When you meet Florence Coggin, you can feel her energy for helping people right away. A speech therapist at Summit Square for just over two years, she’s built a practice around one simple idea: independence. “Everybody worries when they get a referral for me,” she admits with a smile. “They think I’m sending them straight to memory care or assisted living. But really, my goal is to keep people where they are—helping them age in place and thrive.”
Florence’s journey to speech therapy wasn’t a straight line. Originally considering nursing, she discovered her true calling after a career test at Wofford College suggested speech pathology. A shadowing experience in Charlotte sealed the deal. She went on to earn her master’s degree at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette before returning to Virginia, where her family has deep ties. Today, she lives in Waynesboro with her husband, their eight-month-old daughter, and two Labradors.
Her work covers far more than most people realize. “I like to say I work on anything from the neck up,” she says. That means helping with speech and word-finding after a stroke, addressing swallowing deficits, working on cognition and memory strategies, and improving voice quality through specialized programs like LSVT LOUD for people with Parkinson’s disease. Florence lights up when she talks about the breakthroughs she’s seen. She recalls a young mother who had suffered a stroke at age 18: “She was hemiplegic, down on one side, and needed to be able to care for her baby. After weeks of therapy with PT, OT, and speech, she walked out the door ready to go home and raise her child. That was huge.”
At Summit Square, she’s seeing similar successes. One gentleman with Parkinson’s came for a short respite stay from Maryland. Through LSVT therapy, he regained strength and clarity in his voice. “He’s doing so much better now,” she says. “Programs like this are rare in the Valley, and it’s a big deal that we can offer it here.”
Florence wants people to know speech therapy isn’t just for older adults—it’s for anyone experiencing challenges with communication, cognition, or swallowing, at any age. Some of her referrals even come from UVA trials pairing speech therapy with new infusion treatments for dementia-related conditions. “We’re seeing promising results when those therapies are combined,” she explains.
Outside of work, Florence enjoys hiking, visiting local vineyards and breweries, and spending time with her baby girl. But her passion always circles back to her work: helping people find their voice again. “Communication is such a huge part of life,” she says. “Being able to say what you need, to express yourself, that’s everything. If I can help someone hold onto that, even just a little longer, then I’ve done my job.”
