Summer is Over!

Well folks, my summer is officially over. In the past, the start of a new school year marked the end of my summer. Whether it was myself attending school, or last year when I was the speech-language pathologist for the Sparta, IL school district, summer ended on that first day back in the classroom. 

This year though, the end of summer was marked by something new, my new job! (Well, technically one of my new jobs- in the next few weeks I will be starting in the Early Intervention system. We will get to that later.) Meet the newest speech-language pathologist of Integrated Therapy Services: me!!

I've come to learn that opportunities arise when we least expect it. While on the job hunt earlier this year, I had emailed the owner of Integrated Therapy Services, Sarah Weiler, asking about her private practice and if there might be room for just one more speech-language pathologist. Unfortunately, she wasn't ready to add on another SLP, but told me that she would keep me in the loop if she heard of any openings in the area.

Meanwhile, I came in contact with Progressus Therapy, who had an opening in the Effingham area for an Early Intervention SLP. I immediately knew I wanted to pursue that opportunity further; after all, I have wanted to do early intervention since graduate school. Things started falling into place and before long, I had accepted the position and Eric and I began the process of getting our Schackmann family home.

Fast forward a few months, and Sarah tells me some fabulous news- she will be needing an SLP this fall! She wanted me to help her with some after school clients throughout the week, and I couldn't say no. Helping the children in my hometown grow and reach their full potential through individualized, client-centered speech therapy has been a dream of mine since I started on this career path, and now it is coming true. 

I've been observing Sarah and some of her clients all summer. From day one, I could already tell that I liked loved the private practice side of speech therapy. Now don't get me wrong, there is definitely a time and a place for school-based SLPs. But, a school SLP can only do so much, as everything they do is mandated by law. There must be an academic impact before services are warranted in a school district, and with increasing caseloads and paperwork, not all children can qualify, let alone get individualized therapy services.

And that's where the private-based SLP comes in. We are able to pick up those kids who might not qualify in the school district, or the ones who need something more than what the school district is able to offer. We can see kids one-on-one, and provide truly individualized therapy services for them.

I have already learned so much from Sarah, and I've only "officially" been at Integrated Therapy Services for one day. There's so much more to learn, but with Sarah as my mentor, there's no doubt in my mind that my abilities as a licensed, ASHA certified speech-language pathologist will continue to grow and evolve. I can't wait to see what the future holds for me at ITS.

As a sidenote, did any of my SLP friends notice that I put ASHA certified in there?? That's right, after 6 long, challenging years I am finally able to add all those C's after my name (as of Monday!). Signing my name as Sharon Schackmann, M.S., CCC-SLP on my client's SOAP note never felt so good!