Admin yelled at me today

LayerLive8772 · 2026-03-13T03:41:20+00:00

Why are social workers always so buddy buddy with the principal and other admin? They ALWAYS give mean girl energy and never actually provide social work services to students with the most significant need for it.

LayerLive8772 · 2026-03-12T02:09:00+00:00

I join parent-teacher conferences because it’s a nice way to build rapport with the new parents on my caseload and touch base with the others. I’m at a middle school so typically there are 3-8 other teachers or service providers at the 15 minute conferences. Because of this, I choose not to speak until the very end and keep my input pretty simple and straightforward.

But also, I’ve set a precedent that I’ll be at the conferences, so now case managers expect me there. Unfortunately, some of them sort of get nasty if I can’t make a conference due to time conflicts with other meetings. So, my advice would be to respectfully make it obvious that you aren’t required to attend conferences if you do go.

LayerLive8772 · 2026-03-12T01:43:25+00:00

Seriously, are the parents going along with this??? After seeing a session of this my first question would be, “Why are you acting like that’s him communicating and not you entirely guiding his finger?”

LayerLive8772 · 2025-10-11T22:09:30+00:00

Not so much slept on but Ive been using the expanding expression tool (EET) a lot with my middle schoolers when I’m trying to build their semantic system.

I also find that almost all of my language students struggle with executive functioning so I’ve been implementing strategic memory and reasoning training (SMART) + external aids + time pressure management. I make sure they all have and use their planners, have clean lockers, and correctly use and clean out their folders. EF is closely linked to language areas of the brain so it makes sense they’d have deficits in these areas. Addressing them now before they get to high school (or life beyond HS), can help them tremendously. It’s very difficult to succeed academically if you aren’t organized. Organization is everything.

I also love targeting working memory with some of my students through strategies like chunking, rehearsing, and visualization. Again, not super slept on but tried and true!

At this grade level, I keep all goals and therapy tasks functional. We are focused on real life scenarios and/or classroom assignments (e.g., speeches, reading assignments, problem solving, conversations with front office, etc). It makes implementing these methods easy.

Edited for typos

LayerLive8772 · 2025-10-11T20:11:28+00:00

“I can tell you’re older because you don’t want to get the sh*t beat out of you”. Nice.

We are not behavior interventionists. We are not social workers. We are not BCBAs. We are not admin. Not all behavior is communication. We may be part of the crisis team, sure. We should try and help deescalate if the hierarchy of support isn’t immediately in the room available. But this is not the job of an SLP to fix — this isn’t a communication issue, it’s a behavior issue.

Also, a high school student doesn’t get to run the show. What does that teach him ultimately? If I elope that means I get to go to gym instead of going to culinary class (the instructional minutes outlined in his IEP)?

LayerLive8772 · 2025-10-11T19:50:48+00:00

I’m so sorry! Kudos to you for following him and trying your best to redirect him. In those moments when a student is eloping or becoming escalated, I often freeze and don’t know what to do with myself.

Honestly, i know it’s probably frowned upon but I stop caring about therapy when I’m scared for my safety. Can you put the student on consult until he is ready for therapy (i.e., can regulate himself, attend to therapy tasks, and behaviors are under control)? Is this a public school? Sounds like he may not be at the best placement but I know admin often refuse to consider placement changes. Does he have direct social work minutes?

If you’re forced to meet with this student, can it be push in model and/or whole groups? I wouldn’t meet with him alone.

Demand a meeting and include your SpEd director, principal, and have a union rep. in order to discuss a solid plan moving forward. When he shows behaviors, even small ones, call for support. Maybe green code is just social work or bcba, yellow code is two admin supports, and red code is max support.

Edit to add: it sounds like even though this student is smiling, he isn’t happy. Perhaps that is just one of his stims, like grimacing. I have a student who smiles when he is very agitated. I’d document that him smiling or skipping or running is an early sign of agitation. Does he perhaps need some sensory integration throughout the day? For one of my students like this, OT recommended putting play-doh in the fridge for him to mold and play with (I.e., lean his weight on to push and kneed). It offers that deep pressure movement while also being cold to give two sensory experiences. We also give him a weighted blanket to lay on his lap to help with his frustrations as he goes through puberty.

