We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Fatima Hassan a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My personal journey in becoming a Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) wasn’t ordinary. I was born and raised in Harare, Zimbabwe and at the age of 19, moved to the United States for university. I was very interested in media and communication with the academic path of becoming a journalist on the front lines. There was one particular phone call with my mom where she shared what the field of speech-language pathology was and it seemed interesting and aligned with my focus on communication. Call it a mother’s intuition in guiding her child, as I truly believe that call, my curiosity and what unfolded next, has helped me become the SLP I am today. A quote from my favorite book, the Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo, captures this in a powerful way: “And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”

I graduated with my Master’s Degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 2007, and began my Clinical Fellowship (CF) in Stamford, CT as a school-based SLP. The cold weather and I don’t have a good relationship, so after my CF experience, I moved to Miami, Florida. This was both the best personal and professional decision I have made in my life. Over the next fifteen years, I provided direct school-based services working with Kindergarten students through 8th grade, exploring all modalities for bridging the gap between academic relevance and communication. It was during these years where I became passionate about working with the autistic population and understanding how important a relationship-based approach is. I have presented at my state conference and school districts specifically on Autism and behavior. During this timeframe, I also had the privilege of being a Clinical Fellow mentor, partnering with university programs and training graduate students for the Praxis exam in both Puerto Rico and Miami, and leading bilingual Spanish-English immersion programs in Ecuador and Costa Rica. While my work-load was heavy, my heart was full. However, I always felt there was a missing piece, but didn’t understand what that was until the pandemic happened.

TERRA Speech-Language Therapy, my passion private practice, was birthed from a mission to serve the pediatric population from a “whole-child” lens, an integrative and holistic approach that dialed it back to a “root cause” approach and not just a symptom-based approach. TERRA in Italian means “earth” and this word resonates so much to me for one primary reason: humanity has strayed way too far from the simplicity of living in accordance with nature and this plays a vital role in impacting our health.

TERRA was founded on some basic principals: root cause and preventative measures, whole-child approach, defining what health is for our children that goes against the norm, and supporting the entire family in “subtracting” before adding into their environment.

It’s a polluted world. Toxins are everywhere – in the air we breathe, the products we use, the food we eat and the technology we are exposed to. Our children are “connected” to technology for more hours of the day than they are outside in nature. And research is starting to show the link between our increased toxin exposure, autoimmune conditions and increased statistics for autism, attention-deficit, allergies, asthma..the list goes on.

My clinical approach is simple and effective: I meet my clients and their families where they are at, and together, with the family being in control and driving success forward, we discuss options, strategies and decide on which course of action to pursue.

Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?

While it is important to add value to your skill set with trainings, certifications and courses, in my opinion, what has been most valuable in my field of work is a lived experience. That of myself and that of those I serve. There is no training in this world that can truly prepare you to work a diverse range of complex communication needs for a child, especially when we are looking at supporting a child with a bio-individualized lens. Staying open to Unlearning, perhaps re-learning and leading with an open heart to understand that different methodologies work is the key to succeeding.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I truly believe that your heart is your brand. Logo’s, merchandise, modules and offered trainings are an important representation but are not YOU! They are all an extension of the work you do. I share content from my heart, I connect with the children I work with from my heart space and that shows clearly in the progress made and connections established. There are many INCREDIBLE Speech-Language Pathologists doing amazing work for children; however what sets one apart from the other is who they are as a person behind that fixed identity. I can’t begin to express the importance of connecting within your community and now with social media, it is easy to connect with people around the world. Stay open to learning as a student for life and build your reputation from that space.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.terraspeech.com
• Instagram: @terra_speech_language