Hi JCP students & families! I'm Taylor Lunn (she/her), the Speech-Language Pathologist at Jones. This will be my third school year at Jones, and my fifth with Chicago Public Schools.
What is a Speech-Language Pathologist?
Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) work to prevent, assess, diagnose, and treat speech, language, social communication, cognitive-communication, and swallowing disorders in children and adults.
- Speech disorders occur when a person has difficulty producing speech sounds correctly or fluently (e.g., stuttering is a form of disfluency) or has problems with his or her voice or resonance.
- Language disorders occur when a person has trouble understanding others (receptive language), or sharing thoughts, ideas, and feelings (expressive language). Language disorders may be spoken or written and may involve the form (phonology, morphology, syntax), content (semantics), and/or use (pragmatics) of language in functional and socially appropriate ways.
- Social communication disorders occur when a person has trouble with the social use of verbal and nonverbal communication. These disorders may include problems (a) communicating for social purposes (e.g., greeting, commenting, asking questions), (b) talking in different ways to suit the listener and setting, and (c) following rules for conversation and story-telling. All individuals with autism spectrum disorder have social communication problems. Social communication disorders are also found individuals with other conditions, such as traumatic brain injury.
- Cognitive-communication disorders include problems organizing thoughts, paying attention, remembering, planning, and/or problem-solving. These disorders usually happen as a result of a stroke, traumatic brain injury, or dementia, although they can be congenital.
- Swallowing disorders (dysphagia) are feeding and swallowing difficulties, which may follow an illness, surgery, stroke, or injury.
-ASHA, 2022
Education:
Bachelor of Science Speech-Language Pathology & Audiology
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, 2016
Master of Arts Communication Sciences and Disorders
Truman State University, 2018
About me:
I was born and raised in a tiny town located two hours southwest of Chicago. I am the oldest of two, and am very close to my family. Growing up, we took weekend trips to Chicago often, and that is how I knew I wanted to move here someday. I have lived in Chicago for 4 years. Outside of work, I enjoy spending time with my family, friends, and my dog, reading, being outdoors, cooking, traveling, and working out.