Branching Out Into The Community To Bring Young Children And Families Together
In 2001, Director Shauna Ruzich realized her dream of delivering additional services to those with communication, motor, developmental, feeding and sensory delays. Working in both one-on-one home-based settings and playgroup therapy, Speech Tree is able to promote an overall wellness strategy. Feeding and swallowing clinics, parent and sibling support classes, plus nutrition education make the Speech Tree experience all-encompassing, yielding exciting results.
It all started in Kentucky where Shauna grew up on a farm consisting primarily of peach orchards. This upbringing instilled hard work and perseverance thus preparing her for a career that would be challenging but rewarding. It is from this experience that Speech Tree (once named PARA’s Peach Tree) gets it’s mascot. The peach symbolizes longevity as is wished upon the lives Speech Tree touches everyday. Speech Tree stems from Shauna’s heritage and although its roots lie in Kentucky, branches have extended into the Chicagoland area.
“Peach Tree” is in memory of Charles Beyer, owner and operator of Beyer’s Orchard in Paducah, KY who was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) and passed away January 19, 2004.
Shauna has been employed in the field of speech language pathology since 1994 across hospital, rehabilitation, clinic and school settings. She received most of her education from the University of Kentucky, graduated with a Bachelor of Science from the University of South Florida in 1996 and a Master of Science in Communication Disorders from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale in 2000.