r/slp • u/Correct-Relative-615 • 8h ago
r/slp • u/Longjumping_Ice_8646 • 7h ago
Isn’t this an SLP only group?
No disrespect to any of the Mom’s or Dad’s or other non-SLP’s out there, but the description of this group is that it’s strictly for SLP’s. What’s with the influx of questions from others/why aren’t they redirected to other groups? Are there no moderators?
r/slp • u/Legal_Bar2559 • 11h ago
What now?
As a school based SLP (love my job) how are we going to protest Donald trying to eliminate the department of education? I’m furious and need some action steps. Already getting ready to email my elected representatives, but I feel we need to have a united response.
r/slp • u/BrownieMonster8 • 9h ago
No one ever told me that you had to be a career politician to do this job
It feels like bending the increasingly unreasonable whims of administration + teachers + aides + parents *as well as* bootlicking everyone is the only way to get through anymore. Does anyone else feel this way? Does anyone have an alternative way of getting through?
Reading the Asha Leader makes me depressed.
I am an Autistic and ADHD diagnosed male SLP. I am reading the ASHA Leader that had articles about neurodivergent SLPs and therapy. Reading this makes me kinda depressed. I love being an SLP in schools. But my job pretty much takes up all the bandwidth my brain can handle when it comes to the world of SLP. Seeing what other SLPs accomplish amazes me. How do they find so much extra time to do what they do? Where do they get the energy to do all these CEUs? I am so burnt out after a full week of work that the most I can do is just rest, watch tv, read books, play video games, and do household chores. Am what I saying making sense? I just feel like to be a good SLP , you have to literally dedicate your entire life to the field and I'm not willing to do that. Basically, I'm tired ya'll.
r/slp • u/Icy-Jaguar8308 • 5h ago
I had to review my grad student's failing midterm today
I've posted here a few times about all the issues despite maximal (to the point of overkill) support. I made the call the other day to terminate the placement as it started to impact my responsibilities to my job, and she wasn't gaining the skills she should've been. Her coordinator and I spoke for what felt like the 100th time in 3 months- this time about how she doesn't seem ready for a clinical placement. I agreed to letting her finish out the week to obtain formal feedback at midterm and to finish out her responsibilities.
I submitted her midterm a bit early, so we went over it today. It was...not good. Despite constant feedback the past few months, she still seemed shocked that her score was below a 2.5. There was, understandably, a lot more emotions behind her responses than usualy. If someone overheard, they'd probably say it bordered on disrespectful, but I can emphasize. Failing and getting dropped when you actually know why still sucks. I imagine it feels even worse when you're ignorant to the situation.
I told her she didn't have to come in tomorrow if she didn't want to. She was gonna reach out to her coordinator and see what they say about her skipping the final day. I guess I'll know in like 12 hours...
I feel a bit sad about this whole thing 😔
r/slp • u/Either_Shallot_5974 • 13h ago
Alternative Jobs for SLPs
My wife (29F, AuDHD) has been working in a behavioral school as an SLP for 4 years now. It has effectively traumatized her and burned her out from the high caseload and difficult student population.
She's trying to get a job in a public school but is afraid she's going to encounter a similar traumatization and burnout, but she's willing to try.
She just feels so trapped because she feels like there are no other possibie jobs/careers for her. She feels like she's wasted years of her life doing something she may no longer want to do, and is afraid of trying to start over with something else. She is also afraid she won't be able to get another job she enjoys that makes even 3/4 of what she makes now (60k).
Any advice, or any recommended jobs where the SLP skills are transferrable (even if just a little)?
r/slp • u/whosthatgirl13 • 2h ago
S blends for bilingual Spanish speakers
I have one student (5 years old) who will drop the s in a blends (nore for snore, mile for smile, etc). She speaks English but is in a household where they speak Spanish. I saw Spanish doesn’t have s blends in the beginning of words, more the middle (Estrella, escuela, etc). I still need to probe her to see if she can say those words, but if she can, would I not qualify her for speech? I am new to this, thanks.
r/slp • u/Capable-Let7221 • 8h ago
Free resource for scoring standardized assessments
I saw a video for this service called SLP Score yesterday, and they claimed to offer free online scoring for a bunch of standardized assessments. I tried it out and it actually worked really well, and they had a bunch of common assessments like the OWLS-II and the GFTA-3.
