Rachel is the Assistive technology Specialist handling the state territory of northern Florida.

Rachel Haines is a Speech-Language Pathologist who obtained her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders from the University of Central Florida. Rachel is local to Florida, and grew-up in Jacksonville, FL.
 
After graduation and completing her Clinical Fellowship year, she was offered a position at a local hospital system where she was fortunate enough to split her time between adults and pediatrics. Rachel’s primary focus has been chronic and neurodegenerative diseases. Her passion for Augmentative Alternative Communication (AAC) started during graduate school while working with a teenager requiring an AAC device following a car accident. From there, Rachel strives to provide communication means to all individuals unable to communicate using their natural speech. She began working with persons living with ALS over 6 years ago which sparked her passion further and she was able to develop an adult AAC program to better serve the Central Florida community.
 
Rachel maintains her Multiple Sclerosis Certified Specialist certification. She and her two previous colleagues presented on A Team Approach to Evaluation and Recommendations for Augmentative and Alternative Communication and Environmental Controls at the annual Consortium for Multiple Sclerosis conference in Denver in May 2023, sparking conversation with other professionals and researchers across the nation on the role of assistive technology and AAC for persons living with MS. She has further been asked to present at the ALS Hope and Help Symposiums and Grand Rounds at the hospital she worked at on the topics of Assistive Technology and Augmentative and Alternative Communication.
 
Outside of work, Rachel loves spending time with her family (husband, children- Jacob and Haley, and their Standard Poodle fur babies), and going to the beach. She also loves completing OrangeTheory workouts with her girlfriends, reading, and recently fell in love with hiking while visiting Colorado!