Abby Samaha

E-mail: asamah@lsuhsc.edu

I am a second year Master’s student in the Speech-Language Pathology program here at LSU Health Sciences Center. I earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Disorders with a minor in History from The University of Alabama. After three years cheering on the other side of the football field, I am so excited to be back in my native state of Louisiana to continue my professional education at LSUHSC and to be a member of Louisiana’s LEND Program. I consider it not only an honor but a privilege and joy to be able to develop the skills necessary to support and advocate for people with disabilities.

As a learning professional, much of my clinical work thus far has involved clinical care of people with disabilities across several settings. I have had the opportunity to work with children and adults with disabilities including Autism Spectrum Disorder, the use of Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) devices, and several other special populations. Providing assistance in communication to those individuals has helped to spark my passion for not only their reception of speech therapy services but of their care as individuals in all societal and personal circles.

I chose to participate in the LEND program to better understand the unique life perspectives and situations of my clients. However, even more importantly than that understanding as a clinician, I am eager to learn and explore the LEND program to be a better human. I am deeply passionate about compassion for and protection of all human life, and I applied to this program to be better equipped to provide that necessary care and protection to all. I am also overjoyed at the unique involvement in legislative policy. With a minor in History, I have alway been keenly interested in law, and I value greatly the impact and privilege we have to enact change on both local, small and large stages.

My goal through this program is to be a more informed clinician, a more involved citizen, and on the whole, a more loving person to all those with disabilities and anyone else who I encounter in my days. I believe we all have a responsibility to each other to learn about how unique experiences culminate in our world today, and I am so excited to listen to others’ stories, to learn, and to offer any help that I can to better us all as one united, whole people.