Speech Start began as a small in-home private practice owned and operated by Dr. Bernadette Mullen.
Dr. Bern received a Master’s of Arts in Speech-Language Pathology from Montclair State University
1984
Dr. Bern graduated with a teaching certificate from Kean University
1992
She worked in various settings including in-patient pediatric and adult hospitals as well specialized schools prior to opening Speech Start
Dr. Bern began to feel that there was a need to service children in the community who required additional intervention in order to meet their goals. Her first few clients were primarily children with Autism Spectrum Disorder who participated in individual services as well as social skills groups. The practice quickly grew and Dr. Bern moved her center out of her home and into their first clinic space in Red Bank, NJ
Dr. Bern hired several other speech-language pathologists, developmental interventionists, special/general education teachers, and office staff members to meet the growing need for these services in the area. Speech Start once again outgrew that space and then moved again to another larger space in Hazlet, NJ. Services continued to be offered to children and adolescents with additional services such as feeding therapy being added to the menu
Shaylyn Stilwell then joined the practice a short time later after graduating with her Master’s of Education in Speech-Language Pathology
2017
Once the two partners joined forces, they made it their mission to provide the best quality of care to their clients and to make sure that both their clients and staff felt like they were part of the family.
Dr. Bern and Shaylyn opened a second location in Fair Haven and then to Rumson, NJ
2018
During this time, Dr. Bern had completed her doctorate in Speech-Language Pathology at Kean University
2019
Occupational Therapy services began
2021
Occupational Therapy services offered in both locations
2022
Speech Start made one final move to its current Fair Haven location
Both locations now employ over 18 speech-language pathologists and 4 occupational therapists as well as several educators and administrative staff members. Both locations offer individual and group services, social skills and academic readiness groups as well as parent training and advocacy! Speech Start continues to provide cutting edge services to children with various diagnoses and prides themselves on staying current with effective intervention techniques.
2023
Dr. Bernadette and Shaylyn hope to continue to grow the practice to include all related services with Physical Therapy coming soon! They also hope to partner with other similar businesses in the community in order to provide the best quality of care they can to their parents. Furthermore, they hope to continue to offer training, advocacy, IEP development, and support groups to parents and families of the children that they service.
Present
