Kati is a senior in the COSD undergraduate program. She chose to pursue a career as an SLP because it’s the perfect mixture of her affinity for language arts and her desire to help people. As an SLP, Kati wants to work with children in a private practice or school setting. She feels that she connects well with children and wants to give them the tools to express themselves and feel confident, comfortable, and valued while doing so. Kati is also interested in exploring the social language differences in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and working to provide well-informed services to children with ASD. In the next 5 to 10 years, she hopes to be providing these services to children in the Southwest Virginia area.

In her free time, you can find Kati spending time with her friends and family, exploring the outdoors through hikes and bike rides, or watching a variety of new TV shows. 

Dr. Chia-Ming (Abel) Lei received his bachelor's degree in Foreign Languages and Literature from the National Taiwan University in Taipei, Taiwan. From there he moved to the United States and received his master’s degree at the MGH Institute of Health Professions in Boston, MA. He lived in Boston for 7 years and worked as an SLP in a skilled nursing facility (SNF) with an additional transit care unit for sub-acute rehabilitation. Later, while pursuing his doctorate at the University of Pittsburgh for (another) 7 years, he worked as a per diem SLP in a SNF, equipped with a memory care unit. Most recently, Dr. Lei worked as a research coordinator at Baylor College of Medicine on projects investigating patients’ language during the acute onset of strokes. Dr. Lei has been accumulating experience and knowledge clinically in the area of acquired neurogenic communication disorders, and research wise in the field of hemispheric specialties in language processing. When asked what he enjoys most about being an SLP, he said he values seeing his clients and building connections. He also values being able to support clients through difficult and frustrating times in their lives. He is proud of this career which applies science to bridge communication gaps.

Dr. Lei is new to COSD faculty and to education. However, he has always been planning to become an educator which was the main push for him to pursue his Ph.D. He appreciates that Radford is giving him the opportunity to fulfill this goal.  Dr. Lei said he chose Radford because in addition to the beautiful scenery, our program is complete and comprehensive with the undergraduate, graduate (including routes for either master of arts or science), and leveling programs for those without an undergraduate SLP background. On top of that, Radford has an on-campus clinic providing SLP services to the community and learning environment for the students.

In his free time, he enjoys running, yoga, growing orchids, and is picking up meditation. He is also excited to experience more of the outdoor activities the NRV has to offer.