ASHA Day 3

Nov 20, 2016 by

ASHA Day 3

So how did day three end at ASHA? Saturday seemed to be a very low energy day at ASHA. If I was someone who was only able to go for one day, Saturday would have been very disappointing. I did go to some very good sessions but nothing special was going on. As I mentioned I listened to Wayne Secord speak in the early morning then went to a session on struggling writers presented by Melissa Feller. Melissa and I met later on the plane ride home and had a chance to chat. Turned out we had many mutual acquaintances in common. Small world. I finally presented my poster session. I only had about 10-15 people come up and talk to me during the hour and a half so that was a little disappointing....

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Doing things differently

Nov 19, 2016 by

Doing things differently

Morning session listening to Wayne Secore speak on practical classroom performance assessment. Talking about a different way to assess using the celf observational rating scale. Great information and humorous check out my first impression of the celf 5 https://theschoolspeechtherapist.com/are-you-a-celfie/ Please stop by and visit my poster today. Board 273. Rack card for administrators...

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ASHA 2016 Day 2

Nov 19, 2016 by

ASHA 2016 Day 2

Well I logged in almost 20,000 steps on the fit bit today.  Seemed like all the sessions I wanted to attend were at the other end of the complex.  Started early with a session on helping students with narratives.  That seems to be a big issue on my caseload these days but in not your typical way.  Did get some good ideas to share.  I also had my picture taken in the PR Lounge with advocate as my title. The second session was titled Progress Monitoring and put on by the two ladies who created the product SLP Toolkit.  Lisa Kathman and Sarah Bevier are two dynamic working SLPs who may have just come up with a program and practical material that could work for school SLPs.  I stopped by their booth (739) yesterday and got a...

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Administrators guide to SLP Available at ASHA...

Nov 18, 2016 by

Hi everyone. Just a quick reminder that I do have a few copies of my book with me at ASHA. I can let them go for $10. I have shared the book with a few vendors that might benefit. If there is anyone here at ASHA that you think should have a copy of my book please let me know. Dont forget my poster session saturday 12:30-2. I have a rack card made up that you can share with your administrators to open the...

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I am a leader

Nov 18, 2016 by

I am a leader

I’ve had quite a long day here at ASHA. I’m just about ready to fall asleep at the computer. Usually I don’t go in for the rah rah of welcome ceremonies but I am sure glad I went this morning. ASHA brought in a wonderful motivational speaker named Drew Dudley. He spoke about leadership and basically how we should all consider ourselves leaders. If you get a chance check him out on Ted talks but hopefully ASHA will put his talk on the ASHA website. Anyway it was a nice way to start my day. I got two sessions in today. The first one was given by an Audiologist named Jeanane Ferre on CAPD. She did a very good job of explaining different aspects of CAPD and even provided goal and objective samples. It...

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Largest gathering of SLPs in history...

Nov 17, 2016 by

Attending the Welcome to ASHA meeting. Going over some of the choices for programs. I’m going to be exposed to an amazing amount of information the next few days. Over 1700 poster sessions over the next 3 days. That might explain why so many SLPs were traveling with tubes😉 Hope you all take some time to stop bye and peeks at the posters your interested in. There were about 6 sessions I wanted to attend this morning. My plan is to attend one focusing on capd and writing ieps to reflect capd goals. I’ll let you know how it...

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Can you spot the SLP?

Nov 17, 2016 by

I made it to Philly. It was a lot of fun at the airport. Met several SLP’s as we waited for our flight from Boston. We played spot the SLP. Which is never hard….SLPs can always scope out other SLPs…we must have some sort of cosmic connection. It helped that every other SLP was carried a poster tube with them. Signing in was painless. No lines yet. I can’t imagine what the lines will look like tomorrow. It looked a little like they were getting ready to move some livestock. The sign up is set up in the exibition hall. Tonight there were lots of people around to point you in the right direction. The gift bags were basically program books and advertisements. There was also one cool little sticker. Went over to the...

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ASHA here I come

Nov 16, 2016 by

I’m very excited to be traveling to ASHA 2016 today. I’m all set to go except for a few last minute details. I’ve already asked my husband to make sure I don’t forget to take my poster with me. My biggest fear is that I’m going to leave the poster somewhere since I’m not use to carrying around a tube. No I’m pretty sure I’ll keep the poster pretty close to me the whole trip. Of course I’m wondering if there will be any interest in my poster session. It’s basically about self advocacy and recent personal experience tell me this is something greatly needed in our field. It is something I’ve worked on for years without much buy in from colleagues who are just trying to get through their day. Most of my...

