When you meet Professor Lauren Kinamon, you’re struck not only by her kind demeanor but by her presence. Soft-spoken yet unmistakably strong, she carries a quiet confidence that inspires trust and admiration in both her students and colleagues. As a dedicated Speech-Language pathologist and instructor at ACU Online, Lauren brings a blend of compassion, expertise, and gentle leadership to everything she touches. Her heart beats for her students: their growth, their transformation, and their readiness to serve others as empathetic, skilled clinicians in their communities. In her virtual classroom, students find not only guidance but genuine care, each lesson layered with purpose and kindness. Whether she’s mentoring a budding therapist or contributing to curriculum development, Lauren is proof that strength doesn’t need to shout. Sometimes, it speaks with grace, leads with humility, and leaves a lasting impact on every life it touches.
Moving Up and Around The USA
Growing up as a military kid, Lauren always had a different perception of the world around her. For many years, she became used to the idea that change was constant, so you had to make the most of your time. As she grew up, she learned she had a passion for helping patients with speech limitations and wanted to see how she could improve their overall quality of life. Highly motivated to one day become a speech therapist, she attended Auburn University and obtained her Bachelor of Communication Disorders and Master of Speech Language and Hearing Science. Seeing how she had a knack for research and patient care, Lauren firmly believes that she became the scholar she is today because of her caring and life-giving professors.
“My professors truly gave me an amazing, formative experience,” Lauren says. “I really felt strong support in my learning and the further I got into the program, I began to develop supportive relationships which helped my research and professional development, overall.”
As time went on, Lauren figured it was time for her to spread her academic wings and fly. From working as an Acute Care Speech-Language Pathologist in Florida, to serving as a Speech Language Pathologist in New Mexico, she moved from place to place, looking for different ways of providing speech, language, fluency, swallowing and cognitive communicative care for pediatric and adult patients. Having a love for educating her adult patients, she even began providing educational resources for family members and parents regarding diagnoses and treatment plans; all different ways to ensure her patients were being cared for. Fast forward a few years, and Lauren found herself with some slight shifts in her life, including getting married, moving and finding new ways of keeping her passions alive for patients and students.
Shifting To Teaching
Now, as a military spouse, Lauren sees this as a full-circle moment, except this time, she has been given the opportunity to make her life and career her own. Looking for ways to keep her drive to teach and train new speech-language pathologists, she researched universities and programs that she could potentially teach at from the comfort and convenience of her New Mexico home. And after contacting Professor Alicia Ramirez, assistant professor and program director for the ACU Online Bachelor of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders program, Lauren knew ACU was where she needed to be.
“I think it was a God thing,” Lauren says. “When I reached out, they told me that they needed someone to teach the courses that I was equipped to teach, so it kind of just worked out well with the timing and everything happening in my life.”
Beginning her position in April 2023, Lauren is now one of the program’s leading adjunct instructors – and she is loving every minute of it. From preparing lectures, grading case studies and assignments, and guiding students in coursework, to teaching courses related to the neurological bases of communication and clinical Methods in Speech-Language Pathology, she has established herself amongst the growing program. As a self-proclaimed highly motivated educator, she is beyond excited to continue teaching students who have a similar drive to care and become an advocate for patients with communicative disorders.
Every term, Lauren works with a wide variety of students. And while she has mentored quite a few, she has realized that a great future speech-language pathologist is someone who has compassion for others, for themselves and for their community. Working to instill that trait into each student, Lauren says she believes that learning this early on can help students become the best professionals they can be.
“If you do not have compassion and are not ready to serve, I feel like your learning won’t be truly meaningful,” she says. “This field focuses on helping people, and you have to have genuine compassion. On top of that, eventually, you’re going to treat patients and you have to be thorough and learn how to adapt to become a detail-oriented student who wants to become a professional. That’s something you practice now, so once you get into a real job, you know what to do.”
Aiming to mold and shape students, Lauren says she hopes to resemble her previous professors and their active involvement in her education. From answering questions to leading classroom discussions and advocating for her students, Lauren is proud to be a wildcat and educator in this remarkable and ever-growing field.
Do you have an interest in caring for others? Have you considered becoming a speech-language pathologist? Take the first step today and earn your Bachelor of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders.
