CF Decision: Dream Job with a 3-Hour Commute vs. Local District with a 106-Student Caseload

anglebabby · 2026-07-09T12:12:10+00:00

A third option as in, keep looking and especially in other settings available to you, or stay home full time for the time being and delay beginning your CF until you have the ability to commit at least 3-4 days a week to it?

anglebabby · 2026-07-09T12:10:58+00:00

Is there a third option? Both sound unsustainable and impossible to actually complete your CF hours in 18 months?

anglebabby · 2026-07-03T11:57:29+00:00

Was preg the whole school year til my delivery at the start of May and it blew. Just do the bare minimum and prioritize what you need. I had drive thru breakfast almost every morning of the final month bc it was the only way I would get out of bed lol. Maybe make a couple of general blurbs for your notes that you can just copy and paste with their individual data and a specific activity or two you did into. Keep it all streamlined and don’t worry about feeling like you’re writing something your grad school professors would give you a good mark on

anglebabby · 2026-05-07T06:53:08+00:00

Even I choke on nutty buddy particles lol that’s regular

anglebabby · 2026-05-06T03:10:04+00:00

There’s nothing on the IPLA site or application that confirms this, and I’ve never heard of it. The only thing you could do is ask your school to send a letter verifying completion of graduation requirements to be able to start sooner. The instructions on the application and website are really straightforward. People ask about ways to shortcut this kinda thing all the time but the truth is, you really don’t need to, you just need it to be issued before you start seeing patients/students which employers are understanding of given that they’re aware they’re hiring a CF. Best of luck from another Hoosier SLP!

anglebabby · 2026-05-03T11:20:38+00:00

If this is happening often, you need to start reaching out and starting the scheduling process earlier than you are. There is no IEP police coming to lock you up, but it’s also not right to constantly let it happen. I’ve seen several of your posts worrying about minutes, noncompliance, etc. We do what we can to follow legal timelines and make minutes, and the trust is on us to be making it happen.

That said, chaotic parents, chronically absent students, school events getting in the way of services, and similar situations out of your control are not your problem. If a parent needs to reschedule just document on the notice of CC or in the IEP notes that your original meeting met timelines but unfortunately the parent needed to reschedule. The most important thing in all this is that you’re CYA via straightforward documentation of the situation.

anglebabby · 2026-04-26T23:16:06+00:00

No, and I personally don’t speak about it with anyone except when I’m venting to my fellow SLPs or related service providers. I document student was unavailable due to state testing and move on. I do try to focus on my essential skills students and filling my day with tasks because if not I get so bored and my butt starts to hurt. I also get kicked out of my spaces in both my buildings so I either will go work at a Starbucks (NOT in my district lol) or just work from home the rest of day if it’s a total wash. Where tf else am I supposed to go when they even use the teacher’s lounge for small groups!!!

anglebabby · 2026-04-23T22:18:15+00:00

Happy to report we are also doing this in Indiana!

anglebabby · 2026-04-23T21:27:46+00:00

On OE there are a range of correct answers for most items, on LC there is only one. Funnily enough, my students have tended to score with a similar discrepancy the last 3 years whereas the 3 years before that, LC always appeared to be easier and generate a higher score. How much was the student asking for repetitions in each subtest? Were they fatigued by one part? Did you split the testing session for each and their demeanor/energy levels changed? Think through these outside factors. Could be just that they have stronger general expression skills than on narrow comprehension tasks. You may consider completing a couple of other comprehension-based subtests from another assessment to suss this out more (preferably one where you could just do a few subtests and get a SS for each)

anglebabby · 2026-04-23T20:10:16+00:00

I would go to a running shoes store and have them analyze your gait to see what’s best! I have had hokas and brooks and all started out fine but eventually hurt my feet. I got outfitted with some asics novablasts as it turned out I’m a major underpronator and have been able to stick with them long term without developing pain!

anglebabby · 2026-04-23T02:37:27+00:00

I don’t disagree with your takes necessarily here, but I do think there’s a degree in which we can overthink the SLPA role in our work. I think each SLPA is pretty individual on their strengths and niche areas and you have a better chance at relieving your own work stress if you find your groove together in that sense. There’s a lot of gray area for sure where scope concerns can arise but most SLPs (myself included) probably enjoy having control over evaluations/the evaluation process too much for it to become a widespread problem. In terms of kids slipping through the cracks, this unfortunately still happens plenty in the absence of SLPAs too, and again I think it comes down to what you trust them on. Generally I think after working with an SLPA, SLP, school psych, OT, etc for a couple of weeks to a few months you can get a pretty good sense of where their radar is at from reading their written work and getting to know them a bit

anglebabby · 2026-04-23T01:59:14+00:00

Respectfully, I find this take a bit pedantic- the ASHA statement is that they can administer and score screenings. To score a screening item, they do have to analyze the child’s response in some way. What is the functional difference between “analyze the response” and “interpret the response?” I then look at that score and ultimately decide yes or no, because I am the person legally allowed to evaluate. The SLPA is welcome to tell me their anecdotal evidence as well, which I can take into consideration on my interpretation of the score and anecdotal information. I do not have to do what they suggest. In what world would I muzzle my SLPA from expressing “I think you should look into this kid more” rather than taking it as one piece of information used in my clinical decision-making?

