Student Conversations with Emma Conradi

CEHS Author

02/27/2025 Added

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Emma Conradi sits down with Nick Pace to share her experiences in the Speech-Language Pathology program located at the Barkley Memorial Center. College of Education and Human Sciences (CEHS); University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL)

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[00:00:01.217]Hey, everyone.
[00:00:01.868]Interim Dean, Nick Pace here.
[00:00:03.186]And I am in the Barkley Center
[00:00:05.205]with Emma Conradi.
[00:00:06.589]Nice to meet you.
[00:00:07.440]Nice to meet you. Thanks for making some time.
[00:00:09.859]So,
[00:00:11.695]tell us about what you do here,
[00:00:13.313]what your major is,
[00:00:14.180]and how you came to be here.
[00:00:16.099]Gotcha. Yeah.
[00:00:16.933]So I'm a first year
[00:00:18.068]grad student in the
[00:00:19.085]Speech-Language Pathology program here.
[00:00:21.488]I do research.
[00:00:22.572]That's how we connected as I do research.
[00:00:25.008]I got to come to this Research Slam.
[00:00:27.110]Mm-hmm. Yep.
[00:00:27.944]So we'll talk about that.
[00:00:28.945]Yeah.
[00:00:29.345]So I'm in the UNL Learning Lab.
[00:00:31.564]That's where we offer intellectual
[00:00:32.716]developmental disabilities.
[00:00:34.267]And this is..
[00:00:35.418]I'm a research assistant here.
[00:00:37.187]So a graduate research assistant
[00:00:38.805]within the program. Okay. Got it.
[00:00:39.956]Yeah.
[00:00:40.306]So what does a graduate research.
[00:00:44.210]What's that mean?
[00:00:44.828]What do you do?
[00:00:45.945]So I work under What happens here?
[00:00:47.347]Doctor Susan Loveall
[00:00:48.665]and, Yeah.
[00:00:49.666]So I'm just her assistant in the lab.
[00:00:52.118]But I'm also doing a thesis.
[00:00:53.319]So that was what I presented
[00:00:54.854]at the Research Slam.
[00:00:55.789]So if I come over here at a random time
[00:00:57.757]and see you in the lab,
[00:00:58.842]who are you working with?
[00:00:59.776]And what are you working on?
[00:01:00.827]Yeah.
[00:01:01.144]So I'm working with a lot of undergrads.
[00:01:03.279]They're just doing undergrad research
[00:01:05.081]to build their resume for grad school.
[00:01:07.033]And then we also have some,
[00:01:08.718]doctorate students
[00:01:09.586]that are working in here
[00:01:10.520]on their dissertation.
[00:01:11.571]Okay.
[00:01:12.122]And what are you
[00:01:13.606]what kind of impacts or what
[00:01:15.225]type of skills
[00:01:16.176]and what kind of discoveries
[00:01:17.444]are you making
[00:01:18.995]with, with students and children
[00:01:21.614]and learners?
[00:01:22.465]Yeah.
[00:01:22.782]So we work with individuals
[00:01:24.250]with intellectual
[00:01:24.934]and developmental disabilities.
[00:01:26.503]So I'm currently focusing on individuals
[00:01:28.538]with Down syndrome.
[00:01:29.255]But we also have some other studies
[00:01:31.157]on kids with autism.
[00:01:32.225]And yeah, just other IDD.
[00:01:34.477]And what pulled you in this direction.
[00:01:38.081]Did you always know
[00:01:39.399]this is the kind of work
[00:01:40.416]that you want to do and explore?
[00:01:43.453]Folks with developmental disabilities
[00:01:45.522]and intellectual challenges.
[00:01:47.640]What brought you here?
[00:01:49.325]Well, I love speech pathology,
[00:01:50.894]and I wanted to build my resume
[00:01:52.212]for grad school.
[00:01:52.879]So that's how I came to the lab.
[00:01:54.430]And then I just found a passion
[00:01:55.965]for working with these kiddos and yeah.
[00:01:58.034]Are you that,
[00:01:59.536]are you that person that, as a,
[00:02:01.538]you know,
[00:02:02.956]fifth grader or second grader
[00:02:04.691]was playing school or playing scientist
[00:02:07.844]or..
[00:02:08.545]Pretty much, yeah, playing teacher.
