Odds are good that Catherine Cotton would not have spent all of her adult life working in speech pathology if it weren’t for Stefani.
After all, less than 4% of speech pathologists in the U.S. are Black and none of them lived in Cotton’s hometown of Huntington, West Virginia.

“For me, there was a personal reason,” Cotton said. “I had a niece, Stefani, who hadn’t reached those developmental milestones we expect to see – sitting up, rolling over, babbling, very basic things. I was in high school when she started getting therapy, and I was invited to attend, and sometimes participate in, some of those sessions.”

Cotton began to see a disconnect between therapist and patient. She was intrigued.

“The (therapists) would come in and say things like, ‘This isn’t a part of what we do’ or ‘This is what I think is something she needs,’ instead of the personal viewpoint of what the family thinks is important and what they want to achieve,” she said.

There was never any doubt about what occupation Cotton would pursue.

For the past five years, Cotton has been an assistant professor in the Speech-Language Pathology Department at Mississippi University for Women. Prior to that, she spent 30 years practicing speech pathology in Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, West Virginia and South Dakota, where she worked on a Native American reservation.

“I have had the opportunity to work in a lot of different environments,” Cotton said. “Part of it was that I wanted to learn about people from hearing them instead of hearing about them from others. I wanted to be in those spaces instead of, for example, reading what other people said about the Native American community.”

When people think of speech pathologists, they often think of working with people who have a speech impediment or are stroke patients trying to recover their speech.

But speech pathology goes far beyond that, Cotton said.

“Those are just small parts of what we do, “Cotton said. “It really can be from birth to death, and it goes beyond speaking. There are also people who might need alternative devices or sign language. It can be even more basic things, like swallowing, having a cleft palate or autism.”

Cotton finds speech pathology deeply satisfying and rewarding. She also finds it almost exclusively white. Cotton has worked hard to make sure Black people and other minorities have the opportunity to explore the field.

“It’s about access,” Cotton said. “You know, when I was in high school, the guidance counselor never discussed it. There are so few Black pathologists. As an undergraduate, I was one of about 40 students in the program at Marshall University. As one of the very few Black (people) in that space, I wanted to help others find the profession.”

Cotton has worked closely with the Journal of the National Black Association for Speech-Language and Hearing to help recruit more African Americans to the field.

“Part of the issue is that there are even fewer Blacks teaching at the university level,” Cotton said. “For many people it can be hard to be in that space, but it’s natural for me. My hometown was 95% white and 4% Black, so I’ve been in those spaces all my life. I can relate to how difficult that can be.”

For her efforts, MUW honored Cotton as the recipient of The W’s Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Award in 2023.

During her 35 years in the field, Cotton has learned that success can come in degrees.

“Sometimes, we’ll achieve a goal,” she said. “But even if we don’t, it doesn’t mean there hasn’t been growth or be able to be a real part of the family. Stefani isn’t verbal. What I’ve come to learn is that we don’t all have to talk and look the same.”

Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].

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