Speech-language pathologists are a lot like snowflakes, no two are the same. We come in all different shapes, sizes, styles, flavors, so on and so forth. We’re an extremely varied bunch and this diversity within the field of speech-language pathology is just one of the reasons that make our profession so amazing. But in my humble opinion, there are a few key ingredients that I believe all SLPs must share: the ability to be innovative, organized, and clear with information. When SLPs have those abilities, they are better able to make the biggest and most positive impact in a child’s life.
1. Why is innovation important?
The top-notch SLPs that I know are always coming up with new and exciting ways to approach speech therapy. Innovation is an absolute must because it helps us to get our students pumped for speech therapy. Plain and simple! For example, Rose from Speech Snacks used her innovative brain to come up with an idea that turns a yummy ice cream sundae into a yummy language sundae! If your school allows you to bring food in, you must check out the innovative (and delicious) way that she teaches a few language concepts in speech therapy with ice cream.
2. Why is organization important?
With large caseloads, loads of paperwork, and meetings upon meetings, a SLP’s day is usually quite busy. With all this hustle bustle, an organized brain can really save everyone from a bunch of unnecessary headaches. For example, Jenn from Crazy Speech World put together a way to organize and implement themes in her speech therapy planning for the entire year. Yes, the entire year! Now if that isn’t organized, I don’t know what is. Give her idea a try because it will surely make your speech therapy planning life so much easier.
3. Why is clarity important?
The ability for us to properly provide clear and easy to understand information to not only our students, but their parents and teachers, is vital. If we’re able to do this, it keeps everyone on the same page as to who we are as SLPs, our main job description, and other basic (but important) speech therapy information. For example, Kristin from Simply Speech wrote a post about frequently asked SLP questions that she typically gets. The questions range from “What is the difference in speech and language therapy?” to“How long will my child be in speech?” and more! Trust me, you need to check out her post because it is beyond informative.
In closing . . .
Because of the remarkable SLPs mentioned in this post and their willingness to share such solid speech therapy ideas, I am able to up my SLP game by paying attention to aspects of my speech therapy style that I want to work on. It’s all about picking out key ingredients and injecting them into your SLP head. Haha! Self-improvement is something I am obsessed with and this is just a small taste of the content that I am currently consuming that I feel is helping me to grow as a clinician. So with all this being said, what resources or blogs are you currently in love with that you think are helping you with becoming more innovative, organized, and informative? I would love to know.
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