Meet The Speech Goddess

Hi everyone! My name is Michelle Farley, and I am a full-time student finishing up my Bachelor's degree in Communication Sciences & Disorders. I plan to enter grad school in May 2012 to pursue my Master's degree in Speech-Language Pathology, a field I am absolutely passionate about.

When I graduated from high school in 1999, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I had always been a good student, but there were so many different areas I was interested in, so I had difficulty choosing a major. I was in and out of school over the next 6 years, transferring several times & majoring in Pre-Pharmacy, Pre-Med, Elementary Education, and Special Education. In 2005 I transferred to my current university & chose a major in Commuicative Disorders. After completing my sophomore courses in the major, I had to withdraw from school because of difficulty with financial aid, and I didn't forsee that I'd ever return to school.

On June 28, 2008 I gave birth to my first child, Aedan Padraig "Paddy." He was born with Tetralogy of Fallot (a congenital heart defect, or CHD) & Di George Syndrome; he had a shunt placed in his heart at 17 days old, and went through open-heart surgery at 5 months old. Needless to say, the first few months of his life were very difficult! We knew that children with Di George Syndrome often have language and/or learning delays or disorders, so knew to pay close attention to his developmental milestones. Everything seemed to be developing normally until he was about 15 months old. He had several of his early sounds, and was able to say "bye bye," "mama," and "dada," but gradually those sounds just disappeared from his vocabulary. At that point I sought a referral to our states Early Intervention Program.

He was formally evaluated at 19 months old. His cognition, behavioral, social/emotional, and receptive language skills were all within normal limits; however his expressive language was 70% delayed, so he qualified for speech therapy services. There were also concerns about certain "red flags" for ASD, so he also began receiving special instruction once weekly. We now know that he is not on the spectrum, but he does exhibit certain Autistic traits (attachment to certain toys, difficulty with changes in his environment, food aversions, etc). He has now been in therapy for over a year, and is about to transition from EI to the public school system. His last evaluation showed his expressive language skills have improved to about a 12 month old level, while receptive language & cognition have stayed age-appropriate. He is now showing a significant delay in self-help/adaptive skills as well, due in part to the lack of language.

Paddy's first speech therapist knew that I had begun my studies in Communicative Disorders, and she often remarked that I was a "natural" at doing his therapy. She encouraged me to return to school, and I found that I had access to additional financial aid that would allow me to finish my degree, so I made plans to return in the August 2010, after giving birth to my second son in April. I've maintained a 4.0 GPA despite having a newborn, a toddler with special needs, and a teenage stepdaughter who had just moved in with us after living her entire life with her mother. My best friend, a practicing SLP who graduated from the same university I'm attending, bestowed the title of "Speech Goddess" upon me after I excitedly told her I'd scored 99% on a certain notoriously hard professor's midterm. I liked it, and told her I thought we should petition ASHA for a formal title change, because *that* is what I want on my certificate. :)

When I was a student before, I enjoyed my classes, but I was just interested in the major. Now, I am passionate about it, and believe that it is my calling in life to be a Speech-Language Pathologist. I only have 2 major classes left to take, and will be applying for the graduate school class that begins in Summer 2011. I believe that my experiences as a parent will help me be a caring, empathetic clinician, and I can't wait to get started!