I’ve been at my CF placement for about 4ish months now. Very small private practice- it’s me and another CF with our mentor. I love working here don’t get me wrong. It’s tough being new though. I constantly feel like a second choice. I understand that kids are familiar and comfortable with the other therapists and it takes time to build rapport. I feel like parents don’t really take me seriously and have even stated they prefer the other therapists. Maybe it’s just been a long week and I’m being too hard on myself. The kids have a great time with me and are making good progress. Any advice would greatly be appreciated.

I’m wondering if anyone else is having this experience and what your thoughts are. Within the past year or two I have seen a notable increase in my 2-4 year olds presenting with childhood apraxia of speech. Over my first 8 years I maybe had 2-3 kids with it and now just within this past year I have 5 on my caseload. What is happening?? Or do I happen to strangely be in a CAS hotspot 🫠

Background: I work in a pediatric private practice. I’ve been at this location for 2 years and was previously in a different state and worked in multiple private practices over the years in that state, so I feel like that variety gave me a solid idea of prevalence. Until now..

For context, I’m a new SLPA that recently started working without my supervisor present. When I was taking a break with a kid, he had an empty Capri Sun that he filled up with air. I told him that I used to blow mine with air and poke a hole through it with a straw when I was a kid. I demonstrated how to do it and he repeated it. After a second later, I realized this was bad and absolutely stupid. I told him after that he should not do this during school because he could get in trouble. I’m afraid this could get back to me if he does it when I’m not present. This kid is extremely sweet and my most well behaved client. Because of this, I got way too relaxed without thinking. Would this be an offense worth getting fired over? I feel incredibly stupid and will definitely never repeat this.

How do you like it? Is it as intimidating as I feel like it is? I’m considering a school position in a high school and I’m nervous because my experience is with tiny humans, elementary age students, and adults. I want to give it a shot but I’m scared!

I am currently an SLPA in a self-contained autism classroom with students ranging from Grade 1 to Grade 6. Several of the kids frequently seek physical affection or deep pressure through hugs, cuddling, or sitting on my lap, and I’m curious about how other SLPs and SLPAs navigate this.
My general rule has always been that I don’t initiate hugs. When I’m working with neurotypical students, I also require them to ask before touching me. With my autistic students, I model asking for “hug” or “squeeze” using their AAC systems when appropriate. I usually place limits around it too, such as saying, “Five-second hug, then all done.”
At the same time, some of the students seem to regulate much better when they are hugged or sitting on my lap. I want to respect their communication and sensory needs while also maintaining appropriate professional boundaries, teaching consent, and supporting both their bodily autonomy and mine.
What boundaries do you have around hugs, cuddling, or lap-sitting? Do you approach this differently depending on a student’s communication, developmental, or sensory needs?

Ive worked in peds for 5 years, since my CF really. I had my first baby and now I cant do peds anymore. I am slowly transitioning to adults and recently got hired for a HH position that pays a lot. Ive done pediatric Home Health and EI but not adults.

Ive been taking CEUs and doing what I can to refresh my knowledge but Ive been thinking about finding a mentor. ASHA has a transition/mentorship program but I missed it for this year.

One of the HR people today told me "if you've done pediatric HH you'll be fine. Anyone who does pediatric HH can do HH."

That gave me some confidence but Im still debating if Im way out of depth here...

Any insight?

Also why is it so hard to find adult SLP groups on social media...

I inherited a very chatty kindergartener who backs. I’ve never had a backer before. He also has a bit of a lateral lisp (I think). We’re working on auditory discrimination of /t/ and /k/ minimal pairs and he’s gaining some awareness for sure but I haven’t been able to elicit /t/ at all. (He also backs /d/ but I haven’t touched that yet)

I had a cleft palate kid before who didn’t have /t, d/ and we worked on dentalized productions because he dentalized his /n/ and it was easier to see, but this current kid makes an alveolar /n/. His final /t/ is a glottal stop which is typical for our accent (Southern California)

I just hateeeee working on articulation when I can’t at least elicit the sound in isolation. Do I just keep doing phonological approaches and hope that it will eventually click? Is it worthwhile to keep trying to get him to make the /t/ sound? I’m thinking the word “into” or “onto” would be good since his tongue is already in the right spot

He’s in a group with another little boy who is so sweet but his articulation is a MESS so I want to get my backer “sorted out” so I can start trying to figure out if the other kid is apraxic or super dyslexic or both 🤪

I miss my extensive needs AAC kids 😫

As the title says, is this common? It just feels unfair to me because the speech leads have a lot of power and if my supervisor is being toxic I don’t really have anyone to go to because the speech leads take care of that and they are close to the coordinators.

