Open for Business, Midst a Pandemic
Welcome to my website! I started Dark Horse Therapeutics to serve kids and families in the Austin area with high quality speech-language assessment and treatment. As a full time school-based SLP, I wanted an outlet outside of the school setting to keep my clinical chops sharp. I missed the personal relationships I developed with families and communities seeing patients in the home health setting; but I hated the red tape associated with insurance coverage, constant provider changes, and the revolving door of clients who may or may not have valued my services. Thus, Dark Horse Therapeutics was born!
For myself as a therapist, there is nothing more important than matching the needs of a kid with a treatment plan that yields functional outcomes. I LOVED seeing the swift progress that could be made when I had mom, dad, siblings, and grandma on board with my recommendations.
I started my career knowing that I wanted to work in Deaf Education-- I wanted to sign ASL all day everyday. I cherish the access to signing and Deaf culture I get with my students at the school, I am so lucky! But-- the field of speech pathology is broad and deep. I pursue my personal interest in dysphagia (swallowing disorders) through podcasts, webinars, and continuing education hours. This training has served me well in the school setting, believe it or not! I've had several cases cross my desk during my time at the residential school and I've enjoyed educating others on the impact of dysphagia on access to education. Additionally, through PATH International (Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship), I've been lucky enough to serve clients with a variety of needs in my favorite place in the world-- a barn!
Speaking of which, some of you may be wondering what the connection between speech language pathology and horses is. Firstly, in my personal life, I'm a horse nut. All my free time and money goes to the horses, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Professionally, my hope is that Dark Horse Therapeutics will someday expand to include an equine-assisted therapy practice-- but talk about red tape to make that happen! Meanwhile, I keep a small caseload at a local therapeutic riding center as a PATH instructor.
Obviously, undertaking a new business has been in the works for quite a while, well before school closures, social distancing, and general upheaval associated with COVID-19 in recent weeks. I encourage everyone to take advantage of my offer of free consultation during this time kids may be off school or there is additional time spent at home. This could be just the time to dig in and address daily challenges with communication, speech, and language development in your kiddos.
Thanks for visiting my site, and let me hear from you! Wishing you well.