[00:02:10.630]And then I wanted to be a doctor
[00:02:11.915]at one point.
[00:02:12.515]And then speech-pathology
[00:02:13.650]is like the happy medium
[00:02:14.884]between both of them because,
[00:02:16.719]yeah, we're working with kids,
[00:02:18.071]work with adults.
[00:02:19.305]We can work in health care,
[00:02:20.206]we can work in schools,
[00:02:21.107]we can do it all.
[00:02:21.825]So.
[00:02:22.375]Okay.
[00:02:23.176]And so I attended the Research Slam,
[00:02:26.629]and you did a terrific job.
[00:02:28.114]And your colleagues Thank you.
[00:02:29.382]and your classmates
[00:02:30.650]chose your presentation
[00:02:31.935]as the presentation of the day.
[00:02:33.953]You were the winner.
[00:02:35.772]Tell us,
[00:02:36.940]tell me again about your research
[00:02:38.741]and what you found.
[00:02:39.492]And what excites you about it.
[00:02:41.277]Yeah.
[00:02:41.594]So I'm specifically
[00:02:43.129]looking at individuals
[00:02:44.047]with Mosaic Down syndrome,
[00:02:45.348]which is a certain
[00:02:46.482]karyotype of Down syndrome.
[00:02:47.800]They have three different types.
[00:02:49.419]And it's a rare karyotype.
[00:02:50.620]So a percentage of their cells
[00:02:52.355]have the extra 21st chromosome.
[00:02:53.890]So it varies between individuals.
[00:02:56.392]And yeah, I'm just looking at their
[00:02:57.360]language and reading abilities.
[00:02:59.045]And since I'm just the first year
[00:03:00.430]I haven't really dove into
[00:03:02.148]my research yet.
[00:03:03.132]But we're seeing that like it
[00:03:04.684]varies between those
[00:03:05.652]with full trisomy 21.
[00:03:07.787]Okay.
[00:03:08.238]Then. Yeah.
[00:03:08.872]And so what?
[00:03:11.791]With the hands-on experiences
[00:03:13.309]that you have here
[00:03:14.143]at the Barkley Center
[00:03:15.695]in the lab,
[00:03:16.512]working with folks,
[00:03:18.314]when you walk out of here
[00:03:19.916]and say,
[00:03:21.100]gosh, that was a great day.
[00:03:23.736]What's a great day
[00:03:25.104]in the lab for you
[00:03:26.322]look and feel like.
[00:03:27.473]Yeah. What happens
[00:03:28.291]to make it a great day?
[00:03:29.292]So we don't have any active participants
[00:03:31.060]in the lab right now.
[00:03:31.961]So more so
[00:03:33.663]clinical side and grad school.
[00:03:35.431]I see a client,
[00:03:36.783]my client comes twice a week,
[00:03:38.434]and then I also have
[00:03:39.135]an off-campus placement.
[00:03:40.153]So I feel like that
[00:03:40.987]when I have a good day
[00:03:41.804]with my client,
[00:03:42.455]a good session,
[00:03:43.456]that's when I go home
[00:03:44.290]and I'm like, okay, that was great.
[00:03:45.775]Walking in here,
[00:03:46.509]you said that you had an unexpected
[00:03:48.544]scheduling, session today.
[00:03:50.930]And so you grabbed some materials
[00:03:52.815]and kept working on,
[00:03:54.834]your, your plan.
[00:03:56.236]Mm-hmm.
[00:03:57.337]What,
[00:03:57.820]what's a, what's a day
[00:03:59.055]look like for a session?
[00:04:01.074]Yeah.
[00:04:01.391]So I, right now
[00:04:02.742]have a four year old with autism.
[00:04:04.827]He's bilingual and uses an AAC device.
[00:04:06.996]So kind of best of both worlds going on.
[00:04:08.948]But yeah,
[00:04:09.732]I just grab materials
[00:04:10.867]and I do child lead play
[00:04:12.735]based sessions,
[00:04:13.720]so I just let him, take control,
[00:04:16.005]and then I follow him
[00:04:16.906]and try to elicit language that way.
[00:04:18.558]Okay.
[00:04:19.025]And I'm also bilingual.