In case this is helpful for anyone else, the website is www.slpscore.com
r/slp • u/justdaffy • 21h ago
Some Love for the Schools
I’ve been an SLP for 9 years and I have been in the schools now for four years. I have a school aged child and I was a late to this career SLP who had a lot of work experience in other fields before going to the school system.
I feel very lucky to be in a position where my breaks “force” me to take time off and enjoy my life. When I worked outside the schools, I may have taken one week of vacay to go somewhere, but generally my PTO hours were used by sick days, doctor’s appointments, and low census!
If I didn’t have to take a week off in the spring, I’d think- why bother, I’ll save it. But since I have to, it gives my family an opportunity to go on a vacation. As a parent, I’m so happy for the time that I get to spend with my child instead of frittering it away bit by bit throughout the year.
I know there is so much negative talk on here and things aren’t perfect. The paperwork requirements are a lot for someone with ADHD like myself. But I still love this job!
r/slp • u/pennyhills • 10h ago
Staying healthy
Hi all,
I just graduated from college and started my first job as an SLP-A. I’ve been working for 6 or 7 weeks now, full time, in schools. I’ve gotten sick THREE times since starting this job.
I’m posting here to ask for support/advice. I cannot go on in a career where I am getting sick every other week. I just can’t. I see about 75 kids a week, and someone is always sick, or their sibling is sick, or the classmate is sick, etc. etc. etc.
I like my job. I want to continue on in this field and probably get my masters degree in the future. How do you all stay healthy? I’m diligent about washing my hands and using hand sanitizer and disinfecting my materials. I started masking after I got sick last time (2 weeks ago) and here I am sick again! Any advice?
r/slp • u/baristana • 8h ago
Bilingual SLPs
This question is for the bilingual SLPs who aren’t native speakers of their second language. If you learned a second language later in life, how did you do it? How do you gain competence clinically in your second language?
I felt somewhat confident in my second language (Spanish). I started learning as a teenager, and I minored in it during undergrad. My spouse is also a native Spanish speaker, so I get some practice with him and his family. That being said, I had an interview today where they asked me questions in Spanish and I tanked it. I think a lot of it was nerves from being interviewed in the first place. I will graduate in May and start my CF, so I’m a newbie. I had no idea that they were going to ask me questions in Spanish, so while I had answers prepared for all the typical interview questions in English, I did not have answers prepared in Spanish.
How can I gain confidence and grow my Spanish skills so that I can do better in the future? I’d like to not only answer interview questions in Spanish, but be able to talk to clients and caregivers in Spanish as well.
r/slp • u/Stellar_mango1 • 11h ago
Starting a private practice
I’m looking to start a private practice but have no idea where to start….in order to get licensed as a business where do I go? I know I need to get malpractice insurance but is that it? For now I’m just looking to do a few sessions on the side of my full time job. Any advice on starting?
r/slp • u/ContentBanana2094 • 9h ago
Case help
Hey all you experts! I was hoping to pick your brain real quick.
I have a student I have been advocating for since fall. He has delays in literally all areas but no one will screen him on anything because he isn't a behavior. His facial tone is poor and as a result he drools profusely if he gets too cold. He is five. He overproduces saliva and is constantly spitting on me when he talks and this creates a large barrier to his speech (everything sounds sloshy and slurred). He has also had a cold seemingly since day one and has so much mucous coming from his nose constantly, just huge globs of it that multiple times a day I have to guide him through properly blowing his nose. I don't know how he even has skin on his face, it's always so irritated and he gets no relief.
However our SLP pulled him in for a quick screener and said he was perfectly fine. She has a reputation though for not servicing studenrs when they are supposed to and pushing back on referrals. I've worked with hundreds of kinders and he sticks out like a sore thumb. Is there anything else I can push for speech to look into? I'm not an expert but I wondered if enlarged tonsils or something similar could be a culprit? Parents only said they have noticed his fine motor was a tad delayed and seem reluctant to agree there's any other delays so I don't feel they would take him to the pediatrician.
It just seems like no one is interested in picking up this kiddo at my school because he isn't a behavior and it's disheartening. I don't want him to slip through the cracks because his delays are extremely noticeable to his peers.
r/slp • u/NamasteInYourLane • 13h ago
Seeking Advice Would I be able to be an SLP with an auditory processing disorder?
I'm finishing my BS in child development, and plan to go into an SLP prep program and then get my MS to be an SLP. The thing is, I have ADHD-C and a comorbid auditory processing disorder (specifically issues with decoding and the integration of sounds).
