Jacqueline Nunez

Community-Academic Scholar: Jacqueline Nunez (she/her)

Project: Jacqueline worked with fellow scholar Michelle Garcia, Professor Meghan Burke, Family Matters Parent Training and Information Center, and the Early Intervention Clearinghouse to conduct qualitative and quantitative research about the technology loan program to determine if the program closes inequities in the delivery of early-interventions services via telehealth. Learn more about the project.  

Mentor reflection: "Community-academic partnerships like this enable students and faculty to conduct meaningful research that matters to the community," said Prof. Burke. "We hope that Jacqueline gained an understanding of the needs of families of children with disabilities in Illinois and that this newfound knowledge helps her partner with families in the future."

Do you have personal story or path that led to your interest in this research project?
I was interested in this project because I had seen the disparities in speech therapy first-hand and felt this was another opportunity for me to address them and help underserved communities. I worked as a speech therapist aide in the predominantly black and brown community that I grew up in and realized that many parents were not familiar with the services, did not have adequate resources, and had many questions. This differed greatly from predominantly white communities I had seen. Because of this, I wanted to be able to help families who may have been in similar situations. I would be able to provide more guidance and resources to these underserved families. 

How did participating in this program help you toward your goals?
Participating in this program helped me get towards my goals because I hope to one day provide speech therapy and early intervention services to predominantly black and brown communities and through this, I was able to see the needs of those communities. I now know which resources and methods of practice are most beneficial to Spanish speaking families and I can implement those into my own practice one day. Overall, I feel that I learned I can best help families when I become a speech-language pathologist. 

What was the most meaningful part of this experience?
The most meaningful part of this experience was being in contact with Spanish speaking families and them sounding so grateful that there is a Spanish speaker who was trying to help them. When I called families asking if they’d like free resources from the library, asked if they have troubleshooting issues with their technology, or just asked about their early intervention experiences in general, they sounded so appreciative that they are able to voice their comments and experiences. I liked getting to know these families and learning about them.