So, something kind of crazy happened to me recently...actually, no, I made something crazy happen. It all started when I got a new job. Now, to most of you, that probably doesn't exactly sound like the definition of crazy but roll with me for a bit, will you?
I've been a Speech-Language Pathologist for...coming up on 10 years now! For the first 4 years of my career, I worked in a private practice setting doing home and clinic based therapy sessions. I worked primarily with the Preschool and school aged populations with an occasional baby and adult here and there. Most of my clients had developmental delays causing them deficits in the area of communication. Then, one day, I got a call from the director of a company with whom I had previously interviewed and she told me she had a position for me at a school in my area and she wanted to know if I was interested. Now, something you should know about me is that I believe in Right Timing. This was an offer that came back around to me at just the right time and I went for it. It was a wonderful change and exactly what my husband and I needed as we began to think about having kids.
Fast forward to today - I've been working in a school district an hour away (remember when I said she told me it was "in my area"? Haha! It's ok though - it was a really nice position!) for 6 years now and again, it's time for a change. How exactly I got this new job, the many reasons why I wanted to leave my old job, (and the reasons I wanted to stay!) are a story for another time. What today's story really is about is what happened to me once I made the commitment to this particular shift in my life. Folks, magic happened. All of a sudden something awoke inside me that has been asleep for a very long time. CREATIVITY! You see, my position for the last 6 years has been primarily supervisory. It's a complicated story but to keep it simple, it was a creative solution to a staffing problem. I supervised 2 SLPAs and they did all the therapy while I did loads and loads of paperwork. I was present 50% of the time to each SLPA , I interacted with my students regularly, and completed all the evaluations and IEPs. I had a hand in therapy but really the SLPAs came up with their own activities to address the goals I wrote. I'll admit, it was a little refreshing to have the pressure to come up with a fresh new therapy activity each week taken off me for a while but now it's time to get back to the therapy table and boy am I READY!
I didn't realize just how ready I was until I was struck with an idea...and that idea turned into a project...and that project turned into a few crafts...and some stops at thrift stores...and suddenly almost every day I was coming up with a new idea to change the way I approach speech and language therapy. I didn't really set out to become a blogger and frankly if no one ever reads this, it won't break my heart. This will really be serving as a place for me to get my ideas out, archive them, and use them to reference later when I feel blocked or to help someone else understand my thinking when they ask me why...
So if you have decided to read this far, good for you! You've fallen down the rabbit hole! Welcome to the inside of my head. Pull up a mismatched chair, help yourself to a clean cup, and prepare for a bit of nonsense and sideways thinking. You may feel a bit disoriented but perhaps with time you'll find yourself inspired or at least more comfortable with my very unique take on reality. After all, we're all mad here!