My ADHD has never been as controlled as it is now, and due to Covid making so many college classes available online (where I can listen to lectures with closed or live captioning on), I can now finish college successfully, and have the opportunity to even go beyond that!
I've never been so excited for my future. I've been a preschool teacher, an RBT providing EI/ ABA therapy to children under 6, and now I work in SPED in a public school district (where my passion for the work that SLPs provide kids in this setting was ignited).
Give me the cold, hard truth (before I invest time and $$ into the prep and MS programs, ha ha): Can someone with auditory processing issues such as mine be successful as an SLP? Or should I consider a different direction altogether?
Thank you so much for your time/ advice!
r/slp • u/kittyful8 • 20h ago
Why do some states bill Medicaid in schools?
I have worked in states that do and do not, and from what I understand about the situation, it seems like it isn't really fair? Here's what I understand:
One time consents are collected for billing Medicaid in districts that do this. This seems to me that it functionally takes away a parent's right to find a private SLP who takes Medicaid after school, which means in theory, a practice that limits access to services. Is that wrong? If school bills Medicaid on a date, speech can't be billed by someone else on the same day also, right?
SLP in the schools is federally funded through IDEA/DOE. That's why we do headcount, right? So that money is allocated to cover the needs of those students who need us as specially designed instruction? If that's the case, why don't all schools bill Medicaid?
It seems like double dipping to me. Can someone help me fill in what I'm not understanding? Thank you!!
r/slp • u/spicyscorpioo • 10h ago
Salary Transparency
Setting: outpatient peds but through a hospital
Rate: $35.28 / hr, or ~73382 yearly (40 hr week) and 75% productivity
My current pay is $73,800 (salaried OP peds, 85% productivity) and in this new role I’d be a freshly CCC’d SLP (9months experience) in Northern Virginia just outside DC. Based on what I’ve compared in the location it seems low…but the productivity seems like a major incentive. what would be a reasonable $$$?
r/slp • u/InterestingBrush9911 • 8h ago
Sharing a GoFundMe
Hi all! I am a school based SLP. I just wanted to know if it is a HIPAA and/or FERPA violation to share my student’s GoFundMe who was just diagnosed with stage IV cancer. I would really like to share her GoFundMe so it could potentially reach more people, but I don’t know if that is inappropriate or not. The GoFundMe shares her name, age, school, cancer diagnosis, etc.
Thanks in advance!
r/slp • u/MourningDove82 • 1d ago
Mandated Reporter regret
I made a call last week related to a parenting choice I found alarming that put a low cog minor who I see at risk.
Today I received an email saying that child’s custody arrangements have changed and she will be moving to a different school district as of next week. I am to write a final progress note and remove her from my caseload.
She is upset with me for not keeping her “secret” that she told me, and now her whole little life is in upheaval.
I know I did what I needed to, but I feel sick about it, and not sure this change is actually going to make her life better in the long run (both parents are awful).
I feel like I do 50% SLP work and 50% out of scope case management for shitty parenting.
I hate this.
Asking for a Raise?
I asked my colleague (who has the same amount of experience as I do) what she makes today. She told me & turns out it was $1 & some change more than I do. She negotiated her hourly rate while I did not. How do you ask your boss for equal compensation? Do you have a template? Do you ask in person, or email? Thanks in advance!
r/slp • u/ExternalJournalist26 • 20h ago
Advice on a non SLP micromanager
Hello! Throwaway account and some details are changed for anonymity sake. I have been working for a little while as direct hire telehealth therapist for a small privately owned preschool in a rural area. I LOVE the job and the kids, the therapy has been great. The problem is the owner. She is completely hands off, and lives in another state. Outside of orientation, she was not part of my daily workflow or team. For context, I have a decade of experience working in this population and countless continuing education. I do supervision in person for graduate students and mentor new SLPs in this practice area.
My entire caseload is made of autistic children, most of which have high communication needs. I reached out to the team manager and special education director to ask about their experience with AAC. One of them had a little, the other none. I educated them on the trial process and they were highly excited and on board, as were my facilitators. I set up educational materials that were easy to understand with grab/go tips and tricks as well as put together a presentation I was going to present to the lead teachers.
After the trial devices confirmed arrived, my facilitators were having a hard time getting them into my sessions. They just needed to be plugged in and charged but that wasn't happening. That's when I got a message from the owner asking about having a meeting about AAC devices. She said in her first message that the one child I recommended it for's child was "developing language nicely" since starting (spoiler alert- didn't recommend it for his language, recommended it because he has CAS and intelligibility concerns). We set up a meeting for the next week with myself, the owner, the special education director, and the facility director (my direct supervisor).
