Today we’d like to introduce you to Nikki Batagower.
Nikki, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
At an early age, I learned the value of communication and how to accommodate those with limited speech, language, and pragmatic skills. Through direct experience, one individual was very influential to me, my cousin, David, who is autistic. Being on the more severe end of the spectrum, he struggles with both speech and language; however, he does not let it define him. Watching him grow from nonverbal communication has forever instilled in me a passion to work with individuals with speech and language disorders, specifically Autism. My ongoing experience with David and studying speech and language development and disorders sparked my interest in working with children with autism to improve their speech, language, and pragmatic skills.
Before becoming a speech-language pathologist, I got to experience firsthand how to successfully communicate with individuals with a variety of speech and language disorders. For three years, I was the Special Needs Director at University Cheer Airforce, which is where I fueled my passion working with individuals with disabilities. Special Forces is a program that focuses solely on enhancing the physical and mental attributes, such as cartwheels, rolls, and basic conversational skills, of cheerleading and gymnastics for individuals with disabilities. Some of the opportunities the job provided included organizing parent meetings, scheduling practices, and setting goals with my students for achieving new tumbling skills. The other aspects of the job required me to effectively communicate and accommodate so that my students could be successful athletes and communicators.
During that time, I learned to take ownership of balancing the roles of full-time student, part-time employee, and cheerleader for the University of Houston, Go COOGS! I went on to graduate with bachelor of science in communication sciences and disorders from UH in May 2017 and a master of science in speech-language pathology from Stephen F. Austin State University in May 2019. Two universities, two degrees, one national board exam, one capstone research project, and seven years of school later, I am proud to say that I have my dream job as a speech-language pathologist that serves the pediatric population. As a speech-language pathologist, I get to evaluate and treat patients with speech disorders, language disorders, and feeding and swallowing disorders.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Getting to where I am at currently has not been an easy task. Something I struggled with during this journey was learning to make sacrifices in all aspects of my life. One of these sacrifices was where I lived. When I was in the process of applying to graduate school during my senior year at UH, I remember telling my best gal pal, Murphy, that I could not imagine myself moving away from Houston for school. Moving away was a high possibility because UH is the only school that offers a masters speech pathology program in the Houston Area. I applied to 5 schools, and statistically (at the time), only 30% of applicants got accepted into a graduate program–so basically I had no other choice to face the reality of moving away from the only life I ever known here in Houston. After a few interviews with various programs, I decided that it was best for me to attend SFA to get my master degree. Moving 2.5 hours away was difficult at first, and on top of that, I was the only person in my cohort that attended UH for undergrad–so I knew no one coming in. Being an extrovert, I knew that I would have no problems making friends. However, I was scared I wouldn’t make close friends, but God had other plans though. I was blessed to meet two girls, who were my roomies throughout grad school and 2 of my closest gal pals, Taylor and Allison. Throughout my two years in Nacogdoches, Taylor and Allison became the gal pals I really depended on for basically everything; we all needed each other in that stressful season of our life. As I reflect on my time in graduate school, the struggles, tears, and constant stress was all worth it in the end.
Speech Language Pathologist – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
When I tell people what I do, their response is “oh you help kids who stutter” or “you help kids who can’t say their r’s.” While that is part of my scope of practice, we (SLPs) treat individuals from birth to death. The baby that was born prematurely with cleft palate and has difficulty coordinating her suck swallow, breath while feeding–we treat that. The man that just got diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and now has to drink thickened liquids to prevent aspiration pneumonia–we treat that. The 17-year-old boy that recently got into a four-wheeler accident but crashed and sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and now has difficulty remembering what his teacher taught him in class 10 minutes ago–we treat that. The 10-year-old boy that has autism is nonverbal, and uses a communication device to tell his mom that he wants a snack–we treat that. The woman that suffered a stroke and now has difficulty forming a sentence–we treat that. The range and variety of disorders we see is broad and diverse.
As for me, I am a speech-language pathologist that treats and evaluates children with speech, language, feeding, and swallowing disorders in the home health setting. I work for Therapy 2000, a company that provides speech therapy, occupational therapy, and physical therapy to children birth to 18-years-old. My interests within this field include: feeding disorders, swallowing disorders (dysphagia), language disorders, cognitive deficits, and speech disorders. With this being my first year as a professional, I will be the first to say that I have a lot to learn within this field. I believe what sets me apart from others is my motivation to learn and understanding that learning is dynamic, not static.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Like love, I believe that success is an action or verb. One can be successful, but does that mean you have achieved success? To me, success is the devotion, the time spent, and the sacrifices you have had to make to get to where you are at today and where you want to be 5, 10, and even 20 years down the road. Success in the big and small things is what I strive for in my everyday life. I didn’t snooze my alarm–success! I made time to work out today-success! I helped a child learn a new word in therapy today-success! I managed to not honk at the idiot texting at a stop light-success (Houston drivers are crazy…IYKYK). Success may look different from your neighbor’s, but to me, it is something that I am able to achieve everyday as long as my mind is open to being successful in the opportunities I get each day.
Contact Info:
- Phone: 713-702-6883
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @yo_its_nikki_b
Image Credit:
Amelia Rose Photography
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