Before joining PresenceLearning, Cheryl Messier, CCC-SLP, practiced speech-language pathology for 19 years in K-5 in public schools. She’s been working with PresenceLearning since 2016. We sat down with Cheryl to talk about her work as a teletherapist. Could you walk us through your daily routine? A “day in the life of a PL therapist” if you will? Every day is different. I mostly focus my therapy sessions on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Mondays I focus on IEPs and evaluations. And on Fridays, I babysit my grandchild.  I’m licensed in Maine and California. I start my teletherapy sessions early in the morning at 8 am Eastern (5 am PT) with my Maine students. Then I take a little breather before my California students begin. I like…

Janine Kessler, M.S., CCC-SLP, has over 20 years of speech therapy experience in schools and has been a teletherapist with PL since 2017. She grew up in Canada, owns a home in Missoula, Montana, and currently lives in Sacramento, CA. Janine and her husband love to travel.  What inspired you to become an SLP? Growing up I thought I might want to be a teacher. I liked the idea of being in education. My dad had a friend whose daughter was a speech-language pathologist. One thing led to another and pretty soon I was going to college for speech therapy. I was always attracted to the kids in school who struggled with learning. Even in college, we had to take education classes for our undergraduate…

  Jenna has been working as an Occupational Therapist since 2009. Jenna is a Lead Clinician at PresenceLearning. How has the PL online platform enabled you to help your students and the schools you serve in new ways? The PL platform is highly interactive which helps us to better engage the students. As a clinician, I have a wide range of treatment activities readily available and I can switch between them seamlessly as needed throughout the session. As an OT, I work off of the platform a lot too, working on hand strengthening, scissor skills, etc. The students love watching me mirror things for them (we usually turn it into a game!). The various camera/screen sizes and the ability to use two cameras simultaneously has…

Before joining PresenceLearning, Cheryl M., CCC-SLP, practiced as a speech-language pathologist for 19 years in K-5 in public schools. She’s been working with PresenceLearning since 2016.  How has the PL online platform enabled you to help your students and the schools you serve in new ways? I have been able to collaborate with the assigned primary support person (PSP) located onsite for new ways to help children communicate. They let me know about school culture/materials and I bring my speech and language background. It has made for a dynamic team!  Can you tell us a little about how you collaborate with teachers and other school staff members? I email teachers at the start of the year to introduce myself and then I make it a…

Angela C., M.Ed., was born and raised in Iowa and attended college at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana. She has worked as a school psychologist and counselor in public and private brick-and-mortar schools for over 18 years. She joined the PL Care Network in 2018. How has the PL online platform enabled you to help your students and the schools you serve in new ways? The students enjoy the interaction via teletherapy as they are so adept with technology. I am also able to easily work with multiple students in one day since there is no commute time in between school locations. The PL platform lets me maximize my time for the benefit of more students. Can you tell us a little about how you…

Jessica Keen, M.S., CCC-SLP, joined the PresenceLearning team in 2011 after she found out she was moving to St. Maarten in the Caribbean for her husband’s medical school training. Since living in St. Maarten, she’s moved 7 different times and lived in 5 different states. She has two children, ages 4 and 2, and lives in New Orleans today.  Can you tell us a little about where you’re from, and what you like to do when you’re not working?  I am originally from Cleveland, a small town in the North Western region of Mississippi called the Mississippi Delta. I lived there my whole life until I went to college. And then I met my husband at college in Oxford, Mississippi at the University of Mississippi.…

Jessica K., M.A., CCC-SLP, joined the PresenceLearning team in 2011. How has the PL online platform enabled you to help your students and the schools you serve in new ways? Students are much more motivated to come to therapy because they see it as a new, fun, and exciting way to learn. Most of the time, my students feel like they are just playing games, when in fact they have been focusing on their speech/language goals the whole time!  Can you tell us a little about how you collaborate with teachers and other school staff members? I am always available via phone, text, email, etc. I like to check-in with my PSP (primary support person) at the school daily and also email the teachers whenever…

Connie Upton, M.S., CCC-SLP, joined the PL Care Network in 2018. We interviewed her about the roots of her passion for speech-pathology and asked her to tell us a little about her experience transitioning to teletherapy.  Introduction I grew up in Kennebunk, Maine and went to the University of New Hampshire in Durham for my undergraduate degree. I worked for a year in New Hampshire, and then I went back to UNH to get my M.S. degree. Before moving to Germany, I lived in Southern Maine working for Pine Tree Society, a non-profit organization, doing a variety of speech therapy responsibilities—I was digging into AAC, doing evaluations, consultations, and providing therapy to people of all ages. I worked with Pine Tree Society for a number…

This month, we sat down with our Head of Clinical Standards and Outreach, Kristin Martinez, M.A. CCC-SLP, to learn more about how students with severe disabilities and impairments can benefit from teletherapy. During our interview, Kristin explains student candidacy and adaptive approaches to serving students with more severe impairments. What are some common misconceptions about student candidacy for teletherapy? One of the most common misconceptions about providing speech-language services via teletherapy is that this cannot be a successful service delivery model for students with more significant needs. At PresenceLearning, we have the benefit of a decade of experience providing online school-based services. Our students have progressed, met IEP goals, and graduated from services regardless of their primary disabilities or level of impairment. However, there are…

Jason M., M.A., CCC-SLP, has been a speech pathologist for 15 years. He attended Appalachian State University as an undergraduate and completed his Masters degree at South Carolina State University. Jason is currently working on his Doctorate in Education. Jason has been an SLP in the PL Care Network since 2016. How has the PL online platform enabled you to help your students and the schools you serve in new ways? The PresenceLearning Platform has provided me with the opportunity to help students in ways that I never before thought were possible. Using the online library allows me to access an almost infinite array of resources, activities, and materials to use with my students. Students love using technology and are enthusiastic to learn in a…