Rebuilding Life and Career
Tanisha Collins on Finding New Ways to Communicate
May 18, 2025
Tanisha Collins sits comfortably in her home, wearing a pastel flowered blouse adorned by a large purple flower. A playful smile touches her face as she holds up a tablet in a leopard-skin case. It’s not a regular iPad—it’s a Talk Pad Wego 10, a device she has used to communicate after having a stroke 11 years ago.
The stroke happened shortly after she gave birth. “I had to learn everything all over,” she says through her device. “My voice is one of the effects of the stroke. I’m not the same person I used to be.” Tanisha describes the process as an emotional and physical overhaul. "There was a lot of grieving of the me I lost. I haven’t worked for a long time, but didn’t want to lose me as a realtor with everything else."
"There was a lot of grieving of the me I lost. I haven’t worked for a long time, but didn’t want to lose me as a realtor with everything else."
Tanisha's work with CIDE helped her reconnect with that part of her life. But finding the right AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) device wasn’t easy. “You have been great,” she said of the CIDE team, “but finding a device that worked for me took about a year. We tried a few different devices before settling on this one. It’s not perfect, but it’s the best we could find."
Tanisha doesn’t use the Talk Pad all the time. “It doesn’t fit every situation I’m in,” she explains. She often uses a speech app on her phone as well. The Talk Pad comes in handy for Zoom meetings or in-person conversations, especially when she’s using her laptop at the same time. She’s working on building it into more parts of her daily life.
Recently, Tanisha reactivated her real estate license. She’s realistic about the challenges ahead. “I understand this will not be an easy task with my voice limitation, due to real estate being a very communicative industry,” she said. “But I can’t stop living.”
She balances many roles—mother, daughter, friend, volunteer—and approaches each with determination. “I’m a realtor with a disability, a mom with a disability… even a sideline Broncos cheerleader,” she added with a laugh.
“I’m learning how to navigate my life with what I have. It’s not easy, but I face it every day. I want to work with people who can see past my limited speech and understand that I may not be perfect, but I always aim for excellence.”
By Aleaza Goldberg, MA, CCC-SLP/L