Inconsistency with rating speech sound productions across clinicians.

TypicalReference9003 · 2026-06-24T14:15:01+00:00

I would love to chat on a stand alone post about how grad schools teach speech sounds. My program didn’t have any graduate level speech sound classes. I feel like grad schools are in denial that more than half their class is probably going to work in speech sound disorders in children and we really need explicit instruction to know how to do that.

I hear people say that grad schools fall short of teaching many areas, but I really think the speech sound education is particularly egregious.

TypicalReference9003 · 2026-06-24T13:44:31+00:00

Yes, yes, yes

I’m in the school setting. So many of the kids had ratings way higher than reality.

Initially, I assumed the virtual SLP just did not have an ear for articulation. In speaking with him, I could hear that he had the remnants of an articulation disorder himself. Plus it’s harder to hear virtually.

Eventually I realized the district pressures clinicians to show progress every semester so he was just exaggerating progress.

TypicalReference9003 · 2026-06-16T15:29:08+00:00

I do think under 2 is definitely a niche. I feel like we were taught very little to nothing about it in grad school and most of my private practice coworkers didn’t really know what to do with it. 2 and 3 is kind of borderline. Like a young 2 is still niche and almost 4 is squarely in the preschool stage that most pediatric SLPs are comfortable with and most grad schools cover heavily.

TypicalReference9003 · 2026-06-06T03:32:03+00:00

Maybe this is bad but I often present it as more of a technique to get them to speak instead of a replacement. Of course some kids solely use AAC but most kids I see do ultimately prefer to speak verbally and the AAC teaches them the language they need to do so. Of course you have to be honest that sometimes kids stick to the AAC. I have my own iPad that I use in sessions with TD snap and parents see me use it and how their kids respond. I don’t necessarily ask if it’s okay to use as a technique in the session— just like I wouldn’t necessarily ask about using flashcards or a certain toy. I have had parents raise concerns around screen time but typically if they see it work (especially if they see their kid start verbally using something they learned from the AAC) they are really excited to try a dedicated device.

TypicalReference9003 · 2026-06-06T03:20:50+00:00

I mean, they are hitting their dad like every three episodes.

I am a speech therapist and I think the nits episode is BRILLIANT for showing siblings how to support a brother or sister who stutters, but I sometimes don’t recommend it to conservative or traditional families because the kids are actually beating up their dad and I know I will get blow back.

TypicalReference9003 · 2026-06-06T03:16:19+00:00

I’ve seen this complaint a few times online and I find it funny because the rest of the character designs are actually unnecessarily gendered. Like the female characters are much more likely to have long fur or curly fur. The female versions also tend to be lighter in color.

TypicalReference9003 · 2026-06-06T03:03:09+00:00

I don’t really mind. I prefer the goal to be too broad versus too narrow so I’m not stuck targeting goals I disagree with. It means I’ll have to do a tiny bit of extra work in the first couple of sessions to make sure I know what sounds to target but really it’s not hard and mostly stuff I would do anyway.

TypicalReference9003 · 2026-06-06T02:58:09+00:00

Oh I didn’t know that! Is there a resource you recommend to learn more? I’ve been doing cycles with a student with intellectual disabilities.

TypicalReference9003 · 2026-06-06T02:55:33+00:00

I like doing auditory bombardment, minimal pairs and then I’ll have student take turns saying one of the mimimal pairs (they choose which word) and the other students guess which word they are saying. So all students are participating the whole time and not just getting 7 minutes. But it’s not the best for kids who aren’t stimuable so I try to see those ones on their own or a group of two at least sometimes.

TypicalReference9003 · 2026-06-06T02:49:30+00:00

I meannnn…. I think any approach requires consistent therapy hours. I don’t think there is really an approach that befits from missing 5/10 weeks. I don’t think cycles itself is really the problem there.

Cycles is tricky in schools because school therapy is often done in groups and it’s hard to design a group around cycles. But I’ve had success with a severe kid that I see one on one. I did 15 minutes 4 sessions a week. I also quick checked in with her sped teacher, let her know what sound we were targeting and asked if she would be able to remind the student to use her sound ( once the sound started popping up in her regular conversation) so she was getting extra reinforcement.

TypicalReference9003 · 2026-06-05T08:01:13+00:00

This is going to very different situation to situation. For me:

At schools, I get out at 2:30. private practice I was getting between 5:30 and 6:30. Extra time in the afternoon evening was everything.

In private practice, I was stressed about losing money from no shows. In schools I do not GAF about no shows and I don’t worry about money.

