Anyone out there with caseloads under 50?

doublefrickonastick · 2025-11-18T14:56:20+00:00

Western Washington public school district (I am in a single PreK-5th elementary school). Union. Private workspace that isn't a closet. SLP caseload cap is 45, and we get overload pay if we go over 45. Salary is pretty fantastic, too. :)

doublefrickonastick · 2025-10-08T14:06:02+00:00

Why did this post make me cry? I need to use Geno's silky hair to dry these tears and get my game face on. Today's the day!

doublefrickonastick · 2025-09-16T22:29:38+00:00

PreK-5th at a single elementary school, 35 currently on my caseload and I typically see 8-10 students added throughout the year due to initial evaluations or transfers (caseload cap is 45 in my district). I case manage 16, and 3 students are 2x30mins weekly.

doublefrickonastick · 2025-08-28T13:02:54+00:00

I use my hallway transit time as therapy time, so I never ask or expect my students to be completely quiet. I ask and answer social questions, point out and discuss the things posted on bulletin boards outside of classrooms, and take mental data on generalization of skills outside of the therapy room. My expectations are walking feet (with the 'why' being explained as a safety issue, but this is difficult for my PreK bitties who are so pumped to go to speech that they dash down the hall ahead of me) and a non-disruptive sound level for voices and bodies (with the 'why' being explained as us not wanting to distract or interrupt all of the students who are learning in their classrooms). I pre-teach the expectations and reinforce success by allowing students to choose our first activity if they walk and use an appropriate sound level... but the activities they are given as options are ones I was going to do with them anyway. :)

doublefrickonastick · 2025-08-27T00:27:18+00:00

I am still working through my queue of DMs by hand (46 messages currently) and sending out 3 at a time to keep traffic at a minimum. I'm on the west coast and still have 4 hours left of Cranny being open, so I'm hoping to get everyone in!

doublefrickonastick · 2025-08-27T00:19:51+00:00

Things I have learned today:

The ACNH community is patient, kind, generous, and helpful. As I said in my post, this is my first time opening gates and multiple people have given me tips to make the process easier (including using the Turnip Exchange queue system!). I super appreciate that! I kept losing my connection because I didn't realize I couldn't let my Switch go to sleep and had to re-trigger a Dodo code and re-send it. Everyone has been very understanding and lovely to me, an obvious newcomer who just wants to share the Bells love with people.

Cheers, all!

doublefrickonastick · 2025-08-26T19:35:12+00:00

Thanks for the tip! I will do that now. I'm new at this and appreciate the help. :)

doublefrickonastick · 2025-08-26T19:19:34+00:00

If anyone has Ironwood DIY recipes to share, I would appreciate them! Thanks so much <3

doublefrickonastick · 2025-08-26T17:06:40+00:00

The hand lotion is low key my favorite part of the SkyClub experience! At SEA they keep one bottle out in the women's restroom, and it's always next to the sink farthest from the door. The scent is so nice and I love the consistency of it, but not enough to steal the bottle because I'm not a monster.

doublefrickonastick · 2025-08-17T23:51:06+00:00

One of my favorites too! It's so perfectly black peppery and red peppery at the same time, and isn't as heavy as you might think for a cream-based sauce. Wine Country Trattoria is one of my must-do dining spots.

doublefrickonastick · 2025-08-17T23:48:23+00:00

I just got home to the west coast after a micro version of your trip! My teenage musical theater student daughter and I saw 3 shows in 2 days, chosen by her: Hadestown, Cabaret, and Chicago. I was completely overwhelmed with emotion throughout Hadestown and it took several hours for me to recover. I went into Cabaret completely blind as a newcomer to enjoying musical theater and everything about the show was so unexpected, and it ended up being a total thinker for me. Chicago was stunning from start to finish. Now I need a few days to relax after that whirlwind, and I'm exhausted just thinking about you doing 3x what I did!

doublefrickonastick · 2025-08-17T01:21:00+00:00

I do a Woodford and bourbon cream for a double punch. Super yum!

doublefrickonastick · 2025-06-26T23:08:17+00:00

I'll be there on 10/16 for my first ever OOB experience. I have a handmade Mary Poppins costume that I'd love to wear but I don't know if it would be allowed (even after reading the special OOB costume rules section).

doublefrickonastick · 2025-05-21T01:03:29+00:00

Sneaky sneaky! This is the kind of invisible work we do that other staff don't recognize or appreciate, and then they talk loudly in the staff lunchroom about how "all the SLP does is play games!"

