|
Subscribe
to our free newsletter - Outcomes
Enter Your Email
|
|
|
Home
> Profile >
Melonie Cousin, Speech language Pathologist
Melonie
Cousin, MA, CCC-SLP
|
I came to
Northeast Center for Special Care because of its emphasis
on Brain Injury and I was interested in gaining more
experience working with people on mechanical
ventilators and who had a tracheostomy. The
biggest thing I like about being here at Northeast Center
and what pointed me in this direction is the fact that the
Resident-Neighbors I am working with would have the opportunity to
go back to the community and become active participants in
life again. I wanted to be able to be a part of that.
I
believe everybody has something to offer the community.
If
they have a disability, they’re sharing their life with
me and I’m gaining three-times from them what I think I
am giving to them. When they go back out to the community,
people in the community gain something from them. It’s
just an enriching experience for everybody.
I like the Team spirit I feel with the other therapists
and the communication we try to achieve with All of the
different departments. I honestly feel that the people who
work here, are sincere in the efforts that they put forth
and they’re very caring people. I haven’t met one
person yet that I felt was here just for a job and a
paycheck. Everybody has a stake in what they are doing
here somehow and in some way. I think this is a remarkable
place and we are doing many things for people.
|
|
|
Melonie Cousin brings a dedication to the
mission at Northeast Center for Special Care. Her long
career as an effective, caring speech therapist demonstrates
that. |
Originally I didn't plan to be a Speech Language
Pathologist. I was going to the University of Miami
to become a Registered Nurse. At that point I was already an LPN.
They wouldn’t accept any of my credits or experience, so
I had to start all over again in the nursing program and I
became bored so I started to look for
something more fun. I had a couple of friends on my floor
in the college dorm who were studying speech language
pathology, I followed them and fell in love with it.
My
grades shot-up and that convened me I chose the right
placement. That was nineteen years ago.
Over the years I have worked with pre-school children and
helped start a pre-school program, with developmentally
delayed persons in day treatment programs. I also
created community
programs and workshops for speech. I worked with
developmentally disabled persons in ICF’s
(community-residence programs), and at the Center for the
Disabled where I specialized in communications devices. I have
also developed experience in swallowing disorders and
adult language problems.
I don’t think I have a greatest professional
accomplishment yet, every place that I have worked in I
have accomplished something to make the program better or
offer more services. It’s a part of me after working in
a place for a little while and doing the same thing for a
little while I get motivated and I want to expand in what
I do. I’ve been able to do that in each program I have
worked in, I feel I have contributed to growth. So I don’t
feel I have one great accomplishment, I try for my best
everywhere I am at.
|
|
Tara Watt
and Melonie Cousin are both Speech Language Pathologists,
colleagues and share the same dedications to their field. |
|
I was born in Hudson, New York. I have spent most of my
life in Central New York, in Little Falls. I have one
younger brother. I am married, my family consists of my
husband and two children, but my family really consists of
four children: I have a teenage daughter, and a younger daughter, as well as a
niece
and a nephew that live with us. I live for
my family. I am very close with my grandmother.
Family is
extremely important for me.
I love music, I love to sing, I love to read, and I am
very involved in community activities. I was a Lioness for
several years with the Lion’s Club. I have sat on the
local library board, day care boards, I am active in
my church, The
Mount Pleasant Reformed Church, where I also sing in the
church choir.
My daughter is active in Rainbow, which is a youth
organization with the Mason’s and Eastern Star, where I
also sit on the board. I feel it’s important for kids to
be actively involved in some sort of community
organization, and not just sitting around so they don’t
get in trouble. I also like lighthouses. When my kids are
grown I plan to travel more with my husband.
|
|
|
"Everybody has a stake in
what they are doing here somehow and in some way. I think
this is a remarkable place and we are doing many things
for people." |
|
