From Cajun Country to Chicago: How Tyler Choate is using his degree to help others overcome trauma

Written byElizabeth Rose-Arcuri

鈥淚 still talk about my undergraduate clinical experience to this day. It was one of those smack-you-in-the-face lessons about putting theory into practice 鈥 a hard but valuable experience.鈥

Tyler Choate
Graduation Year
Class of 2011, 2013
Major
BA Speech Pathology & Audiology, MS Speech Language Pathology
Hometown
Abbeville, La.

Where I'm From

I鈥檓 from Abbeville, La., and came to UL Lafayette to study speech pathology and audiology.

Where I Am

I鈥檓 the director of director of speech and language services at a community-based developmental therapy center in Chicago.

Where I'm Going

I鈥檓 using my education and experience as a speech pathologist to mitigate the effects of macro-level trauma caused by poverty, health and education inequity, and racism.

Tyler Choate is doing what he loves as a speech language pathologist in Chicago.

鈥淭here are so many reasons why I am in love with what I do,鈥 Tyler said. 鈥淥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.

鈥淪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.鈥

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.

鈥淎s a clinician, I provide assessment and treatment for families navigating neurodevelopmental differences,鈥 Tyler explained. 鈥淚 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.鈥

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鈥檚 clients. As an Infant & Early Childhood Mental Health Consultant, he supports staff as they build relationships with children and families.

As a 亚洲自慰视频 in the Bachelor of Science in Speech Pathology and Audiology program, Tyler began working with clients in the .

鈥淚 still talk about my undergraduate clinical experience to this day,鈥 Tyler said. 鈥淚t was one of those smack-you-in-the-face lessons about putting theory into practice 鈥 a hard but valuable experience.鈥

After graduating with his undergraduate degree, Tyler applied to other master鈥檚 programs but found himself back on campus and enrolled in the at UL Lafayette.

鈥淚n true Cajun hospitality, I was welcomed for another two years after not getting into my 鈥榙ream school,鈥欌 he said. 鈥淚 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 亚洲自慰视频s closely and pushes them to be against-the-grain thinkers.鈥

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.

鈥淚 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鈥檝e learned about trauma and resilience,鈥 Tyler explained.

"Specifically, I鈥檓 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.鈥

Since graduating, Tyler has come to think of his work as an art and a science.

鈥淪ima Gerber (a mentor of mine) calls our work as speech-language pathologists an 鈥榓rt and a science.鈥 It is rooted in rigor and science, but it expands to make space for the human experience,鈥 Tyler said.

鈥淣ot many professional arenas can hold the fluid nature of art and the structure and reliability of science, but that鈥檚 what we strive to do every day in this work,鈥 he said. 鈥淲hen Sima said this, I thought to myself, 鈥榊es! This is what it was like in Burke Hall every day.鈥欌