified speech-language pathologist practicing in California. She has over 13 years of experience working with young children and their families to develop early language and communication skills. She additionally has specialties in motor speech disorders, acquired brain injury, genetic disorders, and autism spectrum disorders.

Stephanie has a BA in Socio-Cultural Linguistics as well as a MA in Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences. She has worked in pediatrics both at private practice and hospital settings. She currently works at a children’s hospital providing speech and language intervention to children in outpatient and inpatient settings.

Stephanie lives in California with her husband, two children, and large squishy orange cat named Thorvald. She enjoys baking, cooking, reading, and gardening. Her favorite thing to do on the weekend is relax, but she is typically cleaning or fixing things instead. She and her children can usually be found making forts out of random things around the house and trying to convince the cat to come inside. She believes that developing an imagination is a critical childhood skill and encourages creative play both at home and in her clinical practice.

Melissa Sartori, MS CCC-SLP

Certified Speech Therapist in California

Melissa Sartori is an ASHA certified speech-language pathologist, licensed and practicing in California. She has 12 years of experience evaluating and treating both monolingual and bilingual children with speech and language disorders, and working with their families. Additional areas of expertise include: early intervention (Birth-3), autism spectrum disorder, hearing loss, assistive technology, and feeding disorders.

Melissa earned both her BS (majored in Speech-Language Pathology and Spanish) and MS in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of the Pacific, in Stockton California. Since then, she has worked across settings including: the local school district, a private practice, and a children’s hospital. She is currently working at the children’s hospital in San Diego, California, primarily in the outpatient setting.

When not working as a speech-language pathologist, Melissa enjoys spending time with her family. She lives in California with her nurse-practitioner husband and their preschool aged daughter. They also have another baby girl on the way. With her family time, she enjoys supporting elaborate pretend play schemes, playing games, going on playdates, and making a huge mess of the house! She does not enjoy the cleanup of said house disasters though. During downtime, she also enjoys doing crafts and scrapbooking, game nights, reading and taking naps when she has time to herself.

Yvette Fraire Bostick

MS, CCC-SLP

Yvette Fraire Bostick is an ASHA certified speech-language pathologist, licensed in Texas. She has 11 years of experience evaluating and treating children with speech and language disorders, and working with their families. Her areas of expertise include early intervention (Birth-3), bilingual/multilingual families, children with autism spectrum disorder, working with children with hearing loss, treating oral-motor speech disorders, and working on multidisciplinary teams to provide evaluations and support for children with complex needs and their caregivers.

Yvette earned her BS in Communication Sciences and disorders from the University of Texas at Austin and her MS in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of Texas at Dallas. Since then, she has worked across settings including: local school districts, private practices, Home Health, Texas Early Childhood Intervention Services, and the children’s hospital in San Diego.

Yvette believes in working on the whole child. It is her passion to support families and caregivers to have the tools and resources needed to help their child. It brings her so much joy to see families learn how to play together and learn together.

When not working with Toddler Talk, Yvette enjoys spending time with her friends and family. Yvette lives in Texas with her husband, who serves in the United State Marine Corps, and their two sons. She enjoys going on daily adventures with her sons to the park, Costco, gymboree, and outside to play with the neighbors. She enjoys seeing her son learn new things and develop new skills everyday. When she has time to herself, Yvette enjoys anything related to food, shopping at local markets, and going on lunch dates with girlfriends.

Jessica Keffer, Toddler Mom

First and foremost, Jessica is a mom! She has a 1 year old boy who is full of life and energy. Jessica is down to earth and not afraid of making a mess if it means her son is learning and having fun! Jessica and her son have helped to keep our courses approachable and realistic for parents.

Jessica has a lifelong history of working with young children. She started babysitting at a young age and has always worked in childcare. She has supported countless families with young children. Her experience working full time with various families, including her own, has give her a unique perspective and insight into what life with a toddler is like and how to best support parents.

During nap times, Jessica enjoys working in her edible garden, painting, and cooking home made meals in her kitchen. She loves going to the park with her family and going on hikes through the forest near her house.