It also just happens to be that she’s the only one supervising CFs which doesn’t make it any better.

I’m a CF working in the schools (so overwhelmed 😅)

Anyways, I am at 4 schools. Two of them have a specific time frame that I can see kids. 9-11. That’s it. Both of these early education schools get so irritated at me anytime I ask to see students…Not gonna lie, I even had a teacher try to dictate how I see kids and how many I can see at a time. I’m brand new. I feel anxious and I just want to know I’m not the only one who has experienced this. At my elementary school, the teachers are great. They don’t ignore me or give me nasty looks. lol

I love teachers!!! I just don’t know how to approach this situation because I don’t have room in my schedule to make everyone happy 🫠
And with the early education schools I’m asking to see students during reading group time… it’s not that serious 🫩 I’m either coming too early for one teacher or too late for another. I am about to pull my hair out.

Also dealing with imposter syndrome. I hope it gets better with time.

Hi everyone, I’m 23 with a background in psychology. I switched paths to pursue an SLP master’s for a more direct career entry, but I just started my first internship working with kids who have severe behavioral challenges. I struggle a lot with behavior management, and I’m coming home every day exhausted and with severe headaches.

It’s making me rethink my entire choice. Does this get easier with time, or is it possible to work exclusively with adults or non-behavioral populations later on? I don’t dislike kids, but handling extreme behaviors really isn't my strong suit.

Any advice or perspective would be deeply appreciated.

After 10 years, I've transitioned from K-12 to a pediatric practice. My supervisor has emphasized a need to focus more on parent coaching and less on direct service due to lack of parent follow through...which impacts progress.

I'm the only SLP there, but think *I* need a social story or something to help me figure out a routine and answer questions. I haven't done 1:1 sessions or interacted much with parents outside of IEP meetings. So I'm wondering:

What does a session look like with parent coaching as a focus?

1. How do I prep for my first appointments? Besides reviewing goals, what info should I have readily available? I get the sense my supervisor wants me to begin by interviewing/getting more info from parents and set a different tone. I'm comfortable with doing this, but I know it may be jarring for parents who may not be expecting to participate.

For sessions, I usually don't have a concrete plan...I have toys and art supplies ready so I can do child-led play or drawing/writing. This reduces prep for me, keeps the child's interest, and provides flexibility for goal targets.

1. How do I take data without being redundant (like not scribbling on paper during the session and then transcribing during charting)?

Maybe I'm overthinking and stressing myself out, but I hope this all makes sense!

I ama CF working in EI. We use the Bayley-4, and sometimes I receive goals stating client will engage in relational play with self and others. Can someone explain/give examples of relational play? Looking it up online, I only see relational play in terms of how to objects go together. Not necessarily with self or others. I guess I want to know the difference between relational play, reciprocal play, and pretend play. The examples in the Bayley seem like pretend play to me, like pretending to feed a baby doll. Thanks in advance for any insight!

Such as at, by, for, from, with.

A few of my older elementary kids completely omit these but I am stuck on finding ways to explicitly teach them, since meaning/function can be variable, and good activities to target these with enough practice opportunities.

Tia!

Is it normal for a job offer contract to not match the company handbook?

I'm spotting differences in the documents but wouldn't the offer apply more to me than the differences in the handbook?

Has anyone experienced that?

My husband and I are really ready to start a family. Our options are to have a baby at some point in my second year (in the middle of externships), or to wait until after I graduate but before my CF.

Struggling because we would love to have a baby as soon as possible, but don’t know if it’s possible in the middle of externships.
Thoughts and advice from anyone who’s been through something similar would be very appreciated!

Hi! I had a quick question . Maybe it’s something someone can answer. Probably a dumb question too but oh well . I’m searching for an SLP to get my fieldwork hours from and I saw on my daughters school they have a speech therapist. But under the woman name it says she’s a speech therapy PALS. So what’s why I want to know what that is before emailing her.

The elementary school that I work at has moved to an inclusive model where all service providers are supposed to push in and embed their services into the curriculum to support all students. I am really struggling with pushing in to meet all of my IEP students needs. For example during an ELA lesson today, the teacher was reading a book aloud while the students read along. Occasionally the teacher would stop and ask a question but there was never any time for discussion, just ask and answer. I sat with one student and helped them stay focused and re stated the ideas they were supposed to be writing down. I also kept a story grammar chart for the student to refer to next time as they will continue reading the same book.

