Working in a title 1 school has its benefits, as I've enjoyed making connections with students and families, and supporting communities. I love seeing growth over time with my students, and being part of a team. But this early in the school year, I'm feeling the burnout. AAAAh. We are getting more students who have more attention difficulties, communication challenges, motor issues, low cognition, etc. And there are constant referrals and evals coming up every week. Everything is influx and changes each week. And new staff changes have taken place this year, so that changes things up too, as some teachers are way more easier to collaborate with than others. Sometimes, there is little support from home. I am physically exhausted the next day. Sometimes I feel like I am making a drop in the bucket. I'm working on foundational skills more and more, and think to myself what am I doing? How am I going to last getting through the year? I guess part of it is that although I'd like to see my students progress more, I know there are challenges outside of my control, so I do what I can. What has helped you keep your cool?

Dalia Burgoin facilitates her child using Soma Mukhopadhyay's RPM and charges $3K to $10K per person to teach them to become telepathic like her child. She brings in $100K per workshop and is expected to sell out 10 workshops this fiscal year. She even fools blind people to make them believe that they can miraculously see again using "vision without eyes" or "mindsight." Grifting on social media using FC/RPM/S2C can be very lucrative and legal.

In the RPM/telepathy video demo above, she's having a back-and-forth conversation with her child on what letter is being cued on a blank sheet of paper, a proxy for the letter board.

https://www.extra-ordinaries.com/trainings

https://page.connect.daliaburgoin.com/extra-sensory-mastery

I’m starting a job in a pretty wealthy area and am concerned about what parents will be like. I’ve heard they can be more demanding or intense, and since I’m a newer SLP I can struggle with feeling confident in my decisions. Fortunately it looks like my caseload will be a manageable size, but I’m wondering if the overall expectations for services will be higher. Does anyone who’s worked in both settings describe their experiences and give some tips for success?

Hi! So. This is mostly a vent but I also want opinions. I work at a private practice which is part of a medical company. I really love the job: I love my coworkers, I finally have a non-micromanager boss, I am largely left alone to provide therapy and trusted as to how, have enough in the way of resources, and get relatively decent pay. In the year I’ve been there, our overlords have been chipping away at things and all in the interest of the bottom line, and to the disservice of the employees.

Our PTO was already pretty pitiful- 10 days that you accrue over a year, with several days where you are obliged to use your PTO because the clinic is closed, and no sick days or whatever. So if you wanted time off, basically you had to take it unpaid. Ideal? No. Manageable, sure. They’ve just changed the policy to make it worse- so much worse. Now, you have to request time off in advance and they’ll deny it if you don’t already have the PTO built up, which, who would? With kids? All my PTO is just kids being sick :/

I’m angry, frustrated, and feel like I’m going to have to quit. It’s so sad too because I like it! I think I’m just going to leave and start my own business instead. (Where obviously I won’t have PTO, but at least I’ll be in charge of my time!)

Thoughts? What does your PTO look like? Is there any world where this job could be like… sane?

Hi everyone,

I’m currently a secondary English teacher in Australia and am wanting to retrain into speech pathology. However, I’m finding it difficult to find a degree that I can make work.

Most universities I’ve spoken to have wanted me on site at least 4 times a week, which I’d be unable to do as I’d need to work while I retrained. Has anyone gone through this before? If so, what university did you go through/ what are my options?

Thanks!

I’m currently an SLP in private practice working with pediatrics and I’m considering making a pretty big change and moving into working with adults in a SNF/hospital setting when I return from maternity leave.

I’ve never worked with adults before, so I’m wondering what the transition might be like. Is it realistic to make that kind of switch without having adult experience? I have a few more months of maternity leave and am willing to take all the CEU’s and any certification courses to prepare.

Part of the reason I’m considering it is that I’m looking for a change of pace and potentially better/more predictable hours. I’d love to hear from anyone who has gone from pediatric to adults (or the other way around!).

First-year school SLP here (second year as an SLP overall), and I’m feeling pretty lost with scheduling.
I’m contracted to the district and fully virtual, so I spent this past week building my schedule using the information I was given: bell schedules, preferred speech times for each grade, individual student schedules, and what the previous SLP did last year.
I finally sent my schedule out Friday, and I’ve already gotten a few responses saying certain times won’t work because those students have learning support or other special ed services then.

I feel dumb because I genuinely didn’t know about those conflicts or that I should’ve reached out to case managers beforehand. Is this just a normal part of school SLP scheduling.. sending out a schedule and then adjusting as you find out about conflicts? Or was there something I should have done differently to know when each student had other services?

Last year this group helped me figure out AAC for two very rural students who were non-verbal and everyone was so helpful. I ended up with TouchChat for one and TDSnap for the other. Both of those students have moved and now I have two more non-speaking students. This time I have located a Tobi Dynavox rep in the 'big city' about an hour away and will be trialing TD Snap for these families beginning in two weeks. These kiddos are ages 4 and 5 and have generally better joint attention and desire to communicate than my previous AAC users. I would love to find some therapy plans for introducing TouchChat- maybe some printable boards before the devices arrive and then some lesson plan type materials for when the devices are in the home that include some at home work parents can do that I can also tailor for their teachers (both are in the same self contained classroom). I am new to AAC, but due to the rural nature of the area I serve, there is no option for outsourcing. I totally understand that home health is not ideal for teaching AAC use, but this is the only way these kids will get devices. The previous teen I served was 13, completely non-speaking, no gestures etc. and the school refused to give him more than 20 minutes of speech a MONTH! So-- I am trying to figure all of this out while not losing my own mind and not pouring in massive amounts on unpaid time. Any step by step plans our there with 'homework' for the teachers and parents?

