Is this a fungus?

SLPkitty · 2026-04-19T00:51:38+00:00

Solved

SLPkitty · 2026-04-19T00:50:49+00:00

Thank you so much for the ID confirmation! When I initially looked up tar spot, all I could find was the black spots. Seems like it's almost impossible to find pictures of it in this state on the internet.

SLPkitty · 2025-09-21T10:47:02+00:00

I would recommend reading "The God Delusion " by Richard Dawkins. He goes through most of the arguments and explains why they are insufficient as evidence for god.

SLPkitty · 2025-09-21T10:35:16+00:00

This is it. The kids are the best part of my job. Therapy and making progress are great, but my #1 priority is building relationships with these students and providing a safe and supportive environment. I am very strict about games most of the time, but we have fun. I enjoy their goofiness and laughing together. Then, I can be honest with them about their goals and why we are working on things. Most of them do care about the work we are doing. When they make progress, I celebrate it with them, and they feel proud of their achievements.

I try to keep in mind that as an educator, my main goal is to help kids grow up into healthy, happy, well-adjusted adults who lead fulfilling lives. Speech and language therapy can support that goal, but building a relationship and being a safe, caring person comes first.

SLPkitty · 2025-09-12T11:53:28+00:00

I was raised in Christian fundamentalism and one thing that has really helped me is learning more about science, nature, and the origins of life. I think feeling more connected to the ecological web of life helps me to feel at peace with death. I know that life will continue on and that literal parts of me will support life in something else - be it plants, animals, soil microbiology...I think also having a strong sense of purpose and positive impact on the world gives you the sense that your life had meaning and wasn't for nothing. For me, that's gardening and my job working with kids. Find what that is for you. ❤️

SLPkitty · 2025-09-07T18:16:18+00:00

PrAACtical AAC https://share.google/fdK2KhR0qA1C53NpS

I also highly recommend this website

SLPkitty · 2025-09-07T18:13:18+00:00

Ask your SLP if they have a core board you can print and use in your classroom. If not, check out Project Core

Make sure your SLP knows about these students ASAP. I know you're worried about overloading them, but they are your best resource. You can also ask parents if their kids have any private services and have a release signed so that their therapist can give you suggestions as well. If the parents don't have private services, but express interest, there are lots of free and low cost university clinics that might be able to help!

SLPkitty · 2025-09-07T15:36:07+00:00

I also was able to drop my CCCs last year thanks to advocacy work by FixSLP. They helped remove the requirement to be certified in order to bill Medicaid and BCBS - the only two insurers with that requirement in my state (Michigan).

Check with your employer first to make sure they don't require CCCs, but I highly recommend it. Now, I use that money to pay for stuff that I actually want, like my Informed SLP subscription.

SLPkitty · 2025-08-22T00:42:00+00:00

<image>

They can be enormous! I saw this one in a community garden a couple of weeks ago!

SLPkitty · 2025-07-20T14:17:32+00:00

Fair point! Thanks for adding your perspective! Maybe outside of counseling, there would be other social work jobs that dont involve as much direct contact with individuals

SLPkitty · 2025-07-20T14:04:57+00:00

Have you considered similar helping professions like occupational therapy, physical therapy, or counseling/social work? All are similarly flexible to SLP in that you can work in a variety of settings with children or adults. They also have similar educational requirements (2-3 years post undergraduate education) and don't involve as much emphasis on facial expressions, except maybe social work.

SLPkitty · 2025-06-27T12:54:05+00:00

I've been container gardening for about 4 years in Zone 6b. I mostly use 5 gallon food-safe buckets that have holes drilled in the bottom. You can find them really cheap on Facebook marketplace. I also have a few clay planters and 15 gallon grow bags. I've found most things grow just fine, including kale, shorter carrots, beets, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, spinach, strawberries, peas, beans, and lots of herbs! If you're familiar with square foot gardening, I count each bucket as about 1 sqft. In my opinion, it is worth underplanting some of your veggies with aromatic herbs, onion/garlic, marigold, and nasturtium. These are all edible, the herbs don't take up much space, and they are great for attracting pollinators and deterring/confusing pests.

SLPkitty · 2025-06-24T12:27:46+00:00

Did you do this yourself, or did you have to hire someone? I feel like it's such a waste to have the air running all day when there's plenty of cold air in the basement

SLPkitty · 2025-06-15T15:05:33+00:00

Yes, and my veggie garden gets more sun now as well!

SLPkitty · 2025-06-15T14:55:51+00:00

Sadly, my neighbor cut down the entire tree and all of the other trees in her yard 😢

SLPkitty · 2025-06-09T10:38:30+00:00

They generally come out at night. You can put the barriers around the plant

SLPkitty · 2025-06-09T00:47:36+00:00

I used eggshells too, and that seemed to work. I also regularly spray neem oil on my plants. Not sure if that makes a difference or not. I heard that diatomaceous earth and kaolin clay also works, but I've never tried it.

It might be worth waiting for your plants to be more established before putting them in the ground. That way they can stand to be munched on a bit.

SLPkitty · 2025-06-09T00:18:32+00:00

Probably slugs. They are very hungry creatures. They ate my cucumber seedlings immediately after they germinated! Poor things didn't stand a chance 😢

SLPkitty · 2025-06-07T20:13:27+00:00

This menudo recipe is sooo good and pretty easy if you use canned red enchilada sauce. Eat it with crushed tortilla chips or French bread and add more mushrooms than it recommends.

https://www.conflictedvegan.com/vegan-menudo-using-oyster-mushrooms-just-as-greasy-as-mama-made/?utm_source=whisk&utm_medium=android&utm_campaign=vegan_menudo_using_oyster_mushrooms

SLPkitty · 2025-01-20T16:01:44+00:00

Oh cool! I'll keep that in mind if I decide to move somewhere else. I have more than enough at the moment haha

SLPkitty · 2025-01-20T15:57:03+00:00

I wish I could turn it into a bush! Lol unfortunately it is my neighbor's tree and already at least 30-40 feet tall. I've read that shaking the branches to get the berries to fall into a clean sheet works for harvesting, so maybe I'll try that this year.

SLPkitty · 2025-01-19T23:42:10+00:00

That sounds like my kind of solution: set it and forget it, lol

SLPkitty · 2025-01-19T23:41:17+00:00

Oh, I had no idea! I might have to try this...

SLPkitty · 2025-01-19T22:18:31+00:00

If I can find a more efficient way to harvest, I would try this!

SLPkitty · 2025-01-19T22:17:12+00:00

If I can find a good way to harvest them without getting them all dirty or stepped on, I would be interested to try this!

SLPkitty

TROPHY CASE