We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Andrea Driskell. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Andrea below.

Andrea, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So, let’s start with a hypothetical – what would you change about the educational system?

If I could make effective change to the current public educational system, I would implement a constructive and user-friendly system for determining each individual student’s educational needs and potential. As a professional, I appreciate norm-referenced scores and their benefits in determining an individual’s performance in a specific skill-set (i.e. their ability to make their sounds correctly in speech). I also maintain that the information provided through standardized testing is limited, narrow, and overly-specific.

Why can’t we spend the resources to add to that information? As a specific, personal example, I am a strong test-taker. I enjoy taking tests and being a bit of a show-off. But I crack HARD under other kinds of pressure. For example, I am terrible at waiting tables because I forget orders, get overwhelmed, agitated, and then start being rude. This is the most concrete example I can think of, but it applies to other high-pressure and time-sensitive expectations. So on my “educational profile” there can be notes that I can perform well on humanities-based academic tests, but shouldn’t be expected to organize a baby shower. One of my sons is very distractible and prone to boredom (yes, he’s been tested and yes he’s been diagnosed with ADD), so he will come home with 100% on his spelling test one week and the next he didn’t spell HIS NAME correctly (true story). So his educational profile might note that “he doesn’t consistently achieve high scores on his academic tests, but he can remember everyone’s birthday in his family, makes friends easily, and illustrates complex animals in detailed natural settings without assistance. And for some reason can memorize times tables but no other math facts.”

I included “user-friendly” because it would have to be practical to use by teachers and administrative staff in the schools. Currently, any individualized information and accomodations require a lot of bureaucratic procedures that can take the entire school year to document and implement. Or, if it’s effective and useful, then it’s by word-of-mouth. For example, the student’s previous teacher could share that the student performs better or is more motivated by verbal praise or visuals. But this advantage can’t apply to students whose parents move frequently or schools with high staff turnover. And it would be up to the family to advocate for that student in an entirely new environment. Working in the public schools, I can attest to the number of families who have two working parents that at least work one full-time job and have limited time, energy, and attention. And these precious resources can be further divided with multiple children in the home. And there are some that are working and supporting their children’s schoolwork in their second language. Other parents have learning disabilities or executive functioning disorders. And still more are dealing with trauma (past and/or current) or untreated mental illness.

Individualized and directed information that could be readily available to each new educator for the child would be beneficial in attending to and nurtuting their educational needs and increase the likelihood of their success.

Andrea, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I became a speech-language pathologist because I wanted to make a livable wage and be home to be a mom to my two sons (at the time). I was a single mom from a family of educators. I had been working as a part-time and substitute teacher to make ends meet. I have always enjoyed working with children, but I knew that I would not be good at being a classroom teacher. I knew I would be overwhelmed with the multiple responsibilities classroom teachers have to their students, their teammates, administrators and to the families of their students. I took an introductory course in speech-language pathology and one in accounting. I enjoyed both, but felt my people-skills would be better appreciated as an SLP.
I graduated with my degree in 2015 and have worked in school, medical, and private settings. I currently work as owner of my private practice in home-health pediatrics (with the occassional adult) and rural Oklahoma schools. I intentionally try to acquire rural school district contracts because many of the families in these communities are not aware of their rights and resources as guardians of a child with disabilities/special needs. I like to be there to be a part of the solution and to help these families learn and attain resources for their children.
I am proud of my sincere desire to help people without expecting a return. Is it an authentic act of goodwill if it is transactional? Possibly. But I think that self-serving intention cheapens it for all parties involved.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn “being small”. I have in the past few months decided to take up space. I typically do not like causing waves or bringing negative attention to myself. I am subversive in my own way, but mainly as a bookworm. In practice, I shrink very quickly in the presence of authority figures or if I consider at myself at a disadvantage. Like, maybe I might not know as much as the individual sitting across from me or the other person might simply have a bigger personality than mine. I typically shut up and smile and nod my way to the door. Then lay awake that night kicking myself for not taking a moment to regulate, center myself, then confront. Predatory individuals pounce on that polite bewilderment and hesitation. I have recently been trying to remember that if this person has the audacity to offer me much less than what I am worth or to be dishonest and unethical, than I can certainly rise to the occassion and have the audacity to ask clarifying questions and/or share my own expertise.
I have had affluent clients unwilling to pay for services and school administrators lie about me, other staff and independent contractors to justify removing us from their campus. Over time and regret, I have learned that I typically had a lot less to lose than I believed I did at the time. I wasn’t being unethical, rude, or disrespectful. I had nothing to lose by makling it known that I was unhappy with their behavior or choices. Instead I became small and apologetic. I have since then began learning diplomatic language and techniques that won’t burn bridges and maintains the sound structure of what I am building.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

Funding my family through a private practice was a daunting task for me. In this case, I had school contracts to fund my business. School contracts are typically guaranteed money since they are government-funded. The problem as an independent contractor is that I don’t get paid on days I don’t work and schools get a lot of breaks. I had often heard from other SLPs with their own practices that one should be prepared for 6 months+ without consistent pay from insurance companies. I was treading water because the only money coming in was from the schools, which wasn’t enough. I had accrued some debt in order to pay for testing supplies, equipment, treatment material, EMR system, and bookkeeper. I have an uncle who generously gifted me $5,000.00 after four months of no payment from insurance companies. I know this information seems overly transparent, but I think it’s important to acknowledge my privileges and advantages. This would have been more debt for me and he was a financial safety net. I am also very secure with the knowledge that neither my family nor my husband’s family would allow us to go hungry or unhoused. And those are not assumed concessions for everyone.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.driskellspeechservices.com
• Facebook: Driskell Speech Services
• Linkedin: Andrea Driskell