Bianca Pierre

Background

About Bianca Pierre

My name is Bianca, and I build bridges for connection for our future citizens. The bridge of communication, that is. And if you thought communication might be hard already on its own, imagine what it must be like with a disorder and biases against you. Misdiagnosis of speech, language, and hearing disorders disproportionately affects Black and Brown communities, usually due to clinicians’ lack of exposure to said communities. As a Speech-Language Pathology Assistant (SLPA) for students primarily with autism, I now have the unique opportunity to weave these perspectives into the quilt of my practice and share my knowledge with my colleagues. During my time as a Clinical Education Associate at the University of St. Augustine, I worked hard to secure diverse, challenging clinical rotations for our students to give them a well-rounded perspective of the field. All parts of identity, My idea was maximum exposure = minimum margin of error, improving outcomes across the board. A solution that went straight to the source. This resulted in a 30% increase in student satisfaction within 3 months; the new process addressed the strengths that they possessed in a practical way while challenging them in ways they didn’t expect. As I grow into my role as an SLPA, I plan on diversifying my methods in my practice in order to address cross-cultural concerns, considerations for autistic individuals, and individualization for each student on my caseload. And once I figure out the keys to success, I will shake up the world of SLP for students and clinicians alike.