{The Frenzied SLPs} Letter to ME as a new SLP

I woke up at 4:00 on the first day following my last day of the school year, thanks to Laika. She is the black and white dog that you've seen in my Looking Ahead posts. After I went back to bed, ideas on this post kept running through my mind, so I surrendered. Mostly because I knew if I didn't, I wouldn't remember what I thought about! 

Looking back over the past 33 years, if I was able to give myself advice, what would I say? I've come up with 5 things (in no particular order):

Make your family #1. No matter what. If you are single and have no children, make time for yourself. Stay active, go out with friends; take care of yourself. No one is going to die if you're not at school one day, or if you don't spend the summer making materials. Your students at school are just as happy throwing chips in a cup after saying their target as they would be working with a book companion that has been printed on cardstock and laminated. Your main objective is to target their goals; the cutesie, nice-looking materials are just an added bonus.

The only way to learn is to ask questions. You may earn the respect of your peers if you ask. Learning from others' experiences will make things easier for you.

Parents will request that their children be taken out of Speech for various reasons. Don't take it personally. Remember that their children are just that: their children. You may think you know what's best for that child, but there may be underlying reasons for them to refuse services...or an evaluation. Let it go!

That being said, remember that you are the professional when it comes to communication. Your job is to make recommendations to the team. If you suspect there may be some resistance from the parent at the meeting, do your homework before the meeting starts. If you suspect there may be some resistance from other team members, request a staffing prior to the meeting so the school staff stands in unity. If the parents decide to not follow your recommendation, don't take it personally.

This is one that I'm still working on, especially at the end of the year. When I see injustice, whether it be someone receiving special attention because of who they are in the school system, or being denied attention because of who they are/aren't, I have to speak up. I can be a bit opinionated, and the older I get, the more I say. Sometimes it's a good thing, but other times it's not. Try to learn when to speak up and when to be quiet. You may come across people who will take what you say and use it against you. Stay on the safe side and just be quiet. You can't control everything, so control yourself. 

Photo courtesy of Pexels

I'm still a work in progress. I have to remind myself of each point weekly, if not daily. Some things will come with experience and as you gain confidence. I still take things too personally at times. I still feel badly when a parent refuses an evaluation and I hear the student's horrible /r/ as he's talking in the hallway, knowing I can't do anything about it. We can't change the whole world; we can only do the best we can with those who will accept the help.

What would you say to yourself as a new SLP? We'd love for you to join in and link up!

Thanks to Sparklle SLP for getting this linky off the ground, to Putting Words in Your Mouth for the fabulous image, and to Doyle Speech Works for putting the linky tool together. It takes a village!

An InLinkz Link-up