I believe that families need to connect and form a relationship with the professionals that are going to serve their children. There are often emotional moments during treatment. There are often difficult questions. The relationship is important, and relationships begin with trust. Trust begins with openness, transparency, and vulnerability. Well, here goes! Read on to learn why I do what I do.
As a young boy, I loved to feel special. I craved attention and adored entertaining others. However, I was an anxious child and often worried about what others thought. To gain the attention I was seeking, I would often “change” to be the person I thought others wanted me to be.
Attempting to please people or act how I thought they wanted me to had a cost. I didn’t accept myself as I was; I didn’t value and respect myself, and I didn’t love myself. It damaged my self-esteem and affected my identity or self-image.
Growing up, I was small. I was tiny! In grade school, I visited a growth specialist. They considered growth hormone injections, but decided to “wait and see”. Each year, I grew just enough” to keep pace with the curve. I have been blessed with strong language and literacy skills, and I know the doors that opens up in life. However, I also know too well how it feels – and what it means – to be noticeably different from everyone else.
I experienced bullying throughout school and sought ways to cope and fit in. I became a clown in school and let my grades slip to “fit in” and be funny. I gave in to others easily and was often influenced by peer pressure and negative influences.
I compromised my integrity by not staying true to myself; by not being myself. I was pretending to be someone I wasn’t. To please others, I became a party animal and did a lot of drinking. I would do anything to fit in; anything to be seen as “funny”. Under negative influences, I often “entertained” at the expense of others. I could be very cruel and hurtful.
These behaviours magnified over time. I didn’t stay true to my identity – the person I wanted to be. I grew to despise the person I had become. I didn’t have the confidence to express myself, accept myself, or love myself. This led to poor choices and irresponsible decisions. I engaged in unhealthy and risky behaviours. People didn’t trust me because I didn’t trust myself. People didn’t like me because I didn’t like myself.
Into my adulthood, I became less and less happy. Trying to give others what I thought they wanted from me only made me resentful, fearful, angry, and withdrawn. I attempted to control people, relationships, and situations to make things more comfortable for me.
This cost me many relationships, and created distance in those few relationships I was able to hang on to. I had difficulty taking direction at work. I had trouble fitting in to society as a whole and tended to avoid social situations and large gatherings.
The lack of integrity to my identity, to who I knew I wanted to be, cost me my health, my self-confidence, my self-esteem and sense of identity, my feelings of belonging and connectedness, and my happiness.
Committing to what was important in my life and having integrity in my commitments allowed me to regain my sense of identity and take control of my life. I am married, I have a child, and I have a profession. Connecting to a purpose bigger than me and my life allowed me to break through may of my self-imposed limitations. Today I work as a Speech – Language Pathologist.
I have extensive knowledge of how children develop and learn; and skills in the areas of speech, language, learning, and literacy that I want to share. I have experience in our educational system, and I believe we can do more for our children, especially those with a learning difference. I have a particular sense of injustice around childhood literacy. Actually, it is more of a “chip on my shoulder”. Let me tell you why.
From my experience working with children, one of the worst outcomes of trouble with speaking, learning, and reading is SHAME. Shame undermines self-esteem and self-confidence, it pervades and infects all other areas of a child’s life, and it persists – long into adulthood.
I know this personally from feelings of being unworthy, of not being enough, of not belonging, from not fitting in socially, and from being bullied. It had an enormous impact on my relationships throughout my life; it fueled my self-destructive behaviours; and still attempts to undermine my confidence today, as an entrepreneur that must go out and BE somebody, and connect socially with others every day.
When kids become focused on the things that are hard, they cannot excel to their highest potential in anything. The seed of doubt gets planted. It leads to negative self-talk and damages our identity. Kids take on a story – “reading is hard”; “I’m lazy”, “I’m no good”, “I’m not smart” – and it spills over from academics into all other areas of their lives.
Speech Language Pathology Calgary
I work to show children how unique and special they are. I help them to learn that just because something is hard, it doesn’t have to define us.
My goal is to help children learn to confidently express themselves in a positive and healthy way.
My vision is to help children find their voice to state what they think and feel, to stand up for what they believe in, and to stand against negative influences in their lives.
My dream is that all children learn to accept themselves as perfect, just as they are, so they can stay true to themselves.
My stand is for healthy, happy children finding their place in this world and shaping our tomorrow.
Don’t hesitate to contact Calgary Speech Pathology experts for immediate support. Schedule you appointment today!