Prior to pursuing his doctoral studies, Tyler P. Choate served children and families in Chicago for 10 years as a speech-language pathologist (SLP) and infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH) consultant. The bulk of his practice as an SLP focused on serving children and families navigating neurodivergence, developmental language disorders, social-emotional challenges and difficulties with meaning-making.
As an IECMH consultant, Choate supported early childhood professionals through reflective practice — walking alongside providers in identifying and making use of the most meaningful parts of their experience. As a researcher, Choate studies the development of language and autobiographical memory and their intersection with early childhood risk and resilience.
Choate earned a bachelor’s degree in communication disorders and a master’s degree in SLP from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and a postgraduate certificate in IECMH from Erikson Institute in Chicago. He is primarily interested in the developmental effects of macro-level adversity that stem from poverty, violence, racism, homophobia and other harmful forms of othering, with a particular focus on family and community storytelling.
