Therapist Feature: Racheal Morse, SLP
For this month, we would like to highlight one of our wonderful Speech-Language Pathologists, Racheal Morse!
Racheal began her career journey majoring in Elementary Education at Augusta College in Rock Island, NY. After her advisor suggested she specialize in something more specific, Racheal observed some speech therapy sessions at a clinic on campus and fell in love with the profession. She went on to receive a Master’s degree from Wichita State University in Kansas. Racheal lived in Las Vegas, NV for two years before moving back to Illinois for family, but she says, “I sure do miss those mountain views.”
There is one aspect of her profession Racheal loves most: working with the children and seeing them grow, learn, and change. She sees some children go from being non-verbal to independent communicators and watches their personalities blossom, which she finds very rewarding. Her areas of specialization include phonological development and oral motor/feeding.
“My favorite age to work with is birth to five years.”
Racheal has experience working in other settings outside of mobile therapy in the natural environment, including a NICU, hospital-inpatient and outpatient, private practice, schools, and home health. For seventeen years, Racheal also owned a speech therapy private practice in her home state of Illinois.
“I have been a Pediatric Speech Therapist since 1997. (Don’t tell!)”
Throughout her career, Racheal has given back to the profession of speech therapy in many ways. She has supervised students, allowed Speech Pathology majors to obtain observation hours, presented at ASHA, and has evaluated, collaborated, and supported The Autism Project (TAP) in Illinois. Racheal began writing a professional book to support Hodson’s phonological cycles approach which is still in progress today. She believes in being a strong advocate for children with special needs and is focused on educating parents and caregivers about their rights. In addition, Racheal has been a member of Parents Advocating for Students and Staff (PASS) for several years.
In her spare time, Racheal enjoys working out daily, attending hockey games (“Go Knights!”), spending time with her friends and family, and she loves to shop! Two of her favorite shopping destinations are Home Goods and Target. Racheal and her husband have two children and both are included in sports and extracurricular activities, so they tend to stay busy!
Working in mobile therapy, Racheal most appreciates the flexibility of mobile scheduling for in-home visits. She enjoys seeing the beautiful scenery throughout the day as she makes her way from home to home. Driving through traffic does present challenges for Racheal at times, along with missed appointments, summer heat, and busy home environments. Racheal says, “flexibility is key.” With telehealth visits, she enjoys the apps and programs available to address speech and language needs and sees that children are often very motivated when using them. While sometimes technological challenges may arise, Racheal focuses on keeping flexibility and humor in mind.
Thank you Racheal for your dedication and passion for Speech-Language Pathology. We look forward to all the great work you will continue to do in the future!
