Alumni Profiles

Switching Solutions: Trading Numbers for Speech Pathology

Mary Lou Brecht Johnson '73

Mary Lou Brecht Johnson '73 arrived at Ohio Wesleyan intending to major in mathematics. But during her sophomore year, she hit the wall in advanced math. "By the time I headed home for winter break, I had no idea what other major I might choose," she recalls.

Mary Lou credits her mother, Yvonne Renner Brecht '43, for saving the day. "She suggested I accompany her to the volunteer job she loved, assisting a speech-language pathologist (SLP) in a language therapy group for young children at Akron Children's Hospital. I went, I saw, I was thrilled."

**Mary Lou Brecht Johnson '73**, with Dr. Barbara Tull at Mary Lou's OWU Commencement. Mary Lou thanked Dr. Tull in her book's acknowledgment section. "In her teaching days, she was a bold person with a large and generous spirit," says Mary Lou.

When Mary Lou returned to Ohio Wesleyan after winter break, the university enabled Mary Lou to pivot to her passion. Mary Lou met Dr. Barbara Tull, an SLP and assistant professor at OWU. Barbara's expertise and network gave Mary Lou access to her own connections. As a result, Mary received full tuition from the Central Institute for the Deaf (CID) in St. Louis, and upon receiving her master of science degree, embarked on a tremendous career at the Children's Hospital in Colorado.

Mary Lou's guidebook was written to inform, coach, and guide parents and other caregivers of babies and young children to learn specific techniques to help their children speak.

Mary Lou retired from Children's Hospital after 42 years of service. She developed skills in multiple areas of practice, including guiding parents who wanted to learn more ways to support their children with delays or disorders in learning to talk. In the 1980s, she began presenting on that topic and writing handouts for parents at the CID. Ultimately, she wrote several manuscripts. "I wanted to self-publish, but knew that was a daunting task. Recent federal government cuts to funding for public sector services for young children with developmental needs pushed me to get past my publishing hesitancy and just do it."

Mary Lou published Help Your Child Speak: The Interactive Guidebook. The unique guidebook helps parents help their young children learn to talk or talk better. With the high costs of private therapy and lengthy waiting lists for evaluations and treatment in both the private and public sectors, many parents want to do more, on their own, whether or not they are working with an SLP. The book is also very useful for SLPs who can use the exercises and methods to create a parent-child interaction coaching program, and for anyone caring for young children, from preschool teachers to grandparents to early intervention specialists from all disciplines.