SoundEd Spotlight: Paula Mitchell

Paula Mitchell, SLP (with SoundEd since January 2021)

Online Speech Therapy Jobs with a Personal Touch

Online speech therapy jobs offer more than just flexibility; they can transform how you connect with students and families.

Paula is excited about being part of the team here at SoundEd Therapy. She completed her undergraduate studies at Northeastern State University at Broken Arrow, where she received a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education with concentrations in Teaching English as a Second Language and Early Childhood Education. A short time later, she continued her education at Northeastern State University at Tahlequa, earning a Master of Science degree in Speech-Language Pathology.

Career Beginnings in Tulsa, OK

Paula began her professional career as a speech-language pathologist in Tulsa, working with Union Public Schools in both elementary settings and cross-categorical special education classrooms at Union High School. In 2014, her family relocated to the Oklahoma City metro area, where she began working at several elementary schools within the Oklahoma City Public Schools.

She has served as a member of an interdisciplinary team and has enjoyed participating in team evaluations and group therapeutic services, as well as providing direct services to students with communication difficulties. She has experience working to improve the communicative abilities of children with autism spectrum disorder, fetal alcohol syndrome, cerebral palsy, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, Down syndrome, and intellectual disabilities, among others, in both educational and private therapeutic settings.

Paula is passionate about working closely with parents and caregivers to provide holistic, child-centered communication strategies. Aside from being a speech-language pathologist, she is also an avid reader, a private pilot-in-training, and enjoys searching the world for her favorite beach with her husband, Ovette, and daughter, Emma.

Questions:

What does a typical day look like for you?

I like to be busy Monday through Thursday, so I start at 8 or 8:30 each morning, prepping the day’s lessons and begin seeing children within the next 30 minutes. I take a 30-45 minute lunch break and then am back at it until 4 or 4:30, resulting in 12-14 speech therapy sessions daily.

What do you love about working with SoundEd?

I thoroughly enjoy working with the children and love seeing the gains that are made possible with the one-on-one service delivery model. The whole-family engagement that the K-12 model provides has also been a delight. The familial relationships and parental coaching I can incorporate during each session have proven to be successful, with increased child participation and overall improvements in skill.

What are the pros of online direct therapy?

My biggest “pro” is the minimal transition time between appointments. I can maximize the time I spend with each child, and their effort of “time on task” really pays off.

Have you recommended SoundEd to any other therapists?  What do you say to them?

I have recommended a couple of therapists, and they are now my colleagues here at SoundEd. Each has been a coworker and friend in the past, and they approached me to ask if they may be able to join this wonderful team. I usually share the benefits of having the flexibility to make your own schedule and to work as little or as much as you’d like.

Do you have a team of other therapists within SoundEd that you can work with to share ideas and resources?

The whole team communicates frequently using our online Google forums. Having the insight of other therapists is useful to help with continued growth and maintaining morale.

What activities have you discovered you now have more time for because of working from home and/or working fewer hours?

I love traveling! So my husband and I usually plan a trip during the off-peak travel times and go somewhere new, St. Croix, Mexico, Australia, just to name a few of the lovely places we’ve explored in the last couple of years. (Here are some travel tips for professionals.) I’m able to make up all of the sessions I may miss before leaving, so as not to miss out on any money earned.