Interview with Jacob
Tell us about yourself
I am a Christian, have been married for 3 years, have 2 dogs, 2 cats, and a baby girl on the way, and my wife and I are currently going through all the seasons of Survivor!
Why did you become a Speech-Language Pathologist?
I have always loved working with kids. I feel very connected to my inner child, which helps me relate to and engage with them. And I am totally fascinated by language and how we communicate as humans. Helping children communicate is just the perfect job for me. I’m so grateful for it!
Why do you think your coworkers nominated you for being Creative?
I feel like I’m always trying something new with one of my kids, and people probably see that. I think first and foremost, speech therapy should be fun. If my kids are bored, they’re not learning, and they’re not going to care about our goals for them. I try to use creativity as a way to engage my kids, get them excited about coming to therapy, and learn how to do things they previously couldn’t!
What do you love most about working with TEAM 4 Kids?
I love how much support there is for us clinicians and how closely different disciplines work with each other. I love the unstructured freedom we have to play on a swing the whole session while practicing speech sounds or play with toy cars while working on requesting or verbal routines. TEAM 4 Kids makes it so easy to have fun in speech therapy, both for the kids and for the clinicians themselves!
If you could have one wish come true, what would it be?
I wish I could control my dreams when I sleep. I’d love to take adventures every night without spending a dime or moving a muscle!
Nominations for Jacob:
“Jacob is always going above and beyond for his clients by encouraging creativity and imagination during sessions and matching activities to his clients’ interests!”
“Jacob is ALWAYS thinking outside the box when it comes to his clients. He is constantly looking for and creating new ways to engage them, and his sessions are never dull. He definitely inspires me to be more creative every day!”
“I always see Jacob engaging with clients in creative ways. He can think quickly on the spot to engage kiddos!”
“Jacob goes above and beyond to make each client’s session unique and engaging. Whether that means engaging through silly moves, playing with a ball, swinging, or playing in a separate room.”
“I’ve seen Jacob use weighted balls to illustrate “heavy” and “light” which I thought was very creative and a great way for kids to understand the concept. He is great at utilizing play and movement in sessions.”
“Jacob consistently demonstrates creativity in his work by using imagination, innovation, and empathy to enhance the experience of care for children and their families across both clinical and non-clinical settings. He goes beyond standard practices, finding engaging and accessible ways to make sessions more supportive and meaningful with his welcoming personality and fun, energetic approach. He is especially creative in how he models language for clients of all ages, thoughtfully weaving communication goals into natural, meaningful interactions rather than relying solely on structured materials. He brings a fun, high-energy, and often exaggerated style to his approach—using animated facial expressions, varied tone of voice, and playful interactions to capture attention and make learning memorable and fun. Often making everyone from the client, family, and fellow therapists laugh along the way! He takes everyday moments, such as play, transitions, or casual conversation, and turns them into opportunities for rich language exposure, modeling vocabulary, early developing sounds, sentence structure, articulation skills, and social communication in ways that feel fun and engaging but also relevant. He adjusts his approach based on each child’s developmental level and interests, using humor, storytelling, and shared experiences to make language feel functional and purposeful. By embedding these strategies into real-life contexts, he supports children in not only learning new skills but also using them more independently and confidently across environments, leading to stronger generalization and long-term success!”
