Her Story
About Emilie
I've been working in the field of Augmentative Alternative Communication for the past 6 years, and I've been in my current position as an AAC specialist for about a year and a half now. I travel throughout the state of Florida to see patients who do not currently have a voice - these can be children all the way through adults. I meet them face-to-face, either in their homes or in therapy-type sessions, where I conduct evaluations to determine what type of device would be best suited for them. I then go through the entire process of ordering the device and getting it funded through insurance, or if that's not possible, I'll look for grants that would be available for them. Once I order the device and have it shipped to their home, I go and set it up in person, make sure they're able to use it, and train anyone who needs training, whether it's a family member or others, and also train them on the software. Before this role, I worked as a speech therapist with just children, but this position has really broadened my perspective and allowed me to reach a lot of different, interesting people in my career. I also previously worked as a paraprofessional where I worked with a student with autism who used a Toby Dynavox device, and I attended his weekly speech sessions with the speech-language pathologist. I learned how to program his device and said to myself, one day I'm going to work for this company. I worked for Toby Dynavox at one time, but I've progressed and gone to different companies since then. This is truly where my passion lies.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Emilie
01What do you attribute your success to?
I definitely attribute my success to helping others, especially those without a voice. Helping others within a community is really important to me. Also, seeing that success makes me want to continue to work harder - it's that rewarding feeling that keeps me going and pushing forward in my career.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Truly, the best career advice I ever received is to just keep going. I know some days you have tough days, like, in every thing in life, but if you're able to just keep putting one foot in front of the other, truly, you'll have success one way or another.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
The advice that I would give to other women is to really go forward with it. Set yourself apart by getting in touch with SLPs and making a name for yourself. Answer their calls and answer questions when needed. Really start with the support piece, and then from there, you'll make a name for yourself so that people know that you're reliable and dependable.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenges are seeing people sometimes at the end stage of their life, or with more severe diagnoses. Sometimes it's hard - you have to kind of take yourself out of it and not get too emotionally attached, and just reiterate the fact that you're helping, whether it's for a short period of time or their entire lifespan. That's why I enjoy what I do so much - yes, there's days that are hard and I'm meeting people with complex cases, but there's also days where I'm meeting children that are not able to communicate, and then you're giving them a device and being able to see them use that device to communicate, which is really rewarding.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Having the space to create and do my own thing is really important to me. I value having flexibility in terms of making my own schedule. Since I'm seeing ALS patients and other complex cases, it's hard and takes a lot out of you, so being able to schedule them with what works for my schedule is helpful. Being able to not schedule too many in one day, or several days a week, is really key to maintaining balance in my work and personal life.
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