Hannah Grassie, M.S., CCC-SLP
Founder of The Parkinson’s Report +
Speech-Language Pathologist
Hannah Grassie, M.S., CCC-SLP
Founder of The Parkinson’s Report +
Speech-Language Pathologist
The Parkinson’s Report (TPR) has been a slow-growing brainchild of mine since 2014. Time has a strange way of slipping through your fingers as you pile up work, relationships, daily tasks, and dog-duty. But here I am, navigating the inner-workings of entrepreneurship.
The Parkinson’s Report is designed to fill a gap in the current online Parkinson’s disease (PD) landscape. The gap that I see is primarily that of a therapeutic perspective that helps identify missing information in the conversation of managing PD symptoms. Additionally, The Parkinson’s Report is compiling valuable resources in one place that are easy to locate and share with others. The Parkinson’s Report is for people with PD, allied healthcare professionals who work with the PD community, and family and care partners of people with PD.
As a practicing speech-language pathologist I was formally introduced to Parkinson’s disease in 2012 when I received a referral to evaluate and treat a patient with recent changes in his symptoms. After spending several weeks in treatment, the patient and I developed a strong patient-therapist connection that would eventually grow into a friendship. Initially, my patient had more questions for me about the disease than I had time to find answers. Over years of working with this patient as his disease progressed, I realized that my passion didn’t have to be one or the other: working with people OR learning about a disease (a true struggle for working clinicians). This is when my focus began to shift. I started intentionally pursuing a better understanding of Parkinson’s disease in order to be a more informed clinician and an asset to the PD community. The idea for The Parkinson’s Report was born from my encounter and friendship with this patient and my desire to educate and participate in the dialogue around PD.
I completed my master’s degree from the University of Tulsa and achieved my Certificate of Clinical Competence (CCCs) from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) in 2010. I have been treating patients with PD since 2012 and have been a groupie of the PD community since that time. For two years I led a Parkinson’s disease support group at a retirement center in Virginia and currently volunteer with Parkinson Foundation of the National Capital Area in the Washington DC metro area. Every May I participate in TIPS for Parkinson’s, which is an event held in Washington, D.C. with the grassroots effort called “Team Fox” with the Michael J. Fox Foundation. I am SPEAK OUT!® and LSVT LOUD® certified, which are evidence-based interventions for people with Parkinson’s.
Thank you for visiting The Parkinson’s Report.
