Elissa Larkin MS, CCC-SLP, HEC-C

Elissa Larkin, M.S., CCC-SLP, HEC-C, is a Research Speech-Language Pathologist at the Center for Aphasia Research and Treatment and a Clinical Bioethicist in the Donnelley Ethics Program at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab. Elissa earned her Master of Science in Communication Disorders with bilingual certification (Spanish) at Arizona State University, and completed advanced training in the Clinical Bioethics Scholars Program at Northwestern Medicine Center for Bioethics and Medical Humanities (2021). Since joining the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab team in 2010, Elissa has held multiple roles. She spent her first six years working with patients with a wide range of neurological diagnoses on an inpatient Neurorehabilitation Unit. Elissa also worked in the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab Technology Center and joined the Center for Aphasia Research and Treatment as a Research SLP in 2015. In 2017, Elissa completed trainer certification in Supported Conversation for Adults with Aphasia (SCA) at the Aphasia Institute of Toronto. Since that time Elissa has provided communication strategy training to patients, family members, clinical and nursing staff, researchers, volunteers, and students. Elissa’s areas of clinical and scholarly interest include applications of ethical frameworks to promote patient rights and shared-decision making in rehabilitation practice, Life Participation Approach to Aphasia-centered research and treatment, and exploring and implementing interprofessional education models to increase communication access and equity for all patients.