PRESCHOOL | FAMILY CENTER | EVALUATION CENTER | MEET OUR STAFF
Gan HaNeshama Evaluation Center
A Multidisciplinary Evaluation Center for Early Childhood Development and Inclusion
Meet Our Staff!
Stephanie Slater, MSW
Director of Early Childhood Development & Family Support
Social Worker & Early Interventionist
Stephanie is a clinically trained social worker who has worked in the field of Early Childhood Development for 28 years. Stephanie believes young children are competent, capable and resilient. She relishes in their untarnished view of the world and is delighted by the joy they bring to every experience.
Stephanie has worked at the Gan for 18 years. Through individual consultations and community-wide webinars, Stephanie has supported an innumerable amount of families navigating parenthood, and has significantly grown Gan HaYeled’s capabilities for supporting young children with developmental delays and/or special rights. Her work has laid the foundation for a culture of developmental diversity and inclusion, and her vast network of clinicians in the DMV area has supported students and propelled them toward an upward trajectory for future learning.
Stephanie holds a BA in Psychology from SUNY College at Oneonta and a Master’s in Social Work from Adelphi University. Stephanie has a Certificate in Early Intervention from Georgetown University and serves as a consultant for The Matan Institute. There, she develops workshop curricula and trains teachers on the benefits of Early Identification and Intervention. Her work with Matan supports the efforts of Early Childhood Educators to build Inclusivity into their programs. Stephanie also serves the community as a diversity and inclusion expert, participating in local and national conference panels geared toward creating and sustaining inclusive settings in early education. She is a Certified Children’s Yoga Instructor. Her most rewarding role is mother to Sophie (19) and Macie (16) and wife to Matt.
Jenny Post Gorski, MS, OTR/L, Occupational Therapist
Jenny is a pediatric Occupational Therapist with over 10 years experience specializing in working with toddlers and children in both the clinical and school settings. Jenny earned her Master’s degree in Occupational Therapy from Ithaca College, in Ithaca, NY. She has been working for Teri Kozlowski since 2007, where she has experience treating a range of developmental problems and delays, including those with Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), Autism Spectrum Disorder, Genetic Syndromes, Developmental Delays, Learning Disabilities, Fine Motor (handwriting, manipulation or dexterity) and Gross Motor Delays, and Visual System (perceptual, efficiency and information processing) Delays.
Jenny strongly believes in the dynamic and integrated approach that TeeKoz Kids Pediatric Occupational Therapy provides to families. Jenny enjoys working on a more direct and personal level with not only the children but with families and professionals; to work toward achieving a child’s full potential. She is certified in The Listening Program, Integrated Listening System and Interactive Metronome and has attended numerous continuing education courses to build her knowledge base on Sensory Integration, Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), Social Thinking ™ curriculum, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Praxis, Gross and Fine Motor Development and Visual Efficiency and Information Processing, as well as Motor Impairments. Jenny is a licensed and registered Occupational Therapist in both Maryland and the District of Columbia.
Meghan Carlson, MS, CCC-SLP, Gan HaNeshama Speech Language Pathologist
Meghan is a Speech-Language Pathologist working with Little Sprout Therapy & Metro Myo, LLC.
Meghan is originally from Pennsylvania, where she received a Bachelor’s degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders from the Pennsylvania State University. She received her Master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology from Loyola University Maryland. Meghan is a member of the American Speech-Language Hearing Association, is licensed in both DC and MD and has been practicing Speech and Language Pathology for 10 years. Meghan has a passion for working with children and has a variety of experiences across therapeutic settings having worked in outpatient clinics, pediatric hospital settings and schools/daycares. Meghan is also a faculty member at Loyola University Maryland where she teaches graduate students pursuing their Masters of Speech-Language Pathology. She has experience helping children from birth to 21 years of age in areas of expressive and receptive language, articulation, social skills secondary to autism spectrum disorders, oral motor/feeding, AAC (augmentative and alternative communication), and various training courses including Social Thinking courses, Hanen It Takes Two to Talk/More than Words, Feed the Peds, and others. In her free time, you can find Meghan with her fiance Tyler and their 1-year-old, Jack exploring DC, traveling and spending time with their friends and family.
Patricia Ulanet, PsyD, Developmental Neuropsychologist
Dr. Ulanet is a Developmental Neuropsychologist with a specialization in Behavioral Medicine and Applied Development at the Center for Assessment and Treatment where she oversees the Developmental Clinic, specializing in children aged 0-6.
Dr. Ulanet’s career has focused exclusively on assessment, diagnoses and treatment of toddlers, preschoolers, and young school aged children with developmental concerns, including those with complex learning profiles. She has advised the Montgomery County DESC Team for diagnostic support and IEP development, provided faculty in-service training and parent education, and consulted for The Treatment and Learning Center, Katherine Thomas School regarding diagnostic assessment of complex cases.
Previously, Dr. Ulanet held a faculty position on the Diagnostic Team of the Center for Autism and Related Disorders at Kennedy Krieger Institute, Johns Hopkins Hospital and participated as researcher and clinician in the Research Unit in Pediatric Psychopharmacology (RUPP). She succeeded the Director of the Clinic for Complex Developmental Disorders at Children’s National Medical Center in 2000, and stayed on through the program transition to the Center for Autistic Spectrum Disorders (CASD). At that time, Dr. Ulanet also became Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Behavioral Sciences and Pediatrics at the George Washington University Medical Center. In 2005, Dr. Ulanet was offered the position as Director of Psychological Services at the River School in Washington, DC; a role that included assessment of neurodevelopmental progress in young children with cochlear implants and various neurodevelopmental concerns including behavioral, neurological, attention, memory and learning difficulties as well as providing early differential diagnosis of ASD and hearing loss. Dr. Ulanet’s research includes identification of a specific subtype of neurocognitive processing in young children with cochlear implants. These findings were presented at the international Symposium for Cochlear Implants in May of 2012 and published in 2014.
Dr. Ulanet has also developed and implemented an early social emotional learning curriculum for young children (ages 2 years through 3rd grade). She is current on the trends in the early child development literature and the importance of identifying each child’s strengths to support areas of vulnerability in order for children to meet with educational success and a bright and fulfilling future.
She holds a BA in Psychology from Case Western Reserve University, an MA in Mental Health and Human Development from John Carroll University, and was awarded a Doctorate of Psychology in 1992 from Nova Southeastern University. She conducted Internship and Residency in Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine at Miami Children’s Hospital through the divisions Behavioral Medicine, Neuroscience and Psychiatry. She is licensed in DC and Maryland, is a member if the American Psychological Association and a parent.