Carrie Clark, speech-language pathologist and founder of SpeechAndLanguageKids.com, returned to one idea again and again on The All About Kids Podcast: the pandemic didn’t create new problems in speech therapy—it exposed the ones that were already there, and clarified what actually matters most in times of crisis.
Speaking from the middle of the COVID shutdowns, Carrie reflected on what it looked like when schools closed overnight, in-person therapy disappeared, and families and clinicians were suddenly expected to adapt with little guidance or infrastructure.
Teletherapy wasn’t the challenge—expectations were
When therapy abruptly moved online, Carrie was clear that the biggest issue wasn’t technology itself. It was the assumption that speech therapy could continue unchanged in a world that had fundamentally shifted. Children with communication disorders struggled to access online learning. Families lacked time, training, internet access, or emotional bandwidth. And clinicians were asked to deliver “business as usual” care in a moment that was anything but normal.
Carrie emphasized that the real question during the pandemic wasn’t How do we hit every goal?—it was How do we support families through this?
Parent support comes before therapy goals
One of Carrie’s strongest lessons was about reprioritization. If a family was worried about food, housing, safety, or overwhelming stress, speech goals like grammar targets or sentence structure simply weren’t the priority. The pandemic made this impossible to ignore. Carrie urged SLPs to start by asking families how they were doing—what they needed most—before deciding what therapy should look like in that moment.
This shift reframed the SLP’s role: not just as a service provider, but as a human connector with access to resources, reassurance, and flexibility.
Progress doesn’t require perfect sessions
Carrie pushed back against the idea that effective therapy requires polished materials or elaborate activities. Looking back, she emphasized that language growth often happens in ordinary moments—reading books together, talking through daily routines, singing songs, or narrating the world around a child. During the pandemic, these simple interactions weren’t a backup plan; they were the foundation.
Her message to parents and clinicians alike was steady and grounding: connection matters more than compliance.
The system was already stretched too thin
The pandemic also spotlighted long-standing issues in the speech therapy field—massive caseloads, limited funding, bureaucratic barriers, and unrealistic expectations placed on school-based SLPs. Carrie spoke candidly about clinicians seeing upward of 100 students, covering an enormous scope of practice, and being paid salaries that don’t reflect the demands of the job.
Rather than viewing these challenges as temporary disruptions, Carrie framed them as structural problems that require long-term change—especially increased funding and earlier access to services.
Teletherapy opened doors that shouldn’t close
Despite the upheaval, Carrie also pointed to a lasting silver lining: teletherapy expanded access. Rural communities and underserved populations who previously had no speech services were suddenly reachable. The forced experimentation of the pandemic proved that therapy could be delivered in more flexible, inclusive ways—and that those doors shouldn’t shut just because in-person services returned.
The takeaway
Carrie Clark’s conversation is a reminder that the pandemic reshaped speech therapy not by inventing new rules, but by stripping away illusions. It clarified that progress isn’t linear, perfection isn’t required, and families come before frameworks. For SLPs, the lasting lesson is clear: support the humans first, simplify where you can, and remember that meaningful change often starts with connection—not compliance.
Check out the full episode with Carrie Clark below on The All About Kids Podcast:
