Rock Chalk Speech Talk

Sharing Speech & Language Therapy Ideas!

  • Rock Chalk Speech Talk
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Shop
  • Get on the List!
  • Contact

Chicken Soup for the SLP Soul

Imagine this scenario:
You’re a first year SLP—ready to take on the world after 6 years of school including 2 years of practicums behind you.  You’re a little nervous about being out on your own, but confident enough to know that while you don’t know it all, you know enough to be plenty competent in order to do your job.  You’re ecstatic that you’ve landed your first job!

Then… “Oh by the way, these several parents of children on your caseload are not happy because their kids didn’t get the services they should have last year.  It happened before you ever came and is something you had absolutely nothing to do with, but you’ll need to put out some of these fires.” 

Um.. What?! That was terrifying for me as a shy, quiet, first-year SLP trying to get my sea legs! I had no idea what I was walking into!

One of these particular students who didn’t receive consistent services that year was a little girl with Apraxia.  Her teacher had told me that the year before, she basically “squawked” because she had such difficulty with her speech. 

I first met the freckle-faced cutie pie with Apraxia at a “Meet the Teacher” night before school started.  She was a bit shy, but we were able to talk a little bit, and I adored her right off the bat! Then, I chatted with her mom and she asked about my previous experience.  Cue hundreds of butterflies in my stomach as I desperately tried to remain confident when saying that it was my first year.  I figured after the prior school year’s debacle and some lack of speech progress the year before, that a brand-spankin’ new, first-year SLP was probably not what she was hoping for!

The night went well enough, but I was still really nervous about the whole situation when I got home that night.  My husband gave me a pep talk, though, and told me, “Just do your job, and they’ll have to love you.  You’re awesome! You got this” (Thanks, hubs!)

So, that’s what I did.  I “did my job,” and both me and that little girl worked our tails off that year.

I remember the day when she finally mastered the /y/ sound we had been working on.  She had a w/y substitution, so the word “yeah” always came out “wah.”  To show off, her teacher and I asked her questions like, “Are you beautiful?” “Are you smart?” “Are you funny?”  It was so fun to see her just beaming with pride and self-confidence, answering “yeah” or “yes” to all of those questions.  She never seemed to struggle with /y/ after that! 😉

I’ll never forget when her /L/ sound popped into a word one day, too. Her name had an L in it, so it was a pretty big deal! I remembered her mom telling me at the beginning of the year that whenever someone would ask her daughter’s name, that her daughter would turn to her and ask her to say it, because she said she “couldn’t say it right” Well, let me tell you– She was rockin’ those /L/ sounds like nobody’s business by Spring!

About a year or so later, in May 2013, on the first official Apraxia Awareness Day, I stood next to her mom at the kindergarten graduation program. She gave me the sweet card pictured above, letting me know how much she appreciated me and the difference I’d made in her family’s lives (I still keep it in my desk, and pull it out to re-read on the extra tough days for a smile!).  Together, we stood there, and watched that same freckle-faced cutie who used to squawk and be embarrassed to even attempt to say her name, sing with her peers in her end of the year kindergarten graduation program.


And that moment, right there, is why I am an SLP. Moments like that far outweigh the negatives, and I can’t imagine doing anything else for a career!



Want more stories to warm your heart or make you laugh? Hop on over to the next blog, and keep reading! Don’t forget to keep collecting numbers at the end of each post so you can add them all up at the end and enter into the raffle for some AWESOME TpT gift certificates!   My number is:

Happy Hopping!

Thanks Felice at Thedabblingspeechie for organizing this awesome hop, and thanks to all of these ladies who shared their sweet stories!

An InLinkz Link-up

«
»

Filed Under: apraxia, articulation, blog hop, chicken soup for the soul, giveaway, linky, speech and language, Speech Therapy Leave a Comment

Comments

  1. Emily says

    February 15, 2015 at 4:56 pm

    What a wonderful story! I remember that painful feeling of being new and knowing that was not the answer some parents/teachers wanted! I too have several pictures and cards that I keep in my desk to lift me up. Thanks for sharing one of your sweet stories! Emily
    thespeechpathforkids.com

    Reply
  2. annied says

    February 16, 2015 at 4:21 pm

    What a beautiful story!!

    Reply
  3. TeachSpeech365 says

    February 16, 2015 at 10:48 pm

    That "new" feeling is hard, but the feeling of gratitude from parents doesn't compare! I loved your story!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe Via Email

Categories

Search

Latest on Instagram

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle- that’s the saying isn’ Reduce, Reuse, Recycle- that’s the saying isn’t it? (Earth Day pro over here, clearly 😅)

REUSE…. Your spiders that you probably have from Halloween or even from your bug theme, and use them for Itsy Bitsy Spider!

