Pros & Cons of Remote Work as a Speech-Language Pathologist
Remote work opportunities continue to be prominent in the business world, with many companies offering remote or hybrid options to their employees. In fact, the majority of employees in a recent survey said that they would prefer to work 100% remotely and that they would choose a better work-life balance over a pay increase if given the option.
While a 100% remote position is often not an option for school employees, therapy providers like speech-language pathologists, school psychologists, occupational therapists, and mental health therapists are in a unique position to make the switch if they desire. Through telehealth positions, therapists have the opportunity to continue providing the clinical services to students and families that they’re passionate about and get the benefits of working from home.
As a speech-language pathologist working remotely since 2016, I’ve put together a list of pros and cons. Consider these factors if you’re considering switching to a remote job in speech therapy, occupational therapy, mental health therapy, or school psychology.
Pros of Telehealth Jobs from Home
Better work-life balance.
Over the years, work-life balance has become somewhat of a buzzword, but it is a really crucial consideration when choosing a place of employment. One in three children in the United States lives in a single-parent home, and in nearly half of two-parent homes, both parents work, my household included. In order to make that work, many parents need flexibility in their work schedules and locations. Even if you’re not a parent, work-life balance is important and allows for you to rest, care for yourself, travel, and be with friends and family.
More control over your time.
This was the number one thing I noticed when I finally switched from a brick-and-mortar therapy position to teletherapy. I suddenly could say “I’m going to do that paperwork before my children get up in the morning,” and guess what? I got paid for that time! When I worked in person at a school, I had to take off an entire half day of work if I needed to leave an hour early for a doctor's appointment and was frequently scrambling to figure out how to make up all of my therapy sessions if my child was unexpectedly sick. I never had the opportunity to take a long lunch or go outside for a walk in the afternoon, and I certainly couldn’t say that I was only available for therapy sessions from 10-5. With teletherapy, I had control over all of these things and feel the freedom and flexibility associated with managing my time in a way that works best for me.
Greater therapy collaboration.
Looking at remote work from the outside, it seems like it would be incredibly isolating. Not being able to bump into co-workers in the hallway or attend happy hour after work is definitely something that you might miss, but what I have found in the teletherapy space is actually a greater opportunity for therapy collaboration. Many therapists in a school setting are the only therapy provider in their whole school, sometimes even in their entire district. So, while you may be in the same building with other employees, there isn’t another person for you to ask for advice or to help you troubleshoot a difficult therapy case.
In contrast, therapists working at Huddle Up have a large, diverse group of therapy professionals to collaborate with, both in the same field and in related therapy disciplines, to help provide holistic care for students and a supportive work environment for therapists.
The corner office with the view.
I remember walking into my second school based therapy position. I was working at a local elementary school with early childhood special education students. The secretary showed me to my “office” on my first day. I put “office” in quotation marks because in reality, it used to be a maintenance closet. It was dark, had no windows, and barely had enough room to squeeze in a desk, a small table for therapy, and a bookshelf. Places like this should not be where a therapist is expected to conduct therapy; however, many times therapy professionals find themselves in situations like this - stuck in closets, asked to share a room with other professionals all working at the same time, or even without a room, conducting therapy sessions on the stage or in a communal space such as a gym.
Therapists working from home, however, are able to set up an office for themselves that helps them feel comfortable and inspired - complete with natural light, artwork they like, and enough space to move around. In addition, you have the option to practice work location independence, meaning if you want to write an evaluation from your back porch in the sun, you can! Or if you want to do your lesson planning from the local coffee shop, you can!
Work at the top of your license.
One thing that we often hear from therapists who have made the switch to virtual therapy is that they are thrilled to finally be able to work at the top of their license. In brick-and-mortar positions, especially school-based positions, therapy providers are often called upon to complete tasks that don’t require their license or education - things like bus duty, lunch duty, or even subbing for classroom teachers who are absent. While I appreciate the fact that everyone should pitch in to make a school run for students, it is often challenging for therapists who already have large caseloads and not enough time in the day to see students, to complete all of the necessary paperwork, and actually plan quality therapy sessions if they’re also asked to help out with other functions of the school frequently.
