Expand Your SCOPE is Closing
When I conceptualized this program many years ago, I hoped that someone else would initiate it. I'm a dreamer, but a reluctant leader. I put the idea out there in SLP social media groups filled with entrepreneurs. Not getting any nibbles after months and months, I set about the work of implementing it myself. Ultimately, I'm a dreamer and a doer. I conducted surveys and consulted with friends in marketing and communications. Committed to this vision, I enrolled in a second Masters program to further my ability to execute this idea, taking courses in human-computer interaction, media, public health campaigns, and more. Expand Your SCOPE launched several months before my degree was conferred and I continued to refine it as I learned.
I have run it for just over three years now and have tried many options within my means to get it to a broader SLP community, reaching out to other SLP businesses, state organizations, and even our national body. Unfortunately, responses have been tepid in spite of my enthusiasm for this concept.
While I am proud of what I have achieved (starting, implementing, marketing, coding, and tweaking this program on my own) I also am keenly aware of how important it is to step back and asses the longevity of a position - which is after all what I encourage all SLPs to do in exploring their scopes of practice. Since starting the program, I've not only gained another diploma, I have transitioned from the elementary school setting (where I spent the first 8 years of my career) to an outpatient pediatric clinic (where I spent the next 2 years), and now to a University setting (working with International PhD students hailing from a variety of academic disciplines). Though I had been able to maintain my pace, matching hundreds of CCC-SLPs with each other previously, I recognize that I no longer have the bandwidth to do this on my own with my current position.
Why not just partner with another SLP? You entrusted me with sensitive contact information and details about your career trajectories. Finding someone with both the interest and the integrity to take this on would be exhaustive. At this time, I do not have the resources to thoroughly investigate potential partners. I had so hoped that an existing and reputable SLP group would be inspired to at least create similar programs, if not take over this one. Alas, most of our SLP organizations remain focused on mentoring at the student level rather than between colleagues.
Consequently, I rest this program here. This has been my contribution to my peers and to the profession I poured my heart into for over a decade. I hope that one day it can serve as a template for new programs. I hope it inspires my colleagues to seek out shadowing and mentoring on their own, knowing that they are not alone and CCC-SLPs can continue to learn from each other face-to-face and voice-to-voice. Continuing education courses do not cover all of the nuances of shadowing and being mentored. Therefore, these important inter-personal interactions should not end when you get your C's.
Even now, I would love for Expand Your SCOPE to light a path forward. That is why the online resources from the Expand Your SCOPE website and blog will remain available at www.expandyourscope.com until at least July 31, 2019. The Expand Your SCOPE Facebook Group will remain for the foreseeable future; members can post and have discussions, but new members will not be added.
Again, I am so grateful to everyone who has been a mentor, a mentee, a partner, or an encouraging voice in this process. Thank you all for your support. It has been my honor and pleasure to serve the speech-language pathology community in this capacity.
Sincerely,
Autumn Bryant
Founder (and sole matchmaker) of Expand Your SCOPE