[00:04:19.993]So it was really cool
[00:04:20.677]to be able to see that
[00:04:22.028]I can use
[00:04:22.629]my English and Spanish
[00:04:23.596]with him
[00:04:24.163]to Awesome
[00:04:24.731]elicit language.
[00:04:25.848]Okay.
[00:04:26.532]And so,
[00:04:27.884]tell us a little bit
[00:04:28.901]about the Barkley Center,
[00:04:30.103]because we talk a lot about how,
[00:04:31.788]you know, this is
[00:04:33.289]certainly one of the best university
[00:04:35.108]based clinics spaces Yeah.
[00:04:36.643]anywhere in the, in the country.
[00:04:38.394]What is special about the center
[00:04:41.047]and where you get to do all your
[00:04:42.999]do all your work?
[00:04:43.783]Yeah.
[00:04:44.317]Well, we get clients
[00:04:45.702]right off the bat,
[00:04:46.419]which is something
[00:04:47.053]that's super unique
[00:04:47.837]that most other universities don’t do.
[00:04:49.706]Usually, your like, take a few semesters
[00:04:51.724]to like, learn the material
[00:04:52.925]and then you have a client.
[00:04:54.060]But here, yeah, Hands on right away
[00:04:55.228]they throw you in.
[00:04:56.112]You have a client, right away.
[00:04:58.247]The supervisors are there to help you,
[00:04:59.949]but they're also like, okay,
[00:05:01.384]you need to figure this out for yourself.
[00:05:02.835]So we make our objectives
[00:05:04.570]and then we make our therapy plans.
[00:05:06.139]And yeah, it's very hands on right away,
[00:05:08.107]which is so cool.
[00:05:09.192]And it's also awesome
[00:05:10.093]how like our supervisors are very,
[00:05:13.212]very kind people.
[00:05:14.263]And they also like
[00:05:15.515]they're just there to help us.
[00:05:16.599]So they're intimidating a little bit,
[00:05:18.434]but they're also very supportive,
[00:05:19.752]which is awesome.
[00:05:20.837]So, over time,
[00:05:24.340]when you're seeing growth
[00:05:25.508]in your clients and
[00:05:26.859]improvement and goals met.
[00:05:28.995]Mmhmm
[00:05:30.463]How's that feel?
[00:05:31.297]So rewarding.
[00:05:32.465]Especially as students
[00:05:33.499]like we're not official clinicians yet.
[00:05:35.284]So it’s so cool to see. But you can see progress
[00:05:36.736]Yeah.
[00:05:37.036]overtime.
[00:05:37.653]Yeah.
[00:05:38.137]It tells you you're in the right place.
[00:05:39.689]Mmhmm.
[00:05:40.306]And just like little wins
[00:05:41.708]especially with our little clients.
[00:05:43.509]Like it's
[00:05:44.377]very rare to see a lot of progress
[00:05:46.546]with them right off the bat.
[00:05:47.597]So it's like so rewarding
[00:05:48.998]when we see them having progress
[00:05:50.450]and see that we do know what we're doing.
[00:05:52.969]Right, right.
[00:05:54.153]So, you studied
[00:05:58.024]communication disorders as an undergrad.
[00:05:59.842]Mmhmm.
[00:06:00.410]Stayed here
[00:06:01.594]Mmhmm.
[00:06:01.994]at UNL for grad school.
[00:06:04.213]And when you finish
[00:06:06.249]school setting,
[00:06:07.183]medical setting,
[00:06:08.551]private practice.
[00:06:09.719]What are you..
[00:06:11.387]What are you thinking?
[00:06:11.921]What are your options or do you know.
[00:06:13.489]Yeah I don't know yet.
[00:06:15.224]I love early intervention
[00:06:17.210]like the birth to three.
[00:06:18.895]I'm in the MPUP program here,
[00:06:20.480]so I have to work
[00:06:21.681]with at least 50% of my caseload,
[00:06:23.716]kids with disabilities
[00:06:24.734]for four years after I graduate.
[00:06:26.419]So definitely will be somewhere
[00:06:28.571]with kids for a little while.
[00:06:29.856]I'm not sure if that will
[00:06:30.606]be in the school
[00:06:31.474]or early intervention
[00:06:32.925]or private practice,
[00:06:33.760]but I can do anything. So you not even leaning one way
[00:06:35.711]or the other?
