Today we’d like to introduce you to Breanna Waldrup.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Breanna. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I began working at Apraxia Dallas in January 2012 as a pediatric speech-language pathologist. Although I had several years of experience, I had not specialized in any one area of pediatric speech or language. I underwent intensive training to learn to treat Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS), which is a pediatric neurogenic speech sound disorder in which the motor planning for speech is disrupted. Children with CAS know what they want to say, but the message doesn’t reach their mouth accurately, making it very difficult to talk or to talk intelligibly. In 2015, Kay Giesecke, the founder and then owner of Apraxia Dallas, decided that she no longer wished to operate the practice as she was going to be spending more time at her ranch and conducting more therapist training and consultation rather than providing direct therapy. Although I had never aspired to become a small-business owner, I loved the specialized therapy that I had learned at Apraxia Dallas and the unique approach of parental-involvement that I was using. I didn’t think that I would be able to work somewhere else and implement therapy as effectively. Not to mention that I didn’t know where our clients at Apraxia Dallas would receive therapy if we closed our doors. After discussing the situation with Kay, we agreed that we would hire and train a new therapist to help treat our current client caseload and I would assume ownership of Apraxia Dallas in January 2016. I did so and registered the business as a PLLC. A few months after that, I found our current location in the Galleria area. I selected our location due to its centrality in the DFW metroplex. Since CAS is a rare disorder and there are not many speech language pathologists with the specialized training and experience to treat it, we have clients that come from all over the DFW area and beyond. I wanted a location that could be easily accessed from as many areas as possible. Shortly after relocating I was able to hire another therapist, one that I had mentored when she was in graduate school and already had a great deal of knowledge about treating CAS. The practice grew quite a bit in 2016 and in 2017 we had the opportunity to expand our space at our current location. We also hired two new speech language pathologists, each with their own specialization (feeding, social-pragmatic and reading disorders) and were thus able to increase the variety of quality services that we offer to include not only specialized speech and language therapy, but also feeding therapy, reading instruction, and social groups.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I knew when I took ownership of Apraxia Dallas that it would involve a lot of work and a lot of un-paid time, and it certainly has. Struggles have included handling growth, finding a location, and training new staff.
While the business has grown and is successful, that also involves more work. I strive to keep our costs low for our clients. Therapy is expensive and most people do not expect or budget to pay for therapy for their child. But helping to keep costs low means that I do a lot of the work so that I don’t have to raise rates to pay someone else to do it. For example, we do not have a receptionist. Instead, I handle incoming calls and our therapists each do their own scheduling. We also do not have an office manager; my husband, who works a full-time job as an accountant, does the invoicing and bills for the practice.
Trying to find a good location for a pediatric speech practice was another challenge. I was looking for a central location in a place that children would be comfortable coming to, and I thought about parents coming in with strollers, multiple children, and some children or parents in wheelchairs.
Since we provide a specialized type of therapy, most speech language pathologists that I hire require several months of on the job training. While this is definitely worth it, it also takes a lot of hard work for both the one being trained and the one providing the training.
Apraxia Dallas – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We are a small private pediatric speech language pathology practice composed of four speech language pathologists. We evaluate and treat children with a variety of communication disorders, including childhood apraxia of speech (CAS), dysarthria, stuttering/fluency, reading difficulties/disorders, phonological processing, articulation, feeding disorders, and expressive and receptive language delays/disorders.
We specialize in treating pediatric motor speech disorders, especially CAS. We are known for providing effective therapy for children who have not responded to more traditional speech therapy. In addition to the passion, knowledge and training of our therapists, we are also very family-focused and include parents as much as possible in therapy. Most parents sit in during their child’s therapy and take notes. The education and dedication of their parents is also an important part in the treatment of the children that we see.
I’m most proud of the dedication of our therapists to helping the children we treat and to the children we treat, who work for years learning to talk – something so many people take for granted.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
I define success as balance. I try to resist the urge to set a marker or criteria for success as I think this only sets one up for failure and disappointment because once one reaches that marker, there will always be another one. Thus I try to focus more on the journey than the destination.
Pricing:
- Evaluations – $140 per hour
- Therapy – $120 per hour
Contact Info:
- Address: 5310 Harvest Hill Rd, Suite 184, Dallas, TX 75230
- Website: www.apraxiadallas.com
- Phone: 214-789-9431
- Email: info@apraxiadallas.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/apraxiadallas
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