10 Years of Business!

I opened Speech & Language A to Z, LLC, 10 years ago today! It’s hard to believe how much has changed in the last decade! I thought a great way to commemorate this achievement would be to compile some photos of my journey.

2016

In my original office I had a tune-in corner, parent area, and treatment area, just like today, but they each looked very different. I had my desk in an armoire to protect my printer from curious little hands (and to protect those hands from the printer).

2018

In 2018 my dog, Zooey, started working as a “speech therapy dog.”

2020

I hired a billing assistant in January. When we locked down for COVID in March I moved all my treatment online and worked from home. I had never provided treatment online before and I spent the year digitizing so many treatment materials! I had to make a home office, too. I arrived at my office one day to find the building had flooded!

My former office assistant, Heather Mack.

2021

Once I was vaccinated I returned to the office with social distancing for in-person appointments. This required me to move around my room. I moved the “tune-in corner” to the little nook beside the bathroom so that it was on the family’s side of the room and I used the “parent area” as my side of the room. I bought myself a real desk since 80% of my appointments continued to be online until a vaccine was available for children. I got iPads so that I could cast my digital treatment materials between them in order to maintain social distance. This also enabled me to start using Toca Boca World for treatment. I had to triple my toys so I had enough for me to disinfect them between kids playing with them. We had another flood in the office building!

Zooey taking a needed break at the office.
Using Toca Boca World in Speech & Language Treatment

2023

Once all my patients were back in person I found I had more toys than I needed so I adopted monthly themes – the kids’ favorite part of this is the monthly sensory bins. Zooey retired as a “speech therapy dog” and began working as a mascot/model. My billing assistant moved on to bigger and better things so I automated most of my billing.

My dog, Zooey, sitting in the quiet tent while wearing star-shaped sunglasses.
My dog, Zooey, dressed as a superhero with a blue sky and clouds behind her.
My dog, Zooey, dressed up as Ariel from the Little Mermaid
My Dog, Zooey, dressed as a bear with a forest in autumn behind her.
My dog, Zooey, dressed as a wizard with a magical glade behind her.
My dog, ooey, with a donut around her head and various donuts in the background.
My dog, Zooey, in a rainbow costume with an image of changing seasons behind her
Zooey photo-bombing the mermaid pillows when I was trying to take pictures of them.
Themed Sensory Bins

2024

I remodeled my office to what it looks like today, adopted Radar, who became my “remote speech therapy dog,” and lost Zooey after her short battle with a spleen tumor, stress colitis, & heart disease.

The parent waiting area of my office, including 3 upholstered chairs, a "quiet tent" large metal cabinets (covered in magnatiles), and my "conspicuous place" with my licenses.
A photo of the treatment area of my office: a set of shelves hold fabric containers with labels, a giant leaf canopy is hanging from it over a gray chair that is short enough for children, a light shaped like a talk bubble with my company's logo hangs over the chair and under the canopy, and a child-size table is next to the chair with mirrors hanging on the wall next to it.

What a busy decade it’s been!

🥂 Here’s to another busy decade to come (hopefully without any pandemics)! 🤞