Welcome and thanks for stopping by my website!
Hi! If you are reading this, it means you’ve stumbled upon my blog somehow. I’m glad you made it! This blog is primarily geared towards speech pathologists but other disciplines and parents of children with disabilities might also find nuggets of wisdom or relatable experiences related to speech pathology and social communication, among these blog posts!
Achievements and Presentations:
Boom Learning Back to School Symposium 2022
Featured in:
Interview with Speech Pathology Master’s Programs
ASHAWIRE Blogjam 2018 Facilitating social communication during pretend play
ASHAWIRE Blogjam 2018 Perspective taking-using fairy tales
ASHAWIRE Blogjam 2019: Teaching social rules
ASHAWIRE Blogjam 2020 Perspective-taking and emotions
ASHAWIRE Blogjam 2021 Using social media to teach inferences
Nominations:
13 Best Speech Therapy Blogs On The Web We are number 3!
Free Spirit Publishing Educational Advisory Board
Here’s a bit about me! I’ve been a speech language pathologist for 30 years, working with children of all ages. Most of my career was spent as a school SLP but I started my SLP journey in the field of traumatic brain injury. I worked as a Clinical Director for a Brain Injury Rehabilitation Program in Chicago and had a short stint as an interim administrator. I guess we have to try different things to find what we love but I hated every minute of being an administrator. It was not my thing. I was craving a creative outlet. During my years in brain injury, I published a book called “The Reintegration Resource: Compensatory Bridges to Independence.” Ha! I’m not sure anyone read it but it felt good to write again. My first major in college was journalism…until I fell in love with speech pathology!
For many years, I loved working in the schools. For me, it came down to people…students, families, co-workers. I would stay after school for hours to create a social story, set of visuals, home program etc. and creating activities never felt like work to me! I tolerated all the changes in education and school policies and the push to do more with less because I had a supportive supervisor and wonderful co-workers. We checked in on eachother. We consulted eachother and most of all, there was an atmosphere of mutual respect. When my supportive supervisor and my favorite co-worker retired, my school world was turned upside down. I tried to do it without them but without a supportive supervisor and my like-minded teacher bestie, (even with loads of other awesome coworkers), it was barely tolerable for me. The exit sign was flashing with neon bulbs and I finally saw it and found the courage to make a change.
I moved on to the wonderful world of teletherapy. It works for me. I work as an independent contractor and make my own schedule. I get to work from home, write on my little blog here and I am lucky enough to fuel my creativity by creating products for my TPT store, “Badger State Speechy.” My niche on TPT has been with making products for social language/communication but I also make other digital speech and language products too!
Now that I do teletherapy, I also am committed to making more online, interactive, digital products, such as boom cards! I am an ASHA-certified and state-licensed SLP and I also enjoy being a member of Free Spirit Publishing’s educational advisory board.
So, that’s my journey. I am a wife, mom to two adult girls, lover of wine, chocolate and coffee and spirited traveler! I love being outdoors; rock collecting, hiking, walking, riding my bike, or getting my hands dirty in the garden!
I love animals!! When our dog died, we became cat people. I was surprised how easy it was to make the transition! Flapjack, the black cat was our first, followed by Oslo, our ragdoll and then, Junebug, our ginger cat who is still recovering from her life on the street. She’s a fighter though and even though the other two cats initially were like “send her back please,” they have grown to love and accept her.
Want to learn more about my SLP journey? Here’s an interview with me from Speech Pathology Master’s Programs that was done when my website was named a top SLP blog of 2018!
Terms, Disclosures and Disclaimers:
This is my personal website and blog. I write it, edit it and publish the content. The information that I post is intended for use by Speech Language Pathologists treating children and adolescents with communication disorders. No part of any content on this website may be copied, distributed, adapted, revised or reproduced without my written consent. You may blog and share my content with others but please do link back to this website so others have access to the original content.
All of my products are copyright-protected. You may not post my free or paid products on your blog or website but you may post a link back to this site.
Badger State Speechy will never use, sell or give way any personal information. When you comment on a post or sign up to receive posts via email, it is for internal use only.
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