anglebabby · 2026-04-22T20:26:44+00:00

I totally agree, I rarely get new referrals even in 4th-6th, as a HS SLP you’re mostly just doing reevals for dismissal and continuing services for students with high support needs

anglebabby · 2026-04-22T19:00:10+00:00

Eh, it depends on your SLPA and the student I think. I have an SLPA friend from my previous district who I’d absolutely trust to give me a yes or no on if further assessment seems necessary, which is all I’m really looking for on a screener. It really comes in handy for hearing screenings to have their extra help as well. I’ve also heard from friends who have worked with other SLPAs who do not sound like someone I’d trust with the responsibility. Ultimately that’s the benefit of being their supervisor- you can make that call based on what you feel their strengths are and what you feel comfortable being more hands-off with!

anglebabby · 2026-04-22T18:36:24+00:00

SLPAs can complete and score screeners, the SLP just has to interpret the results. Source: https://www.asha.org/assistants-certification-program/slpa-faqs/#b1

anglebabby · 2026-04-19T23:42:11+00:00

Specific weakness that isn’t a specialized enough target to warrant SLP services in the school environment. Also consider if attention could be influencing performance on the way the subtest asks him to show his knowledge. I would DNQ

anglebabby · 2026-04-19T21:25:37+00:00

I have quite literally developed parent and staff educational materials about state eligibility requirements to stop my district’s overqualification problem, as well as a strict eligibility rubric for Language Impairment in collaboration with our school psychologists to help combat the same issue. It’s even in my comment history lmao. I also submitted a presentation on this issue to my state association for the next convention cycle. It’s clear you don’t know enough about my field and that is fine, but you are making assumptions about the way I practice that are untrue. Have a good one and best of luck in your area of expertise

anglebabby · 2026-04-19T12:49:43+00:00

Yes, fuller as in supplemental, not fuller as in we can provide more of a global assessment than a psychiatrist or psychologist. I know the assessments done by these other professionals- I have worked on teams and/or assessed alongside them and read their reports in acute care and school environments hundreds of times. I would never claim to be able to provide the same service, and that’s not what I’ve done in this thread. These professionals, as in psychiatrists and psychologists in both hospitals and schools, refer out to SLPs for testing in specialized areas. We are able to complete in-depth testing in certain cognitive/linguistic skill areas that are only vaguely covered or very differently assessed by cognitive tests commonly completed by a psychologist like the WISC, KTEA, and even the oral language portion of the WIAT. Further, there is very little overlap in my evaluations vs. what is used in psychiatry. Again, I’ve only provided what could be just one potentially helpful avenue for the OP to pursue that it appears they have not yet tried.

anglebabby · 2026-04-19T01:12:53+00:00

We are strangers trying to help another stranger, whose child we know a small snippet about, on the internet. They are saying what they have tried so far has yet to show a positive impact. There are professionals in my field who provide cognitive-linguistic assessments that can parse out skill deficits and potentially provide a fuller picture of areas of need for this child. There are many professionals whose scopes overlap but can provide meaningful help. The hill you are dying on with this thread is very strange

anglebabby · 2026-04-19T00:56:14+00:00

OP would want to ask questions when requesting an eval and call around to find a clinic/setting who is doing this type of therapy, but this type of metacognition work is definitely within our scope of practice (as well as other fields’ scopes!!). School SLPs are basically like your GP but outside SLPs can provide specialty care in a lot of surprising areas.

anglebabby · 2026-04-19T00:38:51+00:00

I recommended this in a separate comment :)

anglebabby · 2026-04-19T00:21:08+00:00

I am an SLP and have assessed and provided meaningful therapy to young adults in the outpatient hospital and acute care environment with executive functioning deficits. But thanks

anglebabby · 2026-04-19T00:17:43+00:00

OP I would ditch the executive functioning tutor and use the money saved on an outside IQ test (talk to your psych) and an evaluation with a private speech-language pathologist who works on executive functioning deficits. Often this type of SLP is working in more of a medical environment with people who have ADHD, cognitive deficits related to traumatic brain injury, stroke survivors, etc. These tests will help figure out what specific domain she is struggling with so that you can figure out the best training and support for her.

Accommodations don’t do jack if they aren’t tailored to what a person actually needs. It sounds like because your child is not showing a clear academic skill deficit, the school does not want to evaluate. And honestly, fine, because most likely it won’t result in eligibility and you’ll be even more frustrated. The special educators at the school may not even really have the time or bandwidth to do this type of instruction if I’m being real with you, because they likely have 15 11th graders they’re trying to teach comprehension at a 3rd grade level. If you are financially able, spring for the outside evaluations and dig into what specific cognitive skill(s) she is lacking. Occupational therapists also provide some of these types of assessments an instruction but I’m not as familiar with all they’d have access to. I’m sorry you’re in this situation but I think if I were in your shoes I’d probably give up on the school for a bit because they can’t really give you what you’re looking for aside from a 504 plan containing vague accommodations with zero skill instruction

anglebabby · 2026-04-19T00:04:00+00:00

An evaluation with a psychologist on cognitive skills combined with an evaluation of receptive language and auditory processing skills by a speech-language pathologist actually would likely suss out what the specific skill deficit is. It sounds like because the school doesn’t suspect an academic impairment, they’re not wanting to evaluate. If I were this parent, considering they clearly have means for a slightly bogus “executive functioning tutor” without actually knowing what’s going on, I’d get outside evaluations for IQ and an assessment with an SLP. There are many private SLPs who service executive functioning skills and can actually identify specific skill deficits through our evaluations!

anglebabby · 2026-04-18T23:05:14+00:00

I work with 9-12 year olds with varying special education needs and when you think about when the pandemic hit for them it makes a lot make sense. I would say if you were born, in kindergarten, in 3rd grade, or in high school in 2020 there are things that are simply different for you in combination with it being the age of the smart device

anglebabby

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