As we inch ever closer to a brand new year, it’s quite common for us speech-language pathologists to get into a mode of reflection. I believe that when we reflect on the past year of our professional careers, it helps us to better understand how things went and it also allows us to better see the changes that we might want to make in the coming year. So, I’ve been taking the past few weeks of this holiday season to think about what I could do differently next year,
Next year, I want to give more thanks.
Don’t get me wrong, I share words of thanks to lots of wonderful individuals throughout my day as an SLP. I thank the children I work with for consistently giving it their all. I thank my colleagues for consistently brainstorming with me. I thank various physical and occupational therapists, and other professionals, for consistently sharing new knowledge with me. The list goes on and on, but do you know who I don’t thank nearly as much as I should? Parents.
Trust from parents.
The idea of giving thanks to parents is a very broad notion; where do I even start with giving thanks to them? Well, first and foremost, it’s all about trust. I want to thank them more often for trusting in me to help their son or daughter to grow as a communicator. Trust is the foundation of all successful therapy relationships – without trust, not many gains are going be made within the therapy room. So, I want to thank them for entrusting in me to provide therapy services to their children.
Assistance from parents.
I want to thank them more often for helping their children with the homework that I give. Their assistance paves the way for true success. We SLPs know how important carryover is. When homework is done at home, it helps children to grow that much faster as communicators. So, I want to thank parents for taking time out of their busy schedules to work alongside their children during various carryover assignments.
Motivation from parents.
I want to thank them more often for the motivation that they give to their children. I see their children all the time and those youngsters are always smiling. They legitimately want to try within the therapy room. And that honest WANT to try, where does that come from? It comes from their parents’ motivation. So, I want to thank parents for building up their children with intentional positivity.
Try not to forget about parents.
Here’s what I think, sometimes we, as clinicians, we forget about parents. And, I get it – if you’re a school-based SLP, sometimes you don’t actually get to see the parents all too often. But, it’s important for us to realize that parents are absolutely a part of this therapy puzzle. Without the parents being on the same page with us, we’re not going to get nearly as far as we want to go. And we want to go as far as we can because we know our clients are destined for great things. All those great things, they start to fall into play when everyone knows that they are appreciated for their contributions. And parents, they make SO MANY contributions so we need to do everything we can to communicate our appreciation.
In closing . . .
I just wanted to thank you, the parents. You’re a member of this team and all of us SLPs, we couldn’t do it without you. Starting today, I’m going to thank you more often. And next year, I’m going to thank you more often. Why? Because you deserve it. Big time. So, here’s the deal – I’ll promise to thank you more if you promise to do the following for me: I want you to look at yourself in the mirror right now and I want you to say, “I’m a good parent.” Then, I want you to look at yourself in the mirror again and I want you to say, “I’m a great parent.” Lastly, I want you to look in the mirror, one last time, and I want you to say, “I’m an awesome parent.” Because, my gosh, in my heart of hearts, believe me, you are an awesome parent. Here’s to one heck of a new year!
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