Jessica received her Bachelor of Science in Speech Language Pathology from Duquesne University where she was both a student athlete and in their accelerated program. She later went on to receive her Master of Science degree in Speech Language Pathology from Duquesne.

Prior to working at AASL, Jessica worked with a variety of children within school and outpatient clinic settings in the Pittsburgh, PA and Denver, CO regions. She has evaluated and treated a variety of delays such as speech production disorders, childhood apraxia of speech, autism spectrum disorder, down syndrome, social pragmatic disorder, dyslexia, fluency disorder, low-tech and high-tech AAC, and expressive and receptive language disorders. Jessica has a strong passion for working with children and seeing them grow; she takes advantage of children’s strengths, family collaboration, and an interdisciplinary team to maximize the positive impact of treatment for all those she works with.  She is excited to relocate to sunny Florida and join the AASL team!

In her free time, Jessica enjoys spending time with family and friends, staying active, going to the beach, trying new restaurants, and traveling.

What is your favorite food?

I love sushi!

What is your favorite holiday and why?

Thanksgiving! I love eating lots of delicious food and having my extended family together in one place!

What is a cool hobby of yours?

I love to play pickleball and soccer.

Favorite Halloween costume you wore as a child?

I wore a Snow White costume for three years!

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

Veterinarian

Why did you become a therapist?

As a junior in high school, I shadowed an SLP and fell in love with this career! I enjoy having the ability to help individuals of all ages and with a variety of disorders. My grandma has Aphasia and it reminds me everyday how we take communication for granted. I want to help and support children so they can be great communicators!

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

I asked a child what his father did for work. He thought about it for a second and said “back flips”.

Give me one surprising/cool fact about you?

I have gone sky diving!

What is your favorite movie and why?

Hotel Transylvania! Such a cute and funny movie!

Favorite song?

“You’ll Be In My Heart” by Phil Collins

Favorite book? 

Growing up, I loved to read the “A-Z Mysteries” book series!