Ada Haensel

-Speech Therapist at Nathaniel Greene Primary School

-Undergraduate and Masters from UVA

Speech Therapy on Horses

  • What inspired you to get into your current field? She wanted to be a teacher but was also interested in the medical field so speech pathology seemed like a good mix.
  • How did you get to this current job position? What path did you take? She worked in a clinic, online, and in a private school before working at Nathaniel Greene Primary School. She currently also does speech therapy with horses.
  • What are your basic roles and responsibilities? She does treatment and writes IEPS. There is a little communication with parents but that is more reserved for the teachers.
  • What is your favorite (or most rewarding) aspect about the job? She likes the articulation side of speech therapy and seeing improvement in her students.
  • What is the most surprising aspect of your career ? She was surprised by the lack of upward mobility and lower pay.
  • What is the most challenging aspect of your career? Working with profoundly disabled kids and setting expectations for parents are the most challenging aspects for her.
  • What advice would you give to someone getting into the health field? She encourages someone getting into the health field to explore their options and make sure speech pathology is what they want in a career.

Reflection

By interviewing a professional in my future profession I gained an unbiased account of what it’s like working as a speech pathologist. I learned about the differences between working in the clinic and at a school. I was able to better assess how much money I would be making in the future based on her experience. However, she works in a very rural area and I could make more in other areas. I gained knowledge of the range of cases I will be dealing with and how diverse speech therapy patients can be. I gained a new perspective on this career path and it was nice to hear an account from someone other than the speech pathology professors and students. I learned that I will probably not make as much as I had previously thought and I am okay with that. I will consider this information moving forward to explore other career options and educate myself better on the paperwork aspect of being a speech pathologist. Her perspective relays that James Madison University has the best speech pathology program. I can also use her contact information moving forward because it means that I know someone who is in my future field who can give me advice and possibly a recommendation.