Meet Shelby

Hi! I'm Shelby Ross, founder of Silly Goose Speech Therapy, a practice by Silly Goose Speech™, and a nationally certified Speech-Language Pathologist (CCC-SLP) licensed in the state of Illinois.

My passion for speech therapy began long before I had a name for it. Growing up, my older sister was nonverbal, and our family learned to communicate through expressions, gestures, body language, and connection. That experience shaped my belief that communication is about so much more than words and that every child deserves meaningful ways to connect with the people around them.

I earned both my undergraduate and graduate degrees from Indiana University Bloomington, home to one of the nation's top-ranked speech-language pathology programs. Since then, I have worked across a variety of educational settings, including elementary schools, short-term early childhood (EC) contracts, and district-wide assistive technology specialist services. These experiences have allowed me to support students with diverse communication needs while collaborating closely with families, educators, and multidisciplinary teams.

In addition to my clinical work, I currently serve as an Adjunct Professor at Lewis University as part of their Graduate Speech-Language Pathology program, where I help prepare future speech-language pathologists both in a clinical setting providing hands-on clinical skill training as well as teaching courses.

At Silly Goose Speech, I take a whole-child approach that focuses on each child's strengths, interests, and potential while taking into account areas of growth. My goal is to create meaningful, functional progress while building confidence that extends beyond the therapy room and into everyday life.

I would be honored to support your child's communication journey and partner with your family every step of the way.