Oliver Speech-Language Pathology
and Vocal Arts
Casey Oliver, M.S., CCC-SLP
Oliver Speech-Language Pathology and Vocal Arts
ph: (916) 335-1918
casey
The Inspiration for OSLPVA
In the spring of 2008, I volunteered to start a speech and language screening program at my daughter's school. The response to the screening program was overwhelming. I talked to the parents of the children who participated in the screening program, and I came to realize there is great need for focused and integrated speech-language services in the Sacramento-area Catholic schools. The federally-funded programs offered by the school districts in this area are available to children in private schools, but those services are limited. There are community clinics and private speech pathology practices in Sacramento, but the families at my daughter's school were not accessing them. No services were being directly offered to students on campus during the school day. I decided to take action and create a private practice to help meet the need for speech services at my daughter's school and other Catholic schools in the area. But I am only one person...only one practice. My long term goal is to develop a business model that can be replicated by other speech-language pathologists. I want to encourage other therapists to reach out to the Catholic school community and to bring comprehensive speech pathology services to all Catholic schools.
During the 2010-2011 academic year, I had the privilege of working part-time at St. Patrick SUCCEED Academy in Sacramento as a speech-language pathologist. I was part of the multi-disciplinary team that served the Learning Center. It was a tremendous honor to be part of the staff at St. Patrick SUCCEED Academy and an experience I will never forget! Although I loved it there, it was a long commute and it was difficult to take care of my young children as much I needed to. Plus, although the Academy needed speech and language support services, they did not have the resources to fund these services long-term. It was great to be part of the staff for a year because it gave me tremendous insight as to what a Catholic school needs on a practical level, both financially and logistically, and that experience also helped me shape my current service delivery model. My ultimate goal is to develop a service delivery model that helps Catholic schools provide essential therapy services to their students in a practical and realistic fashion.
My background in singing, teaching voice, cantoring, and being a music director at a Catholic church inspired the "vocal arts" side of my practice. Liturgical musicians faithfully serve the Catholic community but are offered limited practical support and training. It is important to invest in music ministries by providing musicians the resources they need to serve at the best of their abilities. I see the need for more education about vocal health, healthy singing technique, music in liturgy, and strategies to meet the unique challenges and responsibilities of being a liturgical musician.
I feel both honored and called to serve the Catholic community in my own special way. I strongly believe that other speech pathologists and voice teachers can also serve their individual faith communities by developing private practices and voice studios to meet the distinct needs of their religious schools and places of worship.
Oliver Speech-Language Pathology and Vocal Arts
ph: (916) 335-1918
casey
