Annalyssa is a passionate therapist, always seeking to help children and adults communicate effectively. She received a Master of Science in Speech Language Pathology from Gannon University. She is thrilled to be a part of the AASL team and eager to collaborate with other experienced pediatric therapists!
Annalyssa’s clinical experiences include assessing and treating clients in an elementary school setting and in outpatient facilities as well as facilitating a virtual adult traumatic brain injury support group. During her graduate career, Annalyssa has contributed to research studies evaluating intelligibility in pediatric dysarthria and exploring early indicators of cognitive change. Additionally, she has gained clinical experience on an international service-learning trip serving children and families abroad in Grenada. In Grenada, Annalyssa had the opportunity to provide speech and language screenings and evaluations for students in preschool through high school and conduct in-service trainings for teachers and parents to share education, resources, and strategies for speech, language, and literacy development.
Annalyssa is driven by her core values of diligence, integrity, and compassion. These qualities compel her to work hard and always strive to learn more, to take responsibility for her actions, and to actively listen to her clients and their families and respond with empathy. For Annalyssa, helping children discover the gift of communication is the most rewarding part of her job. She has enjoyed assessing and treating children with a variety of communication and swallowing difficulties in the areas of articulation, phonology, apraxia, fluency, receptive and expressive language, augmentative and alternative communication, reading and written communication, social communication, and feeding/swallowing disorders. Her experiences include working with autistic children, children with Down syndrome, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, developmental delays, intellectual and learning disabilities, sensory processing disorders, hearing loss, and more.
During her free time, Annalyssa enjoys spending time with her husband, Conner, and their family and friends, cooking and eating good food, traveling to new places, taking outdoor excursions, and reading good books!
More about Annalyssa…
What is your favorite food? For me it’s a toss-up between Mexican and Thai food.
What is your favorite holiday and why? I love Christmas because it stirs up the joy of giving!
What is a cool hobby of yours? Occasionally I like to paint watercolor cards.
Favorite Halloween costume you wore as a child? Being a peanut butter and jelly sandwich was the most fun costume for me as a kid!
What did you want to be “when you grow up”? When I was young, I wanted to become an artist. Even though that isn’t my job now, I still enjoy tapping into my creativity today!
Why did you become a therapist? I became a therapist to make an impact on the lives of other people in a meaningful way. It excites me to be able to support others in discovering or recovering the ability to communicate with those who matter most to them.
What’s the funniest thing one of your kids has said to you or done during therapy? One of my kids, who has a deep interest in the Titanic, asked me one day in all seriousness if I was one of the survivors from that tragic historical event. I laughed and told him that was something that happened long before I was born!
Give me one surprising/cool fact about you? I am left-handed, which is something I have in common with my mom and one of my two brothers!
What pets do you have and what are their names? My husband and I have a friendly outdoor cat named Piper!
What is your favorite movie and why? My favorite Disney movie is the Princess and the Frog, mostly because my brother and I can quote many of its many memorable and funny lines!
Favorite song? You Make my Dreams Come True by Daryl Hall and John Oates is the song my husband and I walked out to after our wedding ceremony, and it never fails to put me in a good mood!
Favorite book? The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis is a classic I loved as a kid and have fallen in love with again as an adult. I think it’s an amazing read whether you are young or young at heart!
