Renata Aldrete
Renata is a second-year graduate student pursuing a Master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology with a Bilingual Certificate at The University of Texas at Austin. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders and a minor in Health Communication from UT Austin in 2023. Renata has experience working with monolingual and bilingual children and adults with communication disorders across diverse settings and is interested in using her skills in a pediatric setting post graduation. As a Project Access scholar, she is eager to learn and use her background to address the barriers faced by children with disabilities.
Caroline Lewin
Caroline (she/her/hers) is a second-year Masters student at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work. She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 2020 with degrees in Anthropology and International Relations & Global Studies. Following her undergraduate studies, Caroline worked for a Medicaid waiver program provider where she worked in both direct support and administrative roles for 3 years before returning to UT to pursue her MSW. Caroline was an intern with E4Texas, a post-secondary program of the Texas Center for Disability Studies, during her first year in the MSW program. Caroline is passionate about supporting children and adults with ID/D as well as their families and caretakers. Additional interests include: interdisciplinary studies and interprofessional work, ID/D and gerontology, ID/D and SUD, and improving access to and research of evidence-based practice interventions for individuals with ID/D. Caroline is excited to be part of Project Access, and to learn alongside scholars from various disciplines to improve the overall access and participation of children with disabilities in diverse settings.
Dani Martinez
Dani is a second-year graduate student pursuing a masters degree in Speech-Language Pathology with a certificate in Bilingualism at UT Austin. She graduated with a B.S. in Communication Sciences & Disorders and a B.A. in Spanish. She is a pediatric SLPA and has experience working with children with various needs. She believes every child deserves to live a happy and fulfilled life. Interprofessional collaboration and family-centered practices are aspects of assessment and treatment that Dani strives for. Her interests include language development, gestalt language, augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), speech sound disorders, and bilingualism. As an ACCESS scholar, Dani looks forward to being equipped to support children with intellectual and developmental disabilities, a population she is passionate about serving.
Stephanie Vargas
Stephanie is currently a second-year graduate student in the masters Speech-language Pathology program at the University of Texas at Austin. She previously graduated from the University of Northern Colorado with her B.S. in Audiology/Speech-language Sciences with minors in Multicultural Anthropology and Special Education in 2023. In her current program, she is currently working toward achieving a bilingual certificate, as she has a strong passion for serving and working with culturally and linguistically diverse populations. In addition to working with these populations, she also has a desire to hopefully have an opportunity to work with all children with disabilities in an early childhood intervention (ECI) setting.