Maria ZAKARIA

Chargé de cours

01/421 000 maria.zakaria@usj.edu.lb

Speech Language Pathologist neuropsychologist After her graduation in 2011, Maria started working with kids having learning difficulties or language delay in a specialized school and several clinics in Jounieh and Beirut, Lebanon. Also, she gained a wide experience in treating people suffering from stroke or any other neurological injury/ disease while working for 9 years in a neurorehabilitation center and doing home- based therapy sessions in Beyrouth. In 2017, She earned a MSc in Neuropsychology from the Lebanese University, Neuro Research Center- Faculty of Medicine. In her role as a rehab clinician, Maria developed programs for adults and provided comprehensive evaluations, skilled treatment, family counseling and support, and collaborated with other professionals in an effort to address individual/family needs. She assisted in treating a variety of swallowing and communication issues resulting from stroke or head injury/surgery, neurologically-based speech and voice disorders, and cognitive-linguistic rehabilitation. Therapy is individual and sessions are 60 minutes in length. Also, it’s personalized to an individual’s needs, interests and hobbies. Her adult program includes evaluation and treatment in the following areas:•Aphasia (acquired language disorder, receptive and/or expressive)•Voice diorders, Dysphonia and aphonia.•Swallowing disorders•Motor Speech Disorders, such as dysarthria/apraxia•Alexia/agraphia (acquired reading and writing difficulties after a neurological event)•Cognitive difficulties, such as memory, judgment, reasoning, safety awareness (she provides a group therapy to strengthen the cognitive functions).•Dementia and Alzheimer Disease.: creating individualized organization tools (such as a memory book) for optimal success in daily tasksIn addition to that, she teaches a variety of undergraduate courses in the higher institute of Speech-Language Pathology at “Saint Joseph University” in Beyrouth. She is Responsible for training and supervision of undergraduate students working with adults. She is also the thesis advisor of many students and contributes in conducting many studies. She is fluent in English, French and Arabic. Maria has attended and conducted many trainings and seminars. She also participated in many psychological and neuropsychological workshops to serve better her patients and for her personal growth. She is a member of ALO (Lebanese Association of Speech Therapist) and the neurological committee, DRS (Dysphagia research study), ESSD (European Society for Swallowing Disorders) and GMRC (Lebanese Memory Group for Clinical Research).