Transition to Telepractice

Using two monitors has increased my
efficiency significantly. 

Since my last post six years ago, I retired from the brick and mortar school system I worked in for twenty-six years. By the time I had made the decision to retire, I was angry, disillusioned, dismissed, and disregarded. I felt like a mailbox mowed down by a snow plow in January. I had been ground down into disappearing dust.  I worked long hours doing paperwork and billing Medicaid which necessitated a significant reduction in the time I spent with students. No workload model. No materials. No professional development. No reimbursement for the licenses that were required so THEY could receive Medicaid monies that went directly into the district’s general fund. Even though the school system I worked for made it clear they were done with me, I didn’t feel like I was done with my career as a speech-language pathologist or educator. I hung on long enough to get my pension. I had to. I didn’t feel I could take the risk of reinventing myself professionally without the safety of an established income. I am now a telepractice speech therapy provider—an independent contractor. The truth is that I am working my tail off. One of the first hurdles has been both emotional and intellectual—changing my mindset from public servant to self-employed. To be clear, telepractice is not for wimps.