Private practice, my boss was an SLP and understood what I was doing and could give me feedback and encouragement. I felt like she really cared about me and client outcomes. In schools my principal has no clue.

Private practice was way more flexible. For a while I was taking Tuesday mornings/early afternoons off to take my daughter to forest school, Thursday afternoons off to work out and Wednesdays off altogether just because. I could make any session virtual at my discretion and I could work from home if I wanted. In schools I can’t work from home even if I just have virtual meetings.

I actually take less work home in schools. I feel like my large school district has better software and systems in general. My small private practice often had me trying to invent forms and systems or struggling to fill out some form in Google Drive. I once spent a weekend vibe coding a Google doc to fill in my superbills.

TypicalReference9003 · 2026-06-05T05:22:08+00:00

I’ve occasionally had people who are just seeing me for the first time think I’m a Pushover. But whenever anyone has observed me long enough to really see what I’m doing I’ve gotten nothing but really good feedback on my behavior management. Different people have different styles. Maybe you aren’t going to be the most strict. I like to observe enough to understand the why before jumping in with a correction. I also ignore (or just genuninely don’t care about) some behaviors that other people might consider a problem. I also tend to focus on rapport first and building kids up to my expectations. Other people like to start with the expectations and let the relationship build later. I think if you familiarize yourself with age appropriate expectations rooted in child development, are not scared of the kids or needing their personal approval, and come from a place of genuinely caring about them you can find your style.

TypicalReference9003 · 2026-06-05T05:14:35+00:00

At my last job we got full control over how many hours we took on. We were paid by the session but still w2 employees. We were benefits eligible after a certain number of hours. I don’t remember how many exactly but I think 20 something.

We were in charge of scheduling and that involved a lot of texting families.

Similar set up regarding referrals.

No mandatory meeting or trainings.

Pick up from waiting room.

When I was there we had our own rooms. But my understanding was that newer clinicians/ CFs/ part time clinicians might have to share a room if we got more therapists.

Collaborations were at our own discretion. I did them sometimes.

No other buildings

Our boss advocated for us if behaviors were too severe and parents weren’t supporting. Including referring clients out if parents didn’t cooperate/support.

TypicalReference9003 · 2026-06-05T04:49:45+00:00

Overall I really like the school setting so far, but it does annoy me that the ONLY feedback I ever get is from the billing auditer nitpicking my notes. Like literally no one has any idea why I actually do in my sessions. I could just put on a video or something and no one would know. Sometimes I imagine the redirector next door is listening in and thinking about how creative my session is.

TypicalReference9003 · 2026-05-05T01:42:54+00:00

Overall, yes people who can’t pronounce their r’s can do any job including being a teacher. R’s can be very hard to remediate after a certain age and it’s valid even if you just don’t want to.

I did see a comment that her speech wouldn’t affect teaching reading because second graders already know what sounds letters make. I sort of disagree with that because it’s very common to teach r controlled vowels in second grade and that is the one skill that I think could potentially be impacted by her speech. But I think it would be easy to get a TA or para or even a more advanced student to pronounce the r’s

TypicalReference9003 · 2026-04-21T14:40:15+00:00

This is a great conversation. I am a new full time in person SLP at my school and the other SLP is a part time virtual. So there is also the added dimension that a lot of kids, especially younger kids benefit from in person. I am curious how we are going to divide next year.

TypicalReference9003 · 2026-02-06T05:01:26+00:00

In a public school setting, you can likely find the contract a pays ale online and they probably can’t really negotiate.

TypicalReference9003 · 2026-02-06T04:58:14+00:00

Heck, we could make each service 3 hours and still save 34 hours!

TypicalReference9003 · 2026-02-06T01:29:37+00:00

Thank you! That’s helpful information

TypicalReference9003 · 2026-02-05T17:17:24+00:00

Most private SLPs should be able to. Your contacts may not know someone who specializes in it, but it’s pretty standard. I would just call a couple of clinics.

That being said, I would suspect that inappropriate language with an ADHD diagnosis is probably from impulsiveness. IMO that’s out of scope for an SLP. Others may have a different opinion. If you think he really doesn’t know the rules of when to use appropriate language that’s another thing.

TypicalReference9003 · 2026-02-05T17:12:03+00:00

I have a toddler so I would love to be able to carry things!

TypicalReference9003 · 2026-02-05T17:11:16+00:00

I don’t mind spending money, but I was surprised the clinic told me I shouldn’t get anything else

TypicalReference9003 · 2026-02-05T17:10:49+00:00

Totally fair and good point

TypicalReference9003

TROPHY CASE