Grab those spideys and a tote lid for a ramp aka your “spout,” and walk them up the ramp.  Use “up up up” as your verbal routine each time. (Taking turns making a spider walk up is great motor imitation with objects, too!) Once it’s at the top of the ramp, let go so the spider slides down your spout. 

Verbal routines could look like…
“Up up up!” or...
“Up, up, up… whee!” or... 
“Up, up, up… down! Whee!”

What else would you use as a ramp besides a tote lid?
Need some basic, simple activities for a weather t Need some basic, simple activities for a weather theme? Use “rain” and plan around Itsy Bitsy Spider!

These “Never Touch A...” books are my 7 month old’s favorite (she repeatedly closes the book on me as we’re reading to feel the front cover again 😂), and they’re great to use at work, too, for introducing literacy to kids who don’t necessarily enjoy books yet. I’ve found that a lot of these kids are also sensory seekers, and the tactile component of these books gets them interested!

In the schools, I always got a lot of new late talkers on my caseload in the Spring from the birth-to-3 service transitions, so working on exclamatory words like “ew!” “yuck!” “ick!” “ooo!” is something you can do with this tactile book, too, for your little ones just starting to imitate!
If there’s a Little Blue Truck book that fits my If there’s a Little Blue Truck book that fits my theme, you bet I’m using it! The Springtime version, while not my all-time fave of the series, is perfect for a farm theme or in May for Mother’s Day with mama and baby animals! 🐤🐣

Annnnd to go with it, this Little Blue Truck BOOM deck can be used...
-in person or virtually
-for a ton of your preschool language goals 
-with ANY Little Blue Truck book (but fits especially well with the original and Springtime version of the books!)

Swipe to see a video of it in action!
Hi! It’s me again. Long time no see. I unexpec Hi! It’s me again.  Long time no see.

I unexpectedly took a long hiatus, and maybe you noticed, maybe you didn’t (it’s cool if you didn’t). 

I kinda poured my heart out in a message to my email subscribers earlier, so I’ll give you an abbreviated version (mostly bc IG won’t let me have as many characters 😂🤷‍♀️)

I was playing the comparison game in pretty much every aspect of life which was so unhealthy for so many reasons so I had to take a step back. 

I was comparing myself to my coworkers who all seem put together each day while having young kids at home, as I feel like I’m riding the hot mess express every day and I’m lucky if I leave the house with makeup on!

I was comparing Olivia to other August babies- mostly worrying whether I was doing enough for her.  I had to mute the due date group I’m in on Facebook bc I’d start going down a rabbit hole of worry when I’d see threads of babies doing things she wasn’t yet- despite logically knowing she was well within the normal range for milestones and that an early August baby is way different than a late August baby. 

I was comparing myself to all of my other sweet and wonderful SLP TPT friends who are killin’ it, creating great, useful content to share and still managing families and work, and some days I felt like I was just spinning my wheels (but for real guys how do you do it 😂)

Essentially I felt like I wasn’t doing enough as a mom, a wife, a friend, a therapist, or a blogger.

But I’ve been feeling more like myself lately, trying to create some systems that work, and learning how to give myself some grace as I figure it all out. I love the little nugget in this picture more than I could ever adequately explain- so I’m working on some things for my own well-being so I can be a great mama to her!

I’m looking forward to being back- I hope you are, too!
Who else is reading The Day It Rained Hearts this Who else is reading The Day It Rained Hearts this week? Between this and Little Blue Truck’s Valentine, we’re delivering Valentine’s to LOTS of our animal friends! With all no prep or low prep activities, you can buy this set tonight and use tomorrow morning!
Easy to prep? ✅ Works for lots of your caseload Easy to prep? ✅ 
Works for lots of your caseload? ✅ 
Preverbal AND verbal kids can participate? ✅ 

I use this every year, at different times throughout the year, and just leave out the “Valentine’s Day” part of the line- voila, you also have an interactive book for a jungle/zoo anima theme or a pet theme, too! 🐵 🐊 🦁

Grab it with the link in my profile!
Olivia and I are Super Bowl ready! #gochiefs ❤️💛 Is the bow and tutu over the top? Yes. Do I regret it? No. 😂 

Since most people are just in it for the food and commercials.. Whats your favorite Super Bowl snack? Mine is buffalo chicken dip 💯!
This little lady knows what’s up and doesn’t w This little lady knows what’s up and doesn’t want you to miss out either!

⏰ The BEST bundle and the BIGGEST bundle is back for version 2.0! Get yourself materials from 23 SLPs-

Need speech sound materials? Gotcha covered ✅ 

Need language materials? Yep- covered there, too! ✅ 

Need both (and want a bundle of mixed group materials thrown in for free?) You got it! ✅ 

Buy the bundles at thisthatorboth.com where we have allll the info you need if you want more details!

Copyright © 2021 · Darling Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in