Ali received her Bachelor of Arts in Communication Science and Disorders from the University of Central Florida. She graduated from New York Medical College with a Master of Arts in Speech-Language Pathology, after which she relocated back home to the Tampa area.

Ali is so excited to be a part of the AASL team and get the chance to positively impact so many children! Before working at AASL, she gained valuable experience working with clients ranging from 8 months to 98 years and more specifically experience with pediatric populations within the school, hospital, and private practice settings. Within these settings, Ali has worked with and treated; expressive and receptive communication, feeding, autism, articulation, oral motor, pragmatics, and AAC. Ali is very passionate about play-based therapy as well as pragmatics and social thinking, having led social skills groups for various ages. It is so important to Ali that every child and family she interacts with feels like they have felt heard and have tools for carryover and functional communication.

When Ali isn’t working, her favorite places to be are the beach or outside with a good book or catching up with friends!

Get To Know Ali…

What is your favorite food?

I LOVE Pasta

What is your favorite holiday and why?

My favorite holiday is Christmas! I love that people spread more kindness and binge-watching a Hallmark movie
almost seems like all of that holiday spirit could happen in your hometown.

What is a cool hobby of yours?

I love to read. My reading goal this year is 30 books.

Favorite Halloween costume you wore as a child?

My favorite Halloween costume was Snow White; it is actually still hanging up in my parents’ house.

What did you want to be “when you grow up”?

I wanted to be a psychologist

Why did you become a therapist?

I have always loved helping kids whether it
be volunteering or babysitting and I knew I wanted to do something that could
impact them positively in my career. Once I found out I could be a speech
therapist and get to impact kids on a daily basis I knew it was the job for me &
I couldn’t imagine doing anything else. All of these kids are my “why”.

What’s the funniest thing one of your kids has said to you or done during
therapy?

We were doing a spring activity around Easter and a child said “I love Christmas because of the big man, you know the big man is Santa Claus right?
Ho ho ho”

Give me one surprising/cool fact about you?

You would never guess by looking at me but I am Puerto Rican and some of my family still lives there!

What pets do you have and what are their names?

I have a jack russel terrier, her name is Emmy.

What is your favorite movie and why?

I will always watch Beauty and the Beast. I love the live-action and the original and I have seen it at the Straz Center. The music is so good and I love the message in it that no matter who you meet you should show kindness to them.

Favorite song?

“I Hope You Dance” by Lee Ann Womack; my mom always used to sing this to me and it always reminds me to never give up.

Favorite book? 

I was obsessed with the book “Guess How Much I Love You” as a child.