Melanie Stinnett, Owner/Speech-Language Pathologist of TheraCare Outpatient Services, LLC and Include Ozarks shares how she and her team of therapists provide community resources and support for families and their children.
As a speech-language pathologist and Missouri State University alumna, I am honored to provide a guest blog post for BearPOWER. During my college career, I wandered a bit, not sure which direction was best for me. It wasn’t until my younger sister began speech therapy, that I realized the impact a speech-language pathologist can have. I changed course and never looked back.
TheraCare
In 2013, while working in an outpatient setting, I realized the need for more services in the Springfield community, and decided to open TheraCare Outpatient Services. It was quite a risk, as there were very few models of private practice in our region. After much consideration, the passion I had to do more for our community was put into action in March 2014. I began by working two days per week, but over four years we now have many speech therapists, occupational therapists, and music therapists.
It was during the early years of building my private practice that I became friends with so many families of children with special needs. I would rejoice with them when their children made progress. I would cry with them when their children had struggles. I would laugh with them when their children made funny comments or pretended to be a superhero. I fell in love with these people, and saw their struggles. Families had difficulty finding childcare, connecting with other families, and tapping into community resources. Parents also struggled to find community events that accommodated special needs.
Include Ozarks
This is how Include Ozarks was born in September 2016. With a plan to gain funding for a therapeutic-based inclusive preschool program, we decided we wanted to fill more than a childcare need. To date, we have provided Sensory Safe Trick-or-Treat nights in 2016 and 2017 with over 500 individuals in attendance at each event. We held our first annual Sensory Safe Easter Egg Hunt in 2017, and on March 31st we will hold our second annual Easter event. Inclusive events provide experiences for children with disabilities to enjoy with their families.
Future Directions
We are proud to partner with the Springfield-Greene County Library District to provide monthly parent workshops. It is now our goal to create a web-based parent resource portal. The portal will list resources for parents to locate current, helpful information in a central location. We are looking forward to serving our community in this way.
TheraCare Outpatient Services and Include Ozarks are two of my most proud accomplishments. As both continue to grow, I hope that families in the Ozarks will continue to feel the positive impact of our passion to serve.
Many Blessings and Bear Up for BearPOWER!