Our final guest post of the week was written by Katie Pedersen. Katie is a full-time mommy, part-time school
speech-language pathologist. She has spent most of her time at the secondary
school level, and currently works as her district’s assistive technology
specialist. She loves living in a beautiful little valley amid the mountains of
Utah with her husband and three children, and going on outings with her family.
Her newest adventure is sharing her passion for speech-language development
with parents and other SLPs on her website, Let’s Grow Speech. You can also
follow her on Facebook,
Pinterest and Twitter.
I’m so excited to be joining Carrie for her Blog Birthday!
She is a party animal with all of her giveaways this week. It’s so much fun
being an SLP. We all remember what it was like to be a newbie, though, trying
to figure out the ropes of our profession. There is definitely a learning
curve, and I think every SLP would agree that he/she is still learning. For all
of you recent graduates, clinical fellows, and maybe even some experienced
SLPs, here are the top 5 things I wish I had known as a new SLP:
1. Use visuals and other multi-sensory
approaches
One of the
best things I learned as a new SLP was the importance of using visual supports
and other multi-sensory approaches in therapy. Visuals are an excellent way to
support learning. Concepts stick with students better when they are paired with
a visual, tactile, or auditory cue. I recently shared one of my favorite visual
supports for scaffolding narrative interventions. I also use visuals to encourage
articulation skills with my sound association cards.
For my
students with autism, I encourage the use of visual schedules and reinforcers to provide structure
and foster independence. I have even implemented some of these strategies with
my preschool daughter to help with her morning routine and managing iPad time.
My poor kiddos always have their mom using therapy techniques on them at home :)
2. Collaborate, collaborate, collaborate
You are
surrounded by experienced professionals. Use them as a resource. One of my best
mentors was a special education language arts teacher. I used a push-in model
during her resource English class. We had a room full of unmotivated high
schoolers who were supposed to be reading novels and writing essays, but who
would’ve rather been playing video games or sleeping on their desks. I learned
so much as I watched this teacher carefully select literature that would appeal
to this group and scaffold writing assignments so they didn’t even realize they
were writing 5-paragraph essays until
they were done. After I had done a vocabulary or narrative activity with the
class, I would return for my next session to find her reinforcing the concepts
I had taught earlier in the week. It was brilliant! Some teachers are more
willing to work with you than others, but don’t be afraid to suggest a more
collaborative approach to therapy. I know it is not always feasible or best to
use this type of push-in model, but there is always something to learn and to
be learned between professionals. Many teachers just don’t understand what we
do in our closet space and this is our chance to show them.
3. Take meaningful data
Ah, data. I still don’t think I am a pro at
this, but I have definitely learned a few things along the way. For my first
few years, I frequently switched my approach to keeping data. Some worked
better than others, but none of them were super efficient. I would spend hours
transferring plus and minus signs from piles of sticky notes to therapy logs,
and then when it was time for progress reports, I spent hours transferring
information from therapy logs into progress reports. Luckily I had all the time
in the world to stay at work until 6pm every night! I most recently discovered
an organized, visual way to monitor progress using Excel spreadsheets, but then
my coworker shared an awesome datatracker app she downloaded from Super Duper
that essentially does the same thing with even less paperwork! It is $1.99 and
well worth every cent. She is even able to email progress to parents as needed.
So when should
you take data? I also struggled with this one. I like to approach therapy
sessions with the “I do, we do, you do” model. First, I teach and model the
target concept. Then, we practice the concept together. Finally, I have the
student demonstrate his proficiency with the concept. This is when I take data.
4. Make sure the student knows the goal
for each therapy session.
Give the what and the why at the beginning of each session. Identify your goal for the
session and give the student a reason to accomplish it. Will it help him to
communicate better with his friends? Will it help him to write an A+ book
report that he can be proud of? When the
student is struggling with motivation, you can remind him why you are doing
what you doing. Too often I would go through therapy without giving my students
a reason to care.
5. Have fun and be creative
One reason I
love being a speech-language pathologist is because I can get away with doing
silly, unexpected things. I can guarantee that you will have your student’s
full attention if you show up dressed as a Dumbledore for your Harry Potter
unit (yes, I actually did this) or be sitting under the table when they show up
for their social skills group. Use technology if you have it. Teachers Pay
Teachers is a goldmine for motivating activities to use in therapy. Let your
students know that you are enjoying therapy and they will enjoy it too!
So… what do
you wish you’d known as a new SLP?
Thank you, thank you, Katie! This is great information for new (and even experienced) SLPs! I know I'm continually striving for a better/more efficient means of data collection! Katie also donated one of her Let's Grow Articulation books for my BIG giveaway! You will definitely want to check out these amazing resources!
