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We all hope to one day have a career that’s both meaningful and helpful, and after reading through this Twitter thread, there can be no doubt that speech pathologist Rachel Romeo has found her true calling.
Her thread begins with her finding herself seated next to a man and his nonverbal, autistic 10-year-old son. The man apologized in broken English for what would likely be a difficult flight due to his son’s issues, but Rachel assured him it was fine – she was more than used to dealing with children with similar struggles.
The child began the flight exactly how his father feared, but when Rachel asked how the boy preferred to communicate, the father didn’t have an answer.
So she put away her laptop and set about making him a communication board to see if he could use it to make his feelings, wants, and needs known.
It took some trial and error, but she was able to work with him over the 8 hour flight until he was able to communicate with both her and his father.
They were both grateful for the intervention, and Rachel chose to look at the experience not as an interruption of her flight, but as a chance reminder that she was exactly where she was meant to be.
As the daughter of a special educator, I can confirm that people who choose to work with challenged kids are special indeed – and most, if not all, of them would have responded exactly the same way.