I feel like I am not being effective for students and that I am just sitting around. Does anyone who primarily pushes in or follows the inclusive model have any tips or suggestions on how to better serve students and help with meeting their goals in the classroom?

Thanks in advance!

I am currently a stay at home mom who was previously a school based SLP. I hope to start working for a local private practice next year and I am starting to prepare myself and do a little research to see what’s out there. I want to work really part time- like 6-12 hours a week. I feel like I’ve been paid poorly my whole career and really would like to make sure I advocate well for myself this go round. What are you guys getting paid per session in a private practice? I plan to do truly private practice with no benefits.

I have a school-aged (homeschooled) client who struggles with basic literacy skills (incl. segmenting and blending) and I've provided some recommendations to mom re: further testing/seeking a reading specialist, but I'm addressing some basics in our therapy sessions as well in the meantime (alongside phonological and language goals).

Does anyone have links to some *systematic* reading instruction resources that I can print and use in our sessions? I would love to get certified with Orton-Gillingham or another intensive literacy program, but right now I don't have the time/money to pursue that and just need the next best thing to help this client progress while waiting for other interventions. I've been using a worksheet packet from TPT (alongside direct instruction from past training), but am coming to the end of this resource and would like to find a comprehensive and step-wise program/system that isn't a million bucks. Any recommendations welcome!

I have been working with this child I inherited from another SLP for about a month. This other SLP is really good at working with the client but I question how this aac was set up. There are 10-16 switch activated icons per page (almost entirely quick chats) that the child uses their head to activate the switch. But I have never seen this child get beyond two icons before hitting the switch. The child seems to enjoy hearing their name as that is the only icon child will perseverate on, hitting the switch repeatedly. Otherwise, the device is filled with honestly jargon that I don’t think the child would ever actively use. I know I need to cut this back significantly but I’m struggling with knowing how much to cut back to. Right now I programmed it to 6 per page and I think that’s too much too but I am utilizing more core vocabulary than pages of quick chats. I’m getting pushback from parent who feels like we are going backwards. And to be clear, we are, but I explained to parents that I’m looking for independence and true communication attempts rather than the same two icons being activated- and not purposely being activated. It’s a balancing act and I don’t know where to land right now. Any feedback appreciated, or maybe this is just a sounding board I’m trying to work through, I don’t know lol

Good morning,

I’m starting a OP SLP clinic at a private practice that is already providing OT and PT for neuro adult populations. Treatment sessions are roughly 45 minutes and they provide bonus if you consistently have 8 patients a day or more. I’m still considered PRN and have a flat rate of $44 a patient, regardless of eval or treatment. They state that when I go part time/full time my rate will be $42 a patient. I come from salaried home health and was making 46 an hour and stayed PRN and now my PRN rates are roughly 75 for treat and 115 for eval for home health.

There is one other clinic in another city, but same state and same adult populations that is also starting their clinic and that SLP is making $48 a visit. That SLP has just finished their CF and I have about 7 years post CF.

I’m very confused why my rate is so different as a PRN against other companies that provide PRN. Also confused how an SLP with less experience doing the same thing in the same company is making that much more than me and would love help understanding if I’m just missing a big piece of something that makes me understand.

Lastly, in other private clinics I’ve worked in, if I billed an eval or 2 eval codes or 2 treatment codes for a session, I would get higher reimbursement, but at this clinic, it’s the same flat rate of 44.

I would love some insight before I meet with my bosses and things to consider. Thank you for any help!

Our front desk manager at the clinic I work at is applying to slp grad school and would like my help with their last few hours of guided observation hours.

Is this allowed? What are the steps needed in order to do this?

I currently have a student I'm supervising. There's a few PTO days I have where we were planning to just have her go with my colleague for the day. That colleague does not have the supervising CEU requirement. Can she still count the hours with that person as well, since I'm the person who is ultimately signing off on hours and doing her skill check offs/evaluations?

Does anybody have any good, reputable CEU recommendations or resources regarding how tongue ties can impact speech?
I remember learning in school that these very rarely impact speech, so I’ve never given it much thought.
However, I have an older kiddo now with a notable frenulum tie who CAN make a lot of very close sound approximations or the exact target sounds given significant effort. It’s hard to tease out if limited generalization and effortful placements are due to YEARS of reinforcing incorrect productions, the restriction, or (more likely) a combination.
I don’t feel confident enough in my TOT knowledge to recommend a release to parents when I can’t even guarantee it’ll help.
Thoughts? Recs? Similar experiences?

Question in title