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Ed Camps are a great resource for professional development...

Sep 26, 2016 by

Ed Camps are a great resource for professional development

A couple of days ago I attended my second Ed Camp in Lynnfield, MA. Once again I had a really nice time, had some great conversations and went home with a prize. I proposed 3 topics Auditory Processing (what difficulties might look like in the classroom and strategies that can be implemented), universal supports and importance of higher order language development. The auditory processing session went well. Many of the teachers asked some stellar questions. I like to talk about auditory processing because it is one of the most asked about topics in schools. I hope I was able explain how auditory processing difficulties present in the classroom, what it might look like at different ages, that it might look like other things/importance of differential diagnosis, when Central Auditory Processing Disorders can be diagnosis...

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Resources for understanding and aiding auditory processing in the classroom...

Sep 26, 2016 by

Helpful links that focus on information and strategies for Auditory Processing Disorders. Areas of Perception that Affect Learning By Bonnie Terry, M.Ed http://www.conductdisorders.com/community/threads/perceptual-skills-and-how-they-affect-learning.412/#axzz4KiVT85uY Helpful Classroom Strategies for Students with Language-Auditory Processing Disorder by Becky L. Spivey, M.Ed. https://www.superduperinc.com/handouts/pdf/374%20helpful%20classroom.pdf Suggestions for Successful Management of Students with Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD): Tips for the Teacher http://www.iag-online.org/resources/New-Items-2e/CAPD-TipsForTeachers.pdf Educational Strategies and Accommodations for Auditory Processing Difficulties Bridges 4 Kids http://www.bridges4kids.org/Disabilities/CAPD.html Checklist designed to help you assess whether your child has CAPD http://kidshear.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/CAPD-Check-List.pdf Auditory Processing Disorder: What You’re Seeing-at different levels https://www.understood.org/en/learning-attention-issues/child-learning-disabilities/auditory-processing-disorder/auditory-processing-disorder-what-youre-seeing A web site filled with information on attention and learning https://www.understood.org/en Compiled by Teresa Sadowski M.A. CCC-SLP 2016...

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Product Review: My First Sound and Word Cards...

Sep 15, 2016 by

Product Review: My First Sound and Word Cards

I recently came across a set of online flash cards, focusing on the language development needs of younger children. These articulation/vocabulary/phonemic awareness cards are designed Kimberly Marino M.A. CCC-SLP, and are truly worth a shout out. Ms. Marino has used her expertise as a speech language pathologist to choose early acquired high frequency words focusing on the early developing sounds of /m/, /h/, /p/, /w/, /b/, /n/ and then pairing those words with clear photographs. I particularly like the photographs, with the white background the photograph pops. Any Speech Language Pathologist will look at these cards and see their immediate value as a therapy tool or something to give to parents for practice at home. I would have loved to have a set of these when I was working in EI or with more...

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Time to check your liability insurance...

Sep 5, 2016 by

Time to check your liability insurance

With the beginning of the school year it’s a good time to check your liability policy and make sure it is up to date.  Yes, you are always technically covered through the school but you also can be sued personally.   It’s worth it just to have one less thing to worry about. My current policy is through Trust Risk Management Services I was pleased with what the policy provided and pricing. They will give you a...

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What are the biggest challenges SLPs face in schools...

Aug 21, 2016 by

What are the biggest challenges SLPs face in schools

About a week ago I asked school SLPs this question on Facebook, “What is the biggest challenge you face working in schools?” I received over 60 responses. With 30 years under my belt, I was pretty sure what the responses would be but I wanted to hear from others. Paperwork was the biggest challenge hands down. I know my paperwork requirements have increased significantly in 30 years. The advent of the computer just increased the amount of paperwork, but helped us to do it faster. That’s just a change in society that we can’t do anything about. Imagine how long it would take us to do all our paperwork tasks by hand these days. However, the time given to me to do paperwork within the school day has shrunk as my caseload numbers have...

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TPT: Love it or hate it?

Aug 13, 2016 by

TPT: Love it or hate it?

