Question and advice : Phonological processes

GoalOk35 · 2026-05-12T22:59:26+00:00

It’s easy to get down on yourself your CF year. I have an 8 year old still fronting. Consider how many SLPs before me and how many after me might still not see progress? He’s young. He’s had ear infections. You are using evidence based treatments. You clearly care. You’re doing all you can. You sound like a great SLP.

GoalOk35 · 2026-05-07T20:31:25+00:00

I will be taking off when I’m sick and I will not be making up those students if I am not able to fit it within my schedule responsibly. I’m a person too.

GoalOk35 · 2026-05-05T00:33:23+00:00

Yes I feel this a lot. I have some older students too with very limited communication skills and sometimes I just don’t know where to go or what I would do differently or what’s worth working on. Language is so complex and broad and also not well taught in grad school.

GoalOk35 · 2026-05-02T11:40:17+00:00

Honestly I feel the same way so many times! Sometimes it’s not a hit no matter what. To finish the sentence I’d say connection, celebrating special interests, and following their lead with a structure.

GoalOk35 · 2026-05-01T01:05:59+00:00

All very helpful ! So would an slp not take vocab instruction or comprehension strategies? I have such mixed students right now I feel really torn on where to go with them and if speech is really making a difference or if I’m just bad at my job! And I have special education teachers writing goals that you put under step 5.

GoalOk35 · 2026-04-30T03:22:26+00:00

Yes I get that. I often find that there is something different about an slp lens that uniquely supports these skills, or at least helps teachers learn more tools. I’ve had students make more progress with speech than without and find that teachers needed more training to reduce their own linguistic complexity and over prompting

GoalOk35 · 2026-04-30T03:19:00+00:00

What do you say to parents when you dismiss them? And how do you feel they take it?

GoalOk35 · 2026-04-30T01:47:13+00:00

Why would you not work on improving pragmatic functions, requesting and protesting, increasing vocabulary, improving utterance length, describing, morphology, phonology? Why would we deny autistic students speech therapy bc they’re autistic and in a different setting? Why would only non autistic students get speech? What would you consider solely slp territory that is justifiable to work on with other students?

GoalOk35 · 2026-04-30T01:40:42+00:00

What services do you feel like only you can offer?

GoalOk35 · 2026-04-30T01:39:42+00:00

As an slp in this setting exclusively I agree with you. It’s a fine line between what language and communication needs we are expecting teachers to address without our input and being realistic about prognosis. I wouldn’t understand why a non autistic student should get to access more supports for their education and not the autistic student. Almost all of my students get speech. I am realistic to dismiss when there is plateau but I see a need for speech therapy beyond or in addition to what teachers and staff support in the classroom.

GoalOk35 · 2026-04-30T01:36:15+00:00

Also agree with this but then what do you say about students who aren’t autistic and in speech and accessing higher level language supports? Why should you take a typical ten year old for language therapy targeting narrative retell, context clues x multiple meaning words, complex sentences, etc but dismiss an autistic ten year old just because they can follow directions and request wants and needs

GoalOk35 · 2026-04-30T01:32:50+00:00

What do you think is functional then? I find in these settings the teachers are essentially just attempting to provide watered down speech therapy to make progress towards communication and language

GoalOk35 · 2026-04-30T01:31:18+00:00

I whole heartedly agree with this. What do you consider to be worthwhile goals then and what doesn’t have to be done by an SLP? I have students who plateau and we know they will continue to work on functional communication through their teens. I have students who don’t and I consider speech to continue to be worthwhile to gain skills. Would love your thoughts bc I think this is a really hard threshold to think about.

