Have school Speech Language Pathologists lost their focus?

Have school Speech Language Pathologists lost their focus?...

Sep 28, 2014 by Teresa Sadowski MA CCC-SLP

When I went to school my courses focused primarily on child development, language acquisition, understanding how the brain worked (and didn’t work), remediation techniques for articulation and language and learning about disabilities that resulted in a language delay or impairment. We didn’t just learn about working with kids or adults but all ages and disabilities. My coursework was clearly based on a medical model but I was trained to work in all settings. Throughout my career, I’ve carefully evaluated my students, identified their strengths and weaknesses through testing designed specifically to assess language functioning across receptive, expressive and pragmatic areas. Based on my testing, I wrote goals that focused on improving “language” abilities. I always felt that my purpose was to target and improve underlying language skills. The goal was to improve language abilities...

Professional Liability Insurance-a must...

Sep 21, 2014 by Teresa Sadowski MA CCC-SLP

The School Speech Therapist welcomes a new sponsor, Trust Risk Management Services. TRMS provides Professional Liability Insurance for Speech Language Pathologists offering comprehensive policies tailored to your specific needs and reasonable rates. You can request an instant quote and learn more about professional liability insurance by going to the TRMS site or clicking the link located in the menu above. I feel very strongly about the need for Speech Language Pathologists to carry personal professional liability insurance. While the schools and agencies I’ve worked for over the years obviously carry liability insurance, I understood that I couldn’t always depend on my employer for enough protection or cover me if I was sued personally. Carrying my own liability insurance also gave me the flexibility to work with private clients as the opportunities arose without worry. Professional Liability insurance for...

Osmo-I do like this new product!...

Sep 19, 2014 by Teresa Sadowski MA CCC-SLP

Over the summer I was inundated with ads from a new educational product called Osmo. It’s basically a very unique app that works with your iPad and incorporates manipulative. After seeing the demo video I was hooked and I had to have one. Mine arrived this week. The special edition pack came with 2 sets of game manipulatives, Tanagram and Words. A third game called Newton was available for download (using the manipulatives of a paper and pencil or any solid object, including your hands). What puts a different spin on the Tanagram game is that the child has to shift their eye gaze from table to iPad to complete the tasks rather than lay an tanagram on top of a copy. It’s a fairly simple task but for young children or those with...

Are you a CELFie?

Sep 14, 2014 by Teresa Sadowski MA CCC-SLP

With the update and name change of the Test of Language Competence (TLC), the term CELFie takes on a whole new meaning in the world of speech and language pathology. The TLC is now The Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals 5 Metalinguistics. Now that we have two major CELF test batteries, I’m curious. How many of us SLP’s out there are now true CELFies? I guess I’m a CELFie. I’ve been using the CELF probably since it came out. I easily remember using the CELF 3, 4 and now 5. I used the CELF, back when I still had a typist typing my reports. I’ve always liked it and found it easy to use and reliable. I also liked the Test of Language Competence and used it often with my middle school population and...

SMART Goals..It’s that time of year...

Sep 9, 2014 by Teresa Sadowski MA CCC-SLP

Beginning of the school year and it is time to think about SMART goals again. Over the years I’ve posted a few articles on the subject. An SLP named Holly just posted two comments with some very good ideas to this previous post What is your SMART Goal. One of my SMART Goals focused on parent education around language development along with suggestions to enhance language development at home. I did this through a series of articles written for our school newsletter. If you want to do something similar don’t reinvent the wheel, you can purchase copies of these articles on my TPT site. Your school newsletter and your smart goal Last but not least, Share Your SMART Goal. SMART goals are pretty difficult to come up with so share your ideas or even complete...