The Staff of Talk and Total

With over 40 years of experience, we are a team of certified and licensed speech-language pathologists. We are first and foremost clinicians: serving children and families with speech, language, feeding/swallowing, and oral-motor concerns. We are teachers: having taught at universities, nationally, and internationally. We are researchers: having published articles, books, tests, and language programs. We are consultants and advisers for school districts, local Autism societies, and the Triangle Down Syndrome Network. We are bilingual interpreters, in English and Chinese. And we are specialists in literacy for children with communication impairments.

Thomas L. Layton, Ph.D., CCC-SLP. ASHA Fellow

Dr. Layton has worked more than 35 years as a professor, clinician, and teacher. He is the owner/President of Talk and Total Communication. Dr. Layton has authored and edited three textbooks, two tests, and more than 40 articles on children with communication disorders. He has also presented locally, nationally, and internationally on more than 150 different topics on communication and learning in low achieving children. Dr Layton has served as Departmental Chair of the Department of Communication Disorders at North Carolina Central University and the Director of Graduate Studies in the Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
Dr. Layton has been awarded the “Clinical Achievement Award” by the North Carolina Speech-Hearing-Language Association, a Fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, and Special Recognition Honor of the Triangle Down syndrome Network. He has served on many boards and professional organizations, such as, President of the North Carolina Speech-Hearing-Language Association, School Board member of School in the Community Charter School, Co-chair Advisory Board for Parent Support Network of North Carolina, Advisory Board Member for Parent Network of Orange, Durham and Chatham Counties, Member of Durham Public Schools Steering Committee for Continuous Improvement Monitoring, consultant to the Ministry of Education in the Bahamas, consultant to Medical University of South Carolina and Project Potential at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. He served as a member of the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction Study Team that assessed eligibility of services for students with specific learning disabilities.
He currently is a Board member of the Triangle Down Syndrome Network. He recently returned from China where he conducted a training workshop for parents and professionals on Communication Issues Among Children with Down syndrome.
Dr. Layton, along with Dr. Hao and a Chinese colleague, Dr. Xiaobing Zou, are standardizing the first Autism Diagnostic Scale in China for children with autism.

Julia Brown, M.Ed., CCC-SLP

Julia provides works directly with children in their homes and three days a week in a charter school. Julia is a graduate of North Carolina Central University (NCCU) and a native of the Bahamas. She has also practiced as a speech-language pathologist in the public schools of the Bahamas. Julia is also a part-time supervisor for the Department of Communication Disorders of the School of Education at NCCU.

Emily J. Cross, M.Ed., CCC-SLP

Emily holds an Undergraduate Degree in Psychology, a Teaching Degree in special education and a Masters of Education Degree in Communication Disorders. Emily has worked in a variety of settings including private practice, public schools, and nursing homes. She has experience evaluating and treating clients with Articulation and Phonological Disorders, Language Disorders, Developmental Delays, Fluency Disorders, Apraxia, and children with Down syndrome and on the Autism Spectrum. Emily has completed training in basic sign language and is certified in our ELF Program.
Emily enjoys assessing and treating toddlers, preschoolers, and school age children in the areas of articulation, language, and developmental disorders. Her goal is to work with each child’s family to guarantee that the child is reaching his/her maximum communication potential.

Anne Marie Adams, M.Ed., CF-SLP

Anne Marie joins T and T Communication Services as a recent graduate from North Carolina Central University.  During graduate school, she completed more than 600 clinical hours serving children and adults with a variety of speech, language, cognitive and swallowing disorders.  Her clinical externships were completed here at T and T Communication Services, in the Durham Public schools, and at a skilled nursing facility.
Before entering graduate school, Anne Marie was a Speech Therapy Assistant for children and adults with moderate to profound cognitive and physical disabilities. She also managed two adult group homes in Sanford.
Anne Marie enjoys incorporating technology into her therapy activities and has extensive experience developing and facilitating carryover of alternative and augmentative communication systems.
Anne Marie resides in Raleigh with her husband and three children.

Anthony Layton

Anthony, who has a B.A. in anthropology, is our office manager. Anthony handles billing, mailing, filing and telephone calls coming into and out of our Center. In addition, Anthony is a professional illustrator who completes the art work for the pamphlets and correspondence for the company. He is in the process of illustrating one of Dr. Layton’s children stories, with plans to illustrate future children’s stories.

Linda Layton

Linda, who has a B.A. in Education, serves as the educational coordinator at the Center. Linda will be organizing the parent meetings and the tutoring services for children with reading and writing difficulties. Linda has several years of teaching Kindergarten through fifth grade students and also has taught children with emotional problems.

Brent T. Ward, M.B.A

Mr. Ward is a consultant, advocate, and project planner for Talk & Total Communication Services. He holds an M.B.A. from University of Fredericton, an M.S.E.E. from Duke University, and a B.S.E.E. (Electrical Engineering) from Duke University. He recently was Director of Business Development, at RTI International, RTP, NC, where he worked in an international research organization, to commercialize a portfolio of highly technical and scientific innovations through strategic alliances, global contributors, and investors. His primary responsibility focused on portfolio management, market validations, business development, establishing reference customers, evaluating business cases, planning for strategic investments, and disseminating new technologies and techniques to the global marketplace.

Craig Brown, M.Mus., NATS-Intl.

Mr. Anthony “Craig” Brown serves as the Vocal Performance coordinator at Talk & Total Communication Services. He teaches private voice lessons, gives master classes in singing, and is a certified International Voice Teacher of NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing).
Originally from the Bahamas, tenor Craig Brown holds a graduate degree in Vocal Performance from the Hayes School of Music in Boone, North Carolina. There he has done extensive work with the Appalachian Opera Theatre as Lippo in Kurt Weil’s Street Scene, Mr. Gobineua in Menotti’s The Medium, Ferrando in Mozart’s Cosi fan Tutte and as King Kaspar in Menotti’s Amahl & the Night Visitors. He also sings frequently with Amy Marie Productions, in Blowing Rock, and was one of the five artists in residence at the Blowing Rock Methodist church. Mr. Brown has studied with famed mezzo-soprano Mary-Gayle Greene and soprano Alexandria LoBianco. He has prepared Pinkerton for Puccini’s Madama Butterfly and Siegmund for a reduced orchestra production of Wagner’s Die Walküre for Union Avenue Opera.
In addition to his operatic work, Mr. Brown holds a Bachelors degree in Music Industry studies and has worked at BMG Publishing, RCA records, and Killer Tracks in Hollywood, California. He has served as a vocal clinician at Camp Ballibay in Pennsylvania, Canon Music Camp at Appalachian State University, ‘Sing Out!’ and ‘Next Stage!’ at Duke University. In addition he worked as the studio manager for Reel Time Sound Studios in the Bahamas.

Sarah Greenlee

Ms. Sarah Greenlee has joined the staff at Talk and Total Communication. She is a Jordan High School student with Down syndrome and is working as an office assistant doing filing and copying. Sarah has an outstanding personality and loves to meet people.