[00:06:36.112]No.
[00:06:36.396]Yeah, just letting see where it takes me.
[00:06:39.015]Okay, okay, I got it.
[00:06:42.668]What advice would you have to someone who
[00:06:46.506]maybe is
[00:06:47.774]interested in the kind of experiences
[00:06:49.542]you're talking about,
[00:06:50.176]but who doesn't know.
[00:06:51.661]Maybe, what a..
[00:06:53.346]What a Speech-Language
[00:06:54.430]Pathologist does or what,
[00:06:55.932]what the nature of the work is.
[00:06:57.517]What,
[00:06:58.768]what's great about it?
[00:06:59.886]And what would you tell
[00:07:00.887]someone who’s,
[00:07:01.687]well that sound kind of cool.
[00:07:03.689]Well, I'd say look online.
[00:07:04.757]There's a lot of stuff you can do.
[00:07:06.075]You can look into like sessions
[00:07:07.577]online and observing.
[00:07:09.562]We have just some basic classes here.
[00:07:11.564]I know there's like an intro
[00:07:12.732]to speech pathology that you can take
[00:07:14.650]in the undergrad level just to, like,
[00:07:16.385]get a grasp of what,
[00:07:17.653]like the clinical side is.
[00:07:19.322]Umm.
[00:07:20.423]Yeah. Ask people.
[00:07:22.458]We have such a great program here.
[00:07:23.776]I know Jill is always
[00:07:24.710]open to talk to anyone
[00:07:25.878]that's interested in.
[00:07:26.913]Okay.
[00:07:27.246]Yeah.
[00:07:27.997]As you,
[00:07:29.365]as you think about the work
[00:07:31.150]that you're doing with your classmates
[00:07:32.802]and the relationships
[00:07:34.687]that you've formed with folks,
[00:07:37.089]whether people are focused
[00:07:38.407]on, you know, school work or,
[00:07:40.660]or clinical settings
[00:07:42.111]or medical
[00:07:43.729]health care settings.
[00:07:45.798]Do you think about your colleagues
[00:07:47.016]and your classmates.
[00:07:48.134]What couple of words
[00:07:49.519]would you use to describe your group
[00:07:51.671]and what
[00:07:53.773]what are the words that describe
[00:07:55.875]people in your field?
[00:07:56.926]And and,
[00:07:59.328]what would you say?
[00:08:01.831]I'd say we're all very supportive.
[00:08:04.367]We're very kind people,
[00:08:05.751]because you have to be very kind
[00:08:07.086]to be able to work with so many populations.
[00:08:09.489]Have to be patient.
[00:08:10.923]Have to be organized.
[00:08:14.343]Driven.
[00:08:15.378]I'd say that's a good word to.
[00:08:16.696]We're all very passionate
[00:08:17.680]about what we do.
[00:08:19.332]And yeah,
[00:08:19.899]everyone that's here wants to be here,
[00:08:21.551]which is so cool to see.
[00:08:23.836]Ten years from now,
[00:08:25.304]what do you think you're doing?
[00:08:26.506]Hopefully getting my Ph.D.
[00:08:27.790]I'd love to be doing research Awesome.
[00:08:29.141]full time.
[00:08:29.976]Okay.
[00:08:30.910]But yeah. You had a great start
[00:08:31.928]Exactly. right.
[00:08:32.879]Because your hands-on already.
[00:08:34.847]Winning recognition from your classmates
[00:08:36.916]for your research.
[00:08:38.317]Yeah.
[00:08:39.035]So, yeah, we'll see where
[00:08:40.870]the wind takes me.
[00:08:41.504]But I do want to work clinically
[00:08:42.705]for a little
[00:08:43.539]to get that experience
[00:08:44.740]and then be able to take that
[00:08:45.708]clinical side and to
[00:08:46.792]hopefully, a doctoral program
[00:08:50.196]and yeah. Awesome.
[00:08:51.547]Well,
[00:08:52.448]thanks for staying here for grad school.
[00:08:54.884]And I hope maybe we'll see you back
[00:08:56.719]for what's next.
[00:08:57.770]Yeah.
[00:08:58.354]Awesome.
[00:08:59.372]Congrats.
[00:09:00.039]Thank you.
[00:09:00.540]Have a great break.
[00:09:01.490]You too.

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