Adrienne Pitt joins SECD speech-language pathology faculty


Adrienne Pitt

Adrienne Pitt joins SECD speech-language pathology faculty

24 Sep 2019     By Kelcey Buck

Adrienne Pitt’s interest in helping individuals with special needs was first piqued when she was in elementary school, and it led her to a career in speech-language pathology. Now, she hopes she can help speech-language pathology students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln develop that same passion about caring for others. 

Pitt joined the faculty in the Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders this fall as a lecturer and clinical supervisor in the Barkley Speech Language and Hearing Clinic. 

“In elementary school, I really enjoyed helping kids with special needs,” Pitt said. “My class partnered with the special needs class at our school and I became really interested in them.” 

As a teenager, she volunteered at a hospital and was introduced to the medical side of the speech-language pathology field. That’s when she knew she had found her career path. 

A native of Kingsport, Tennessee, Pitt earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of South Carolina. She discovered an enthusiasm for research during her master’s program in speech-language pathology. 

“I was placed as a graduate research assistant and I had no idea what I was doing,” Pitt said. “But, I just fell in love with research. Being analytical is one of my strengths, so realizing I could combine the field that I was already interested in with my strengths was fun.” 

After completing her master’s degree in 2013, Pitt spent the next three years working as a speech-language pathologist, one year in North Carolina and two in Texas. While working for Coppell Independent School District in Coppell, Texas, Pitt became fascinated by how children with autism, particularly those who are nonverbal or have minimal verbal language, process visual stimuli.

That, along with her love for research led her to pursue a doctorate at the University of Kansas. As she begins her work at Nebraska this year, Pitt is eager to finish her dissertation examining whether there are characteristics of stimuli that would be optimal for people with autism. 

After spending the early part of her career researching and working as a clinician, Pitt is excited to work closely with the students at Nebraska, both through teaching and clinical supervision. Her long-term goals, however, remain focused on what originally attracted her to speech-language pathology: helping people. 

“I want to make an impact on people with disabilities, in particular people with autism, to help them to be able to communicate and be part of their communities the best they can,” Pitt said. “And I hope to impact our students who are learning to become speech-language pathologists, that they would feel equipped and be prepared to provide excellent services.”


Special Education and Communication Disorders