In teletherapy, you can spend more of your time on therapy-related tasks, meaning that you can provide better-quality therapy, resulting in greater outcomes for your students and better efficiency for the things that you have to get done.
Save money.
Hear me out on this one. One of the things that I frequently see therapists concerned about with teletherapy positions is pay. And while it is important to consider pay and make sure that you are being paid an appropriate rate (especially if you’re in a contract position vs. W2), there are a lot of financial benefits to working from home that many people don’t consider. For example, you save gas money because you cut out your commute, you might save money on food because you aren’t buying lunch at the cafeteria or having it delivered, and you brew your own coffee since you are no longer passing a coffee shop on your way to work. Additionally, at Huddle Up, we offer benefits and other resources to therapists, such as Provider Hub, a database of therapy materials, access to online evaluations, and in-house continuing education opportunities.
More support.
Therapists working at Huddle Up are not contracted with a school and then passed off to figure everything out themselves. Instead, an entire team of people works with each school and therapist. This team advocates for the therapist, when appropriate, for things like additional help if the caseload becomes too high or offers support for challenging situations that may arise. If the therapist is sick, they can get coverage for their sessions from other therapy providers in the company, and, as mentioned earlier, there is a whole network of providers to collaborate with, brainstorm solutions to therapy situations, and lean on when you need help.
Cons of Telehealth Jobs from Home
Not as involved in school life.
As mentioned above, working remotely means you aren’t as involved in school happenings. While this can be a good thing in some ways, such as being able to spend more of your time on therapy-related tasks or not having that one coworker pop in and talk to you for an hour while you’re trying to finish writing that IEP, this can also be challenging because you aren’t as much a part of the team with the district and community in which you work. You might not be in the know for spirit days, and you aren’t able to watch your students compete in the basketball tournament. You also might not have as many close relationships with the school employees as you would if you worked in person. Though this isn’t completely absent, it does take more intentionality to build and maintain these relationships.
Work boundaries.
When working in a brick-and-mortar location, once you leave the building, you leave work (though we know bringing paperwork home is a very real and regular thing). Working from home means that you can take your work almost anywhere. While that is lovely in some cases, it can also lead to a dangerous habit of working all the time. You have to be more intentional about logging out of work for your day and establishing appropriate work-from-home boundaries to make sure that you are able to maintain that beautiful work-life balance we discussed earlier and not enter into a state of burnout.
Support.
Ironically, you’ll notice that I included “more support” in the pros section above; this is intentional because I really feel like it is dependent upon the company that you work with. As I mentioned above, at Huddle Up we have intentional levels of support for all therapists and schools that allow for collaboration and advocacy for what the therapist needs to do their job best; however, the same is not necessarily true across all teletherapy companies, especially if you are working as an independent contractor. I have had many conversations with therapists who have transitioned to Huddle Up after working with a different teletherapy company who have commented on the culture and feeling of belonging that exists here that they didn’t feel in their previous teletherapy position.
Personal preference.
Working from home isn’t for everyone, and some people simply don’t enjoy it. They may miss being able to get out of the house to go to work or miss interactions with their coworkers in person. Some people even, believe it or not, miss the commute because it’s a way for them to wind down their day and transition their mindset out of “work mode.” Whatever the reason, some people just don’t think that working from home is right for them and would prefer a brick-and-mortar position.
In Summary
As with every decision, there are pros and cons to working in a remote teletherapy position. If you are considering making the switch, I hope this article gives you some insight into what you might expect and if it would be a good solution for you. I have been working remotely for almost 9 years and have never looked back. For me, working from home has allowed me to grow immensely as a professional while also showing up for myself and my family. As I mentioned, teletherapy isn’t for everyone, but I am thankful for the field both because of what it has provided for me personally and because of what it has provided for students and families by increasing access to quality services and education.
If you’re ready to make the switch, consider coming to work with me (yay!) at Huddle Up by checking out our current open positions.