Educating, Advocating, and Making a Difference!
Welcome to our first ever blog that was created to kickstart our community and share our purpose here at Divergent Therapy Services! Come back here often to check out new topics, learn more about ways to advocate, and to continuously and tirelessly make an effort to pave the path towards acceptance.
Educating
First, educate yourself. The field of speech pathology is extremely diverse with clinicians treating everything from communication to swallowing. As a parent or caregiver of someone who is need of speech therapy, it is crucial to find a clinician that is educated on the type of treatment your loved one needs. Don’t be afraid to ask questions! There are usually really beneficial and educational social media groups for families going through something similar. Learn from others who have been through similar scenarios and pass along knowledge to those who will come after you. Talk to your therapist about specific social media groups they might recommend for you to further educate yourself on specific or desired topics. You can check out the groups and classes we will be offering at Divergent Therapy Services to determine if any of the educational topics would benefit you and/or your family. You can talk to your doctor or child’s pediatrician to gain more insight about your child’s specific needs. And again, don’t be afraid to ask questions! Ask your therapist what their treatment approach is and why. Understand that our field is evolving and research is constantly improving the quality of the therapy we provide. Education is not just for families! Clinicians are constantly educating themselves on new topics, treatment strategies, and more. For example, I completed training on Natural Language Acquisition for Gestalt Language Development and made some major changes to improve my therapeutic approach. When you know better, you do better. Educating yourself allows you to educate others and become a wonderful advocate for yourself and/or someone you love!
Advocating
We must spread awareness and educate others to advocate for the acceptance of those we so easily celebrate. We know that acceptance does not come easily to the world, and it is up to us to fulfill the role as advocates for our clients, selves, or family members. How can we advocate? Post or share a post about your child’s specific diagnosis. Share their strengths with others. If your child uses an AAC device, take it into public when you get the opportunity and let your child communicate in various settings. Don’t be afraid to ask conversational partners to pause and wait for you or your loved one to communicate if extra time is needed. Help others understand that someone’s speech or lack of verbal words does not reflect their ability to understand. Talk openly about differences and celebrate differences loudly! Stay tuned to our groups page to find out when we will host our parent/caregiver meetings about advocating. Join other local groups that support acceptance and neurodiversity.
By continuously educating and advocating you can truly make a difference. Whether you are advocating on behalf of yourself or a loved one, there is an audience that needs to hear your story. At Divergent Therapy Services we strive to be our client’s biggest advocates and cheerleaders. We are here to support our clients and their families. We will always continue educating ourselves on behalf of the success of our clients. We hope you join us in educating, advocating, and making a difference!
Check out our monthly blogs on various topics. You can expect to learn more about gestalt language development, AAC, advocating, ways to promote your child’s language at home, and so much more! We hope you are as excited to be on this journey as we are!
- Abby Hedgepath M.S., CCC-SLP | Owner