I came across this blog post written a few years back “I teach Kindergarten and I don’t like Teachers Pay Teachers” by Matt Gomez kindergarten teacher. The comments posted by others have taken off. I wanted to simply comment but I knew my comment would be very verbose so I figured I could turn it into a blog post (and have another reason to mention my material on TPT). Keep in mind that my view of TPT as a Speech Language Pathologist is going to be a little different. Also Mr. Gomez isn’t the only one who doesn’t like to use TPT….lots of similar blog posts out there.  [Just noted a follow up blog post by Mr. Gomez, “Teachers Pay Teachers-the Sequal” again tons of comments.  I wish I had his following!] Reading the...

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SMART Goal Bank for SLPs-Share your SMART goals...

Jul 26, 2016 by

SMART Goal Bank for SLPs-Share your SMART goals

With the new school year on the horizon, I’m going to post once again about SMART goals. As SLPs we almost always have to figure things out on our own. With the development of professional SMART goals we’ve had to be more and more creative. I’ve seen SLPs make the process extremely complicated and SLPs who make the process a lot simpler. Coming up with new and interesting SMART goals that can relate to the SLP is just not that easy. As a group we need to start sharing our ideas. There is no reason for SLPs to be reinventing the wheel. What I would like to propose is creating a smart goal bank specifically for Speech Language Pathologists. I would have two categories one for SLPs who need individual SMART goals and one...

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Are you looking for a smart goal idea?...

Jul 6, 2016 by

Are you looking for a smart goal idea?

Last year our school district asked all the SLPs to put together an inservice for teaching assistants. We all actually used this as an activity as one of our smart goals. I put together a packet which is divided up into two parts, a presenter copy with information to use as a guide and a participant packet that provides both information and an outline (to encourage some note taking and active listening). The information I presented in the hour long inservice included who we are, what we do, our training, who we work with, what we work on, how language difficulities impact learning along with some suggestions on what they can do in the classroom setting. With dollars tight, schools are often looking toward their own resources to share knowledge. I was pretty much...

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I need ideas!

Jul 6, 2016 by

I need ideas!

Something about the end of the school year just sucks all my energy and creative juices. After some R & R, I’m ready to get back to work. Now I just need some ideas. Anyone have some interesting and possibly controversial topics for me to tackle? One thing I have been doing during my down time is continuing to market my book, The School Speech Language Pathologist is an Administrator’s Guide to understanding the role of the SLP in schools along with strategies to aid staffing, workload management and student success. Most of my marketing takes place via twitter or Facebook. I sell a few copies here and there. Even in the field of speech language pathology my book is a niche book. I would love to sit at a booth during any conference...

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Thank You: Book Giveaway!

Apr 5, 2016 by

Thank You: Book Giveaway!

One year ago this month I published my first book The School Speech Language Pathologist, An Administrator’s Guide to understanding the role of the SLP in schools along with strategies to aid staffing, workload management and student success. I don’t have to explain to SLPs why I was compelled to write this book. It evolved first in my head, then as a powerpoint and then as a small book. Tired of feeling overwhelmed and disrespected, I pushed the completion of the book into high gear after winning a self publishing contract through my publisher Booklocker (which I highly recommend as a self publisher). Publishing this book was a milestone in my life. To celebrate that and to thank my many followers, I want to give away 5 copies to active followers of my blog,...

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Scheduling and the SLP

Feb 19, 2016 by

Scheduling and the SLP

This past week I participated in a chat on Facebook that focused on never leaving an empty space in your school schedule. I’ve know for years that when administrators see even a 15 minute block empty, they seem to think the SLP has a ton of time to spare. Not sure where this mind set comes from but I guarantee the school psychologist is not under the same scrutiny. The fact that SLPs are having a discussion tells me there is something wrong with our situation. Either we are not respected as professionals or administrators really have no idea what we do. I’m going to go with the latter (because I can do something about that). I also know a lot of the squeezing we receive is because of budget. Administrators, especially those higher...

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OOPS! Don’t forget to renew...

Feb 14, 2016 by

Well even with all my articles on the importance of liability insurance and reminderst to my readers to renew their liability insurance……guess what I did? I forgot to renew my policy by Feb 1. For some reason I had the 15th in my head. No problem I was within the grace period so Trust Risk Management renewed my policy without question.  Next time you take the time to check on your CEU status (which is something else I can’t seem to remember without writing it down) check on your liability insurance renewal...

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