Title

IPEI 2019: Elyssa Male

Authors

Elyssa Male, Fontbonne University

Files

Credentials

Program

Speech-Language Pathology, MS

Education

Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, BS | Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

Publisher

Fontbonne University Archives

City

St. Louis, MO

Comments

I hadn't had any interaction with the DHOH population until I was in my undergraduate program shadowing a speech pathologist in a public school. The school had a classroom of several children who were DHOH. The teachers used total communication, and I got to see, for the first time, everyone, including the SLP, communicate using sign language. After getting to engage with the children and teachers in this class, I kept wanting to go back. I came into the field knowing I wanted to work in early intervention, so when I started applying for graduate schools, I looked at the class schedule, read about their clinics and/or their off-campus sites as well as what research they were doing. As I took classes in undergrad, I also developed a passion for audiology, so much so, that I considered pursuing audiology for quite some time. Therefore I was obviously beyond excited when I found out about the IPEI grant. Fontbonne is unique because while other schools graduate generalists, Fontbonne offers the opportunity to become specialists. This grant is giving me the resources and guidance to become an SLP with a passion and knowledge to work with a wonderful population.

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