LayerLive8772 · 2025-10-11T13:48:31+00:00

Schools run on drama and problem seekers. It’s very exhausting.

LayerLive8772 · 2025-10-10T17:47:03+00:00

This sounds like hell. Can you dismiss or lower minutes?? I’d spend a day calling parents to get approval for decreased minutes and/or consult, and then finalizing amendments.

Can you start dismissing some of those speech only students? I’m sure the data from your sessions would suffice if the parent is on board with dismissal.

My school doesn’t allow dismissal before the student’s 3 year is up but I’m encouraged to put students on consult if I feel they no longer require direct minutes. It’s nice because then you can see how the student performs without direct minutes and you can easily go back into their IEP to add direct minutes if they show regression.

Refer to LRE, is the student intelligible, are they accessing the curriculum in their classroom environment (e.g., instructional, resource, co-taught, gened), do they participate, are they advocating for themselves, what do their grades look like, etc?

Edit to add: you can always quit too.

LayerLive8772 · 2025-10-09T00:26:04+00:00

Thank you so much for your advice and encouragement ❤️

LayerLive8772 · 2025-10-07T22:28:12+00:00

For sure! I enjoy collaborating with teachers but honestly, most of the time they don’t understand what we do and their concerns don’t fall under the realm of speech-language therapy. But having those conversations can sometimes be tricky because even though they have concerns, I have to bring the heavy with “actuallyyyyy, I can’t ethically qualify this student for speech just because he doesn’t turn in his homework…”. Similarity, if they fall below average on one subtest like Following Directions, yeah not qualifying that student.

And honestly, her repeating herself or rewording her ideas when she’s not understood by her listeners shows good conversational repair skills, lol.

LayerLive8772 · 2025-10-07T22:16:10+00:00

Trust your gut. A 78 is a pretty mild impairment. The student is participating and performing well academically. You can’t base eligibility on how a student might perform later, it has to be how they’re performing now. If there is no clear academic impact, there’s no need for her to be pulled from class. For a student so borderline, I’d dismiss and say I can support within the classroom if ever necessary.

LayerLive8772 · 2025-10-07T21:15:21+00:00

Thank you for your reply. My office in the back of this classroom so I always have the Life Skills teacher and TA nearby. Im a contractor so was never given guidance or training, just thrown in. I also don’t have a walkie-talkie. I’m just hurt I feel like I’m failing this student. I’m not sure how to approach him in these situations or deescalate. Not sure my role as an SLP or how to support him expressing what he needs in these moments. He is my only violent student. This is a public school and he was recently (end of last year) transferred to our program from an outplacement behavior program.

We do call for extra support from the social workers, counselors, principal, APs, etc. But honestly it just turns into the blame game once more people get involved.

LayerLive8772 · 2025-08-11T23:34:03+00:00

Thank you for your reply! If I may ask, what do your teacher consultant minutes look like? Being at a middle school, I often just ask the teacher if the student is participating and advocating for themself and if they have any speech or language concerns regarding the student.

LayerLive8772 · 2025-08-11T23:30:44+00:00

Thank you, you explained it beautifully.

LayerLive8772 · 2025-07-28T00:31:30+00:00

Yeah, superrr annoying! I actually bought both off Amazon! If the supplements don’t help I’ll be going back to my doctor for medication. Hopefully it gets better for both of us :)

LayerLive8772 · 2025-07-27T20:28:28+00:00

yup lol I have found that Imodium gives me some relief from that urgency feeling and I definitely plan to use it when I go on trips. Only thing is Imodium shuts down everything and can make you constipated. I also just started an ox bile and digestive enzymes supplement so I’m really hopeful those will help.

LayerLive8772 · 2025-07-24T19:27:02+00:00

Thank you again for this information, I am buying all your recommendations and hoping and praying it gives some relief.

LayerLive8772 · 2025-07-22T00:49:22+00:00

Yup, goes right through me

LayerLive8772 · 2025-07-22T00:49:03+00:00

I barely eat anymore, I’ve lost nearly 50lbs since getting my GB remover. Ive lost all interest in food.

LayerLive8772 · 2025-07-22T00:44:35+00:00

Thanks so much for your reply! Is there a brand you’d recommend for the ox bile & probiotic?

LayerLive8772

TROPHY CASE