A clinician shaped by lived experience
I became a speech-language pathologist because I have always believed in the transformative power of communication — that when a child finds their voice, something profound shifts not just for them, but for their entire family.
I began my career working in schools and private practice settings, where I developed a deep foundation in early childhood language, articulation, and the intersection of communication and learning. But it was the years that followed — the ones that didn't look like a traditional clinical career path — that shaped me most profoundly as a clinician.
Life took me in an unexpected direction. Becoming the parent of a child with a nervous system that experiences the world differently than most gave me a front-row seat to how hard parenting can be — and how much parents need support, not judgment. It changed the way I practice, and the way I understand behavior in every child I work with.
Those years of parenting and deepening my understanding of child development, nervous system regulation, and family systems didn't pause my clinical growth — they accelerated it in ways I am only beginning to fully understand. I return to clinical practice not as the SLP I was when I left, but as the SLP I was always meant to become.
Over the past six months I have been substitute teaching across early childhood, elementary, and special education classrooms — including resource rooms and self-contained settings — in West Michigan public schools. What I have gained from this experience is something I did not learn in graduate school, and something I did not fully understand even from years of working as a school SLP.
I now understand what a school day actually feels like from the inside. The pace of transitions. The sensory, academic, and attention demands of a busy classroom. I understand better now why and how a child might present so differently in a therapy room versus a classroom setting — and how a resource room is organized and functions, and what that means for a child's day. These are not small details — they are the context in which every child I serve is spending a large portion of their day.
This experience has shaped how I approach treatment. I now select therapy materials that directly connect to what a child is learning in their classroom — because generalization happens faster when therapy feels relevant to a child's real world. I understand grade-level curriculum expectations in a concrete, practical way that allows me to build goals that support not just communication, but academic success. And I bring a different perspective to understanding behavior in the classroom — because what looks like defiance may simply be a nervous system overwhelmed by the demands of a school day. That distinction changes everything about how I support a child, and it is one I carry into every conversation I have with families and teachers.
Staying connected to classrooms and the educators in them matters to me — not as a second job, but as a clinician who believes that understanding a child's world means staying curious about it. The learning never stops, and neither does my commitment to showing up for the children and families I serve.
If you are a tired parent who just needs someone to be honest with you, take your concerns seriously, and walk alongside you without judgment — you have found the right place.
I am so glad you're here.