Today, we get to hear from Cady Karras, MCD, CCC-SLP on her background and passion for speech therapy. Cady joins Steel City Speech after 6 years in the public school setting, including Hoover City and Birmingham City Schools, and brings a tremendous wealth of experience and love for the kids she serves!

Tell us about your family.

My husband Carter and I both grew up in Valdosta, Ga. The majority of our immediate and extended family still live there, so we travel back often to spend time with them! My husband and I have lived in Birmingham since getting married 6 years ago. We welcomed our first son, Henry, this past November and are loving being a family of 3!

Do you have any hobbies or interests?

I enjoy spending time outdoors any chance that I can. Our families love to spend time at the lake and at the beach. I also enjoy taking our dog on walks and reading. I recently began dabbling in a few sewing projects.

Favorite Birmingham restaurant?

One of my favorites would have to be Gian Marcos. I could eat pasta for every meal, so it is always a treat!

Where did you go to school?

I went to Auburn University for my undergraduate and graduate degrees. War Eagle!

What made you want to be an SLP?

I knew that I wanted to be an SLP from a fairly early age. Speech therapy allows me to combine my love for helping children and using creativity in therapy sessions, so it matched a lot of my interests and passions.

What's your favorite aspect of being an SLP?

My favorite part is genuinely getting to know the children I work with and figuring out what being a successful communicator looks like for them.

What are your favorite resources for learning more about speech and language?

I think the greatest way to grow as an SLP is to collaborate with other SLPs. There are so many passionate and talented SLPs, so getting to share ideas and watch how they reach their clients highly motivates me to keep learning and growing. One therapy resource that I have loved recently are Boom Cards. They are a fun and engaging way to quickly target a variety of skills.

What's the one thing you wish parents knew about speech and language?

I think a common assumption is that speech therapy is isolated to helping children correctly pronounce sounds. While that is a big part of what we do as speech therapists, the ways we can help your children is much more vast. If it falls under the umbrella of "communication" we can most likely help your child in some way!

You can reach Cady at cady.karras@steelcityspeech.com.