UCP of Western Massachusetts is delighted to announce our new feature SPOTLIGHT showcasing one of our talented and committed employees. This edition we are introducing Rhonda Wood, Speech Language Pathologist for Early Intervention (EI) and also, our longest held employee of 13+ years. Rhonda is a mother of two grown daughters. She’s an avid photographer and kayaking enthusiast. Here is what she had to say about her position and being a UCP employee.

Edited for clarity.

What do you love most about your job here at UCP?

Well, I’ve been doing this job [Speech Language Pathologist] with this Early Intervention for 30 years. Initially, working under the Brien Center and then UCP.

I love the work that I do. Initially, when I started, I was part time with the Early Intervention program and part time with the school system.

I quickly fell in love with this age group, birth to three. The kids are so much more malleable, and I found the impact of what you did was much greater on the trajectory of their development. I found that I had a knack for working with toddlers.

Can you give me an example of a child that has improved under your care through UCP EI?

Some of the more challenging kids that I work with are around age two. They’re coming in and they have really no spoken language at all. Maybe they have some vowel structures, but don’t have any consonant sounds. They’re really only communicating with gestures and behaviors. Then, by the time they’re exiting the program at [age] three you’re seeing them using consonant sounds and developing verbal words. It gives you so much hope and joy that this child’s on the right path to gaining what they need to have successful communication.

That is a wonderful thing.

That’s one example. I also tend to have a knack with children on the spectrum and with at least getting them to have some means of communication before they exit our program. They may not necessarily all be verbal, they may be using pictures or an AAC (augmented alternative communication) device or gestures to get their needs met. I have a pretty good success rate with getting them a little bit verbal by the time they’re done with the program.

What has kept you with UCP specifically?

I like that there’s connections that you can make after children turn three, that there’s not the stopping point, which actually did happen, when Early Intervention was with The Brien Center.

UCP is such a great organization in that they have a lot of other programs for children after the age of three and the ability to have advocates for the family, and there’s just so many nice connections that can be made.

For example, UCP has the Assistive Technology department that the families have access to continued after they age out of the program. I like that aspect about UCP.

When I am asked on my yearly evaluation “what do you see as your most important goal?“. My response never changes, “I love that I help this little, small person have a voice.“

“I love that I help this little, small person have a voice.”

Rhonda Wood
Speech Language Pathologist