Vanessa
LaFond-Adebowale, M.S., CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist
About Vanessa
When Vanessa was in high school, her father suffered a stroke causing Global Aphasia which creates severe difficulty in understanding and expressing language, as well as reading and writing. This experience is what first introduced Vanessa to the world of Speech-Language Pathology.
She obtained a B.S. in Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, a B.A. with Honors in Sociology, and Minors in Art History and Women’s Studies from Purdue University. While working toward her undergraduate degrees, Vanessa was a Research Assistant in a Neural Systems for Language Processing Lab where she specialized in stuttering.
Vanessa went on to receive her M.S. from Purdue University in Speech-Language Pathology. She completed more than 500 clinical hours in a variety of areas, but mainly focused on accent modification, stuttering and areas of communication impacting people with Parkinson’s Disease. During her Clinical Externships, she continued her education at the Rehabilitation Hospital of Indiana (RHI) in the Brain Injury Unit treating cognitive-linguistic deficits of those impacted by brain injury.
After graduating with her M.S., Vanessa moved to Nashville, and worked within Metro Nashville Public Schools. She focused on diagnosis and treatment of children with a variety of speech, language and communication delays. However, after a year in Tennessee, she returned to Lafayette to continue her career by working within skilled nursing facilities, home health groups, and rehabilitation hospitals where she gained expertise in diagnosis and treatment of cognitive-linguistic deficits associated with brain injury, dementia, and stroke.
After her daughter was born, Vanessa continued her education and discovered many gaps in the speech therapy services in surrounding communities. Due to this overwhelming need, Vanessa decided to open her own private practice so that she could help bridge the gap in the Greater Lafayette community.