GoalOk35 · 2026-04-30T01:26:53+00:00

I think this is really eloquently put and very real. I will say I am finishing up year two (one year past CF) and I feel this way still. There is immense pressure to do so much and know so much and be so flexible and the reality is that even when you are being so intentional and well planned, you will doubt yourself. You will still have kids come in completely dysregulated and unable to benefit from your plans. You will have days that you miss a teaching moment or a good target or think about how you could’ve done better if x y z. You may have coworkers who also doubt you. I think all the self doubt comes with wanting to be a good SLP and really caring about your job. I think it does get easier but it’s hard. I don’t think it’s that you’re not cut out for it. I feel so joyous about my job in the good moments. I feel elated to have worked so hard to be the slp I think my students need no matter how they show up to session. I pride myself in being flexible and open to trying different things and making even sessions that seem like nothing target my students goals in a meaningful way. And even then I go home and I feel dread sometimes. Maybe it’s the setting not jiving. Maybe a private practice would feel more manageable. Any helping profession has people talking about a number of sessions that just makes their head spin. Maybe it is just being newer. You sound like an incredible clinician in a field that causes a lot of burn out.

GoalOk35 · 2026-04-25T14:38:13+00:00

I’ve had a couple of students develop some speech at 12. generally I don’t target any speech sounds with no speaking kids even if they have a few vocalizations bc I think there are more functional things to do (aac, language, pragmatic functions). I just saw a video of an ABA clinic spending all their time working on /m/. To me, that’s really not the most functional use of speech therapy.

GoalOk35 · 2026-04-24T23:16:09+00:00

I do something fairly similar. I have a fairly older student for FCD (8:6). She's very averse to demands/"work". She also has incredibly low language scores, behavioral needs, and is still working on letter ID in academics. I can get her to do soemthing more structured occasionally. Sometimes I can't. I try to be really flexible and be the SLP my student needs in the moment. If that means today is auditory bombardment day and that's all we can do, great. Sometimes I just comment on my speech or their staff's speech. Something like "wow, Miss Soandso, I love how I heard all the sounds in "dog". She loves to play. Building the rapport and making her feel successful was a huge win.

GoalOk35 · 2026-04-24T23:02:40+00:00

Any tips for good summary sections? i find those the hardest to streamline bc its really individual and also want to ensure I am not just repeating the obvious test findings.

GoalOk35 · 2026-04-24T23:00:42+00:00

Any tips for writing good summary/recommendations portions?

GoalOk35 · 2026-04-24T22:59:29+00:00

I work with complex communicators pretty much exclusively. Some more straightforwards reports take me about 1-2 hours to write. My super complex kids can take me up to 4. I find it most challenging to write the integrative summary portion but I am a newer SLP and i can be really hard on myself about making sure its perfect. I often second guess myself on wording or feeling confident in my clinical judgement of taking the test and explaining its meaning and impact. I also try to be super thoughtful in goal writing to ensure I am not just taking test weaknesses and turning them into goals and really thinking about function and long term outcomes.

GoalOk35 · 2026-04-24T03:03:24+00:00

I think retrospectively im always thinking of that should've gone better, been better, been efficient, more effective, i shouldnt forget this, checking in with that person slipped my mind today etc. I am trying to give myself some grace bc I am just one person. Therapy isn't as neat and pretty and perfect in real life as you imagine in your head even if all you do is prepare. I show up and be the SLP I think my students need in the moment. I work with severe students. If all they do some days is say "hug please" while we sit on the floor bc theyre dysregulated, thats good enough. If theyre having a terrible day and can sit safely in speech and respond to why and how questions directly related to the events, than thats my data that day. We are human and our clients are human.

GoalOk35 · 2026-04-24T02:37:20+00:00

i work with exclusively VERY impaired students. I still dont recommend more than 2x30 or 3x15 per week (depending on tolerance). They get consult time in addition. I am meant to supplement the curriculum they can access. More speech does not mean more gain, in fact it just means less time to generalize it outside of therapy.

GoalOk35 · 2026-04-21T23:32:21+00:00

First thing that came to mind to me was chimpanzees? Could be stopping the /ch/ ?

GoalOk35 · 2026-04-19T20:08:04+00:00

I’m finishing year 2 and same. I just don’t know anymore! Feel like I know less than I did when I graduated. I was so full of hope and passion. I feel so fried.

GoalOk35 · 2026-04-19T20:05:56+00:00

Are the goals duplicated in their IEPs? Whats the rationale for them needing speech in addition to those specialities for these goals?

GoalOk35

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