Speech therapist brings word to the unheard

A typical day at work for speech therapist Ronda Vierra involves attending Individual Education Plan (IEP) meetings, administering assessment tests, writing reports, observing students in the classroom and providing input to classroom teachers.

With all of these daily tasks, Vierra also needs to make time for her regularly scheduled speech therapy sessions with students in small groups or individually.

“Depending on the need, we work on role-playing, problem solving, reasoning, perspective taking and communication skills,” Vierra said. “[The activities used to help students include] oral motor activities for articulation issues and language games for remedial language skills.”

Each week, Vierra has sessions with 34 students who meet up with her one to three times. For each student, the programs to help them are different according to their needs.

“Each student has individualized goal developed as part of their IEP, so therapy is customized according to those IEP goals,” Vierra said.

All of Vierra’s students on her caseload are a part of the special education program. Some of the students she works with are diagnosed with Autism, intellectual disabilities, specific learning disabilities, Cerebral Palsy, hearing impairment and speech language impairments.

Vierra has been diligently working with the district to help students with their daily lives for the past 12 years. With all these years, she has gained a lot of experiences and lessons.

“I have personally learned that it is not for a parent, teacher or therapist to determine what quality of life, success and happiness should look like for someone else,” Vierra said. “As long as my students are good citizens and are living a happy life, I consider that a success.”

According to Vierra, her caseload has increased greatly since beginning her career as speech therapist.

“We also have a much larger program for students considered severely handicapped and it exposes them much more to community experiences and skills,” Vierra said. “I also provide much more support in terms of collaborating with classroom teachers.”

What makes this job special for Vierra is the fact that she is able to work with students from all different kinds of backgrounds.

“In the public school setting I am fortunate to work with students I would never have the chance to work with if I were in a private practice setting,” Vierra said. “I enjoy hearing from former students and have students who keep in touch that left here 12 years ago.”