All of the Clinic’s professional staff members have Master's degrees in Speech and Language Pathology. In addition, all have or are eligible for the California State License and the American Speech/Language and Hearing Association’s national Certificate of Clinical Competence.

We also offer clinical fellowship-year opportunities for first-year therapists, many of whom remain on our staff long-term after successfully completing their first-year fellowship.

Professional Staff
Kathryn Beadle, Speech & Language Pathologist,
Director Emeritus
Dr. Beadle, the Clinic’s director emeritus, is first and foremost a teacher of patients, families and clinicians. After studying speech pathology at the University of Wisconsin and the University of Hawaii, she spent two years working with children on the island of Oahu. She then moved to New York City to serve adults and children at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, where she became interested and experienced in helping patients with neurological or neuromuscular, voice, and language disorders. Dr. Beadle then came to Stanford to earn a PhD in Speech Science and continue her work with patients as Clinical Director of the Stanford Center for Communication Disorders before cofounding the Mid-Peninsula Speech and Language Clinic.

Donna Dagenais, Speech & Language Pathologist
Donna, who serves as clinical director, studied speech pathology and audiology at Grinnell College in Iowa, then completed her Master’s degree at Stanford. She began her professional career at the Stanford Speech and Language Clinic, where she conducted group programs for aphasic patients and children with motor and language difficulties. She also worked as a co-teacher and director of the clinic’s Developmental PreSchool, an experience that showed her the intrinsic link between language and learning difficulties and inspired her to study learning disabilities. In 1980, Donna joined forces with Dr. Beadle to establish the Mid-Peninsula Speech and Language Clinic, where she enjoys working in small groups with children of all ages, particularly those who have challenging behavior or therapy issues.

Pat Klein, Speech & Language Pathologist, Infant Specialist
Pat brings exceptional expertise, experience and commitment to family-friendly care to the Clinic staff. She completed her early training in the University of Arizona’s respected speech pathology and audiology program. After working as a school-based speech therapist as well as a clinical supervisor instructor at California State University, Los Angeles, Pat left southern California for Palo Alto to pursue specialized training in infant and young child development. In addition to her work with patients at the Clinic, Pat has served as Speech Department Manager for Packard Children’s Hospital since 1991, training physicians, nurses, interpreters, therapists, parents and young children in speech and language skills.

Business Operation Staff
Kathy Kinkaid, Business Manager
For most patients, Kathy is the first point of contact with the Clinic. She manages all business operations, including intake information, schedules, phone contacts and all billing issues. Kathy is available 4 days a week (Monday through Thursday) from 8:30 am to 2:00 pm.