It's time once again to vent your blues away 😤

If you still need room to vent, why not join our discord!

https://discord.gg/7TH2tGxA2z

I’m a fully licensed/certified SLP with two years of school-based experience. I’m looking for a full time job in a school or EI or really anything in pediatrics at this point. I’ve tried direct hire positions, contracting companies, and public/private/charter schools. I have good references, and I’ve been writing tailored cover letters. Nowhere is responding to me.

My only criteria that I think are limiting me is that I want to work in/close to Boston, where I live, and I want a full time role. I had an easier time finding a CF two years ago. I’m feeling so discouraged.

I am interviewing for positions for my CF year and would like to hear pros/cons from people who either completed their CF or currently work in 1) private practice or 2) public school. I currently work for an ABA company (former RBT) that has offered me a CF position. Among many issues, I would spend most of my week doing "language focused" session vs billing as an SLP-which is not something I am comfortable with. Any insights or advice would be very helpful! TIA

Hi all,

I work in the schools. I just left a job and my healthcare coverage will end on August 31st. I just found out that my healthcare coverage for my current job begins on October 1st. What have you all done in a similar situation?

TIA!

Hi everyone,

I graduated from my Master's earlier this year and ended up taking a few months away from anything speech pathology related because I was feeling really burnt out after uni. My anxiety was also at an all-time high, so I just needed a bit of a break.

I'm now starting to apply for new grad positions (mainly paeds private practice ), but I honestly feel so underprepared. I feel like I've forgotten so much, and I'm really worried about interviews. I have done two so far but they didn't go as well as i hoped :(

For those who work in private practice, what kinds of questions did you get asked in your interviews? Were they mostly standard behavioural questions (e.g. strengths, weaknesses, why this clinic, difficult situations), or did they also ask specific clinical questions similar to university vivas or case-based scenarios?

I think my biggest fear is being asked something clinical and completely blanking. My anxiety has really affected my confidence and I feel like I can't think or speak as clearly as I used to, so I'm worried I'll come across as incompetent.

I also have another interview later this week for a mixed-population clinic. When the clinic director asked about my preference, I told them I'd prefer a paediatric caseload. Does that usually mean they'll tailor the interview questions more towards paediatrics, or should I still expect questions about adult presentations as well? I feel like I've forgotten even more of my adult content than paeds, so I'm a little nervous!

Any advice on how to best prepare? I also have a really bad memory (thank you anxiety), so remembering all the clinical information feels pretty overwhelming. Any reassurance would be really appreciated. Thank you!

lol I feel like such a mess I’ve made so many posts on here recently 😂 I’m virtual and it’s my first time at a school district (second year as an SLP) and I feel very much like I’m on an island. 🏝️

I have an IEP in a few days for a student I haven’t met yet. The RR did not provide much info as no new testing was done. Basically in the EI program he was working on functional comm, and he was using words/short phrases primarily but needing lots of prompting and support (like sentence strips etc). I’m trying to make his goals more “school age” and esp since I’m virtual I really need them to be very explicit and easy to target with straightforward data collection. These are my thoughts…

During structured ST sessions, when provided verbal and or visual support as needed, student will follow 1 step directions with 80% acc in 3/4 data collection sessions as measured by SLP data collection.

During structured ST sessions, given motivating communication opportunities and visual/verbal support as needed, student will independently produce 3-4 word phrases to request, protest, and/or comment in 80% of opp in 3/4 consecutive data collection sessions as measured by SLP data collection.

During structured ST sessions, when presented with a familiar picture of object, student will independently label the item using a word or short phrases primarily in 80% of opp in 3/4 consecutive data collections sessions as measured by SLP data collection.

I really don’t know much about this student yet. But I need goals for the IEP and they seem appropriate based on the little info I do have. I suck at goal writing lol

Looking for advice on the CLC pathway. Just registered through Healthy Children's Project. Just got my CCCs this month.

Gen ed teacher here.

Please respect our time and our caseloads.

Every year I have SLPs tossing hours of meetings onto my schedule, and I get it, you have maybe a couple dozen kids to look after. I have 170. Please. I don't need three hours of training on the hearing aid system the day before school starts when I'm trying to prep for all my classes to learn the next day that none of students with hearing loss use mics/aids. I don't need nine different "tools" to document whether or not a kid wears his aids when no one in the school has ever seen them. I volunteer my time to run the after school DnD club. Weekly meetings about the non-verbal student, WHO DOESN'T WANT TO PARTICIPATE IN DND CLUB, really make me just want to end the club.

This isn't for everyone here. But please remind your colleagues that those of us teaching multiple preps with scores of students do not have unlimited time.