When teaching preschool children, I became aware that communication problems in children are much more common than I had suspected, that there are insufficiently trained people to deal with the situation, especially in a bi-cultural setting, and that the failure to offer practical and early intervention has potentially fatal effects on a child’s prospects. I decided to become part of the solution to this problem, specifically in early intervention to minimize the impact of such issues. My goals now are to join and excel within the program to enable me to offer services as a speech and language pathologist. Specifically, I hope to develop effective programs to help young bi-lingual children attain and maintain dual language proficiency; such programs would have applications beyond the Spanish/English bilingual environment and potentially benefit all bi-cultural communities.

 I began work as a bilingual Early Intervention Therapist in 2004 and since then have been certified as an Infant Toddler Family Specialist. From day one, I loved the work. I was privileged to work with children with many types of problems. Still, I developed a particular love of working with people living with Down’s syndrome, and this fired a decision to pursue a Master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology so that I could help them more effectively. I obtained the degree and created my own Early Intervention Agency in 2006. The Agency serves children from ages 0-3 diagnosed with developmental delays. We have had the joy and privilege of assisting over 400 children, mainly from the Hispanic community, suffering from various conditions including Cerebral Palsy, Down’s syndrome and autism. Running the Agency has also required me to develop management and motivational skills and the ability to lead an effective team.

 I am aware that the program will attract many well qualified applicants. However, I believe that I am an excellent candidate. I have demonstrated the academic ability to profit from the program; I have degrees that are highly relevant to the topics to be studied; I have substantial experience of working with children with many types of communication problems in a bilingual setting; I have experience of assisting in successful research. But my main recommendation is a passionate desire to help my clients and their families and the determination to acquire the skills and knowledge to maximize my effectiveness in their service.