Casey Taliancich
Major: Communication Sciences and Disorders
Inspiration:
Her younger sister. "My sister was diagnosed with a speech disorder when she was seven. I was in high school at the time and planning to be a lawyer. I was the one who often took her to therapy, and it was amazing to see how quickly she recovered. I started researching the career and decided that's what I wanted to do with my life. I've never looked back, I feel like this is my calling."
Favorite Class:
Language and the Brain with Dr. Harvey Sussman. "This is kind of a pre-med class and prepares speech pathologists to work in hospital settings. Dr. Sussman is very inspirational, and it was a foundational class. I also loved Dr. Lisa Bedore's class on therapy techniques. I learned how to determine what's best for the child, how to work with different populations, how to develop therapies and come up with structured activities, how to listen, and how to talk to parents."
Where UT Meets the Real World:
Applying basic research to help real people. "I am a research assistant for Dr. Bedore, who's in the child language research group in the department. One of her research projects is on Spanish language-specific impairment, and she's developing tests for Spanish language speakers, since most assessments of language impairment only exist in English. One semester I went out to schools and gave the pilot tests, and now I'm working with the data and compiling it so Dr. Bedore can write and publish the results."
Aspiration:
Research. "I'd like to pursue a doctoral degree and conduct research after getting some experience in the field."
Favorite Means of Communicating:
Talking. "Talking is my favorite means of communication because I can easily get my point across. I know people can't read minds, and talking is the best way for me to illustrate what I am thinking."