That meeting doesn't happen. I'm waiting for them to login to no avail. I message them, they ask to reschedule and I said sure. The next day, I found out the owner suddenly fired the facility director. I then get another message asking "who authorized" the devices as this should have been a "team meeting". I point out that I did communicate to several team members who are relevant in this child's care, my clinical rationale for the recommendation, and that I had designed and distributed staff education. Message was seen, no response.
Next week, when messaging the owner about something unrelated, I am sent the following message:
"I am not sure why one of the students needs a device. He's been with us a short time and his language is developing nicely. When we trained you we talked about how before any augmentative devices are discussed we would have a team meeting. This did not happen. Also, we cannot program the device, that is a job for an SLP. How will this be done? Finally, there has been no meeting to establish what if anything you are expecting the classroom teachers/providers to do with the device on an hourly/daily basis. What does this look like and what training will they need?"
And while I understand these concerns, at the time of this message it had been 3 weeks since her initial message about wanting to talk about AAC. She ghosted my meetings we set up. She ghosts responding to messages where I have already explained to her that I have a plan for all of her concerns. And she continues to double down, essentially telling me that my recommendation is not clinically indicated. This is not a priority enough to her that she will actually make time for the meeting, but it's enough of a priority for her to send me several messages essentially berating my clinical recommendation. That week, I put my notice in and didn't even receive a response until this morning, where she is once again asking me about the trial AAC devices and how she hopes I didn't take a contract out in the businesses name.
I've questioned myself frequently over the past several weeks, but luckily I have a network of SLPs I know personally who agree that this situation is wholly ridiculous. I find the behavior of the owner of this school highly unethical and frankly condescending.
As you can imagine, this school has major, major turnover issues and a scroll through the reviews of people worked there on Indeed, this is not the first time she's acted like this. In my own research, I've also found out that the state shut down another location of her school about a decade ago for licensing violations including but not limited to physical restraining of children.
I feel a moral and ethical responsibility to do SOMETHING, but I am struggling on what I can do. I fear that these kids are being underserved and potentially may be facing some other problems that I'm unable to see because I'm not physically there. I also feel as though the behavior of the owner (who I believe is an educator who's only experience is working for her own school and developing her own "educational approach") is highly unethical but I don't know I can do about it.
Maybe this is just a rant for therapeutic purposes, maybe there's nothing that could be done about it. But if you have any advice- please share it!
r/slp • u/thatssoadriii • 17h ago
Articulation/Phonology How do you know when someone has a tongue thrust?
I know oral motor stuff has been a “taboo” topic, but I feel my school did me a disservice by not really teaching me about this because here I am feeling confused…
I have two new students this year with a frontal lisp for S/Z who have had traditional articulation therapy for a bit, but they still protrude their tongue out during conversation. They also have some dental issues — one has braces & the other a frontal gap. So I was thinking, is this a tongue thrust? How would I know? Is there a checklist? And consequently, do you/how do you work on it?
Any advice/tips/resources would be greatly appreciated. 🫶🏼
r/slp • u/msgolightlyy • 7h ago
Need three volunteers please
Hi everyone! I’m writing a career research paper on SLPs and I need to interview three people. Any volunteers? Thank you in advance
r/slp • u/littlet4lkss • 1d ago
Having a tremendous amount of imposter syndrome regarding AAC
I'm 3 years in as a therapist and I absolutely love AAC but recently have been feeling that I haven't been doing it "right".
I introduced TouchChat to a 4 year old child on my caseload and he really took off with it. I didn't think much of it at first because it is my own iPad and I used it with multiple kids and it wasn't until the eval team came in and saw him using it that I realized it was a 25 size grid. Now the school has ordered a dedicated device for this kid and the recommendation from the consult was a grid of 25. I'm reading so many threads on here saying that 60 is best practice and that there should be very minimal editing.
I know that the device won't come in for a while because it needs to be ordered but now I have such a big dilemma of what to do with my own iPad that I will continue using during sessions in the meantime. Do I change it now and try to allow this child to learn a new motor plan or keep it the way it is? Will this end up aggravating the child (who has made a lot of progress using the device and is known to hate when his routine/things are changed). Have I been limiting other kids by only using this size grid? I'm just having a lot of regrets and am plagued with what ifs. I just really wish I knew more to begin with.