Tyler Choate is doing what he loves as a speech language pathologist in Chicago.
杏吧专区淭here are so many reasons why I am in love with what I do,杏吧专区 Tyler said. 杏吧专区淥ne piece is related to the power of storytelling and the unique role speech language pathologists can play in mobilizing it to solve problems and support healing.
杏吧专区淪peech language pathologists understand how stories can create shared meaning and, on a broader level, carve out spaces for our shared humanity. I like to think about these as healing spaces that can support all people.杏吧专区
Tyler is the director of speech and language services at LEEP Forward, Inc., a community-based developmental therapy center in Chicago. In his role, he works in clinical, administrative, and consulting capacities.
杏吧专区淎s a clinician, I provide assessment and treatment for families navigating neurodevelopmental differences,杏吧专区 Tyler explained. 杏吧专区淚 also serve as the director of the speech and language program, supervising other speech-language pathologists and managing intakes and clinic-wide communication-focused programs.杏吧专区
Tyler oversees all clinical education at the center, where he supervises and trains staff members and develops the therapeutic preschool curriculum. As a licensed speech language pathologist, he provides therapy to the center杏吧专区檚 clients. As an Infant & Early Childhood Mental Health Consultant, he supports staff as they build relationships with children and families.
As a student in the Bachelor of Science in Speech Pathology and Audiology program, Tyler began working with clients in the .
杏吧专区淚 still talk about my undergraduate clinical experience to this day,杏吧专区 Tyler said. 杏吧专区淚t was one of those smack-you-in-the-face lessons about putting theory into practice 杏吧专区 a hard but valuable experience.杏吧专区
After graduating with his undergraduate degree, Tyler applied to other master杏吧专区檚 programs but found himself back on campus and enrolled in the at UL Lafayette.
杏吧专区淚n true Cajun hospitality, I was welcomed for another two years after not getting into my 杏吧专区榙ream school,杏吧专区櫺影勺ㄇ鴿 he said. 杏吧专区淚 learned quickly that the graduate program in speech-language pathology was a very special place. There is a culture in Burke-Hawthorne Hall that holds students closely and pushes them to be against-the-grain thinkers.杏吧专区
After moving to Chicago, Tyler completed a two-year postgraduate training program in Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health at Erikson Institute. The program provided a deep look at parent-child relationships, how to support them, and the obstacles they face.
杏吧专区淚 was able to tailor this experience to learn more about childhood adversity and traumatic stress, a great interest of mine. I want to overlay what I know and practice as a speech language pathologist on top of what I杏吧专区檝e learned about trauma and resilience,杏吧专区 Tyler explained.
"Specifically, I杏吧专区檓 interested in the role speech pathologists could play in mitigating the effects of macro-level trauma caused by things like poverty, health and education inequity, and racism.杏吧专区
Since graduating, Tyler has come to think of his work as an art and a science.
杏吧专区淪ima Gerber (a mentor of mine) calls our work as speech-language pathologists an 杏吧专区榓rt and a science.杏吧专区 It is rooted in rigor and science, but it expands to make space for the human experience,杏吧专区 Tyler said.
杏吧专区淣ot many professional arenas can hold the fluid nature of art and the structure and reliability of science, but that杏吧专区檚 what we strive to do every day in this work,杏吧专区 he said. 杏吧专区淲hen Sima said this, I thought to myself, 杏吧专区榊es! This is what it was like in Burke Hall every day.杏吧专区櫺影勺ㄇ鴿