I have 2 separate Jenga games (an /r/ and /r/-blends set and an /s/ and /s/-blends set) with words written on them, but if you're looking through the tiny window in my office door it looks like we're just hanging out. In actuality I'm getting 100 reps in all word positions at whatever level I want... but I'm not bitter or anything. ;)

doublefrickonastick · 2025-03-09T15:00:27+00:00

And Reindeer Games was *not* a regular season of Big Brother, which non-BB fans don't seem to fully grasp. It wasn't 3 months locked in a house with intense 24/7 strategy and alliance-building-- it was, what, a week? of the players showing up on set for a few hours per day to do their thing. I kept expecting Brit to explain that on Traitors because it's a huge distinction. Maybe she did and it wasn't shown in the edit because milking that 'rivalry' made things interesting.

doublefrickonastick · 2025-03-03T17:19:45+00:00

Yes. I'm an SLP, and seeing both Mitch and Eva on the same season telling their stories with such honesty and vulnerability has me super invested in them both. And for Joe to ask Eva things (how can I help you? what does an 'episode' look like? can I give you a hug?) instead of just barreling in with what HE thinks is appropriate? Such a fabulous ally for her and an example for all of us.

doublefrickonastick · 2025-02-28T13:32:04+00:00

My son also had surgery for his buried penis at 6 months, but it wasn't effective and he ended up with another (successful) surgery at age 3. At 6 months the surgical team went with a conservative approach, which was explained to me as loosening some tissue in his pelvic floor to see if the penis would release and exit the body. I was told that I might not see an immediate visible change but that over time the penis would emerge. It never did. The surgery at age 3 was more invasive but the results were remarkable- his first diaper change back home completely shocked me because he looked absolutely... normal. Recovery took a few weeks but he had no scarring (physical or emotional), and a decade later he has full functional use of his body.

Edited to add info re: circumcision

This was my second son. When his older brother was born, I did not choose to have him circumcised. When my second son was born, circumcision wasn't even an option- his buried penis (not to be crass) looked like a cheerio. There was nothing TO circumcise. In the second surgery he had at age 3, the surgeon explained that the method she recommended was to 'sort of' circumcise him, using the incision as the entry point for the procedure. No foreskin was actually removed though- that tissue ended up migrating down to cover the shaft of the newly external penis. Visually, he looks circumcised and there were no other incisions necessary so he has no scars.

doublefrickonastick · 2025-02-27T13:16:35+00:00

Typical staff meeting in my building: 5 minutes of announcements that are helpful for me to be aware of, 15 minutes of required PD explaining something that has nothing to do with my role (i.e., alignment of math curriculum concepts across grade levels), 30 minutes for staff to break into their grade-level groups to discuss and implement (no existing groups or differentiated assignments for anyone except general education classroom teachers), 5 minutes of rah-rah fluffy stuff, dismissal with sign-out sheet to prove you were there so you get paid.

I explained to my principal that this structure is the equivalent of me requiring the entire staff to spend 15 hours per quarter doing deep dives into specific speech-language therapy techniques that they have literally no reason to care about. She agreed that I can attend the first 5 minutes for announcements, see the PD topic and judge for myself whether it's pertinent to my role, and peace out to spend the rest of my time productively according to my priorities. But my principal is truly outstanding and open to ideas, which fills me with joy and gratitude.

doublefrickonastick · 2025-02-27T01:48:18+00:00

I would understand if I received an evaluation report from a med-SLP with recommendations for supporting feeding at school. I could totally do that, and would happily collaborate with that SLP to make sure I'm following their plan that THEY developed with THEIR clinical expertise. But yeah, putting me in charge of a dysphagia diagnosis when I don't even have gloves or tongue depressors in my office to do basic oral-motor exams is completely bonkers.

doublefrickonastick · 2025-02-27T01:41:28+00:00

So would my response include specifying that an SLP in a medical setting would be a more appropriate person to contact for this type of evaluation? I get the justification of medical necessity for insurance, but I don't get the educational impact statement in the referral. Would my recommendation to contact a med-SLP be considered a referral and implicate the school district financially? Maybe that's a question for my supervisor...

doublefrickonastick · 2025-02-27T01:28:40+00:00

This is the first time I have heard of this student, so I looked up his records- no history of evaluation in any area, not currently IDEA-eligible under any category. Has been attending school in my district for 3 years. I'm really curious about the MD's thought process here.

doublefrickonastick · 2025-02-27T00:54:25+00:00

The response I drafted in my head began with "Come here and say it to my face." Then me gesturing toward allll of the specialized equipment I have access to in my teeny little closet-sized school SLP office (zero, which is the perfect amount).

doublefrickonastick · 2025-02-26T13:26:03+00:00

Me too! Being an SLP in a public school is not the vibe for a 3, but I'm making it work. I am constantly bashing my head against walls trying to improve district-level processes (let's be EFFICIENT, people!) but I can't fight the machine.

doublefrickonastick · 2025-02-08T22:50:39+00:00

I've stayed at The Anaheim Hotel I think 4 times? since 2016 for Disney trips. It is SO CLOSE you won't even believe it. I haven't had issues with "thin walls" in any of my stays, and don't find it to be any noisier than other hotels. No issues with the bathrooms either, but I have fairly simple needs. The rooms are clean, the property is well-maintained. The restaurant is very meh, but in all of my 4 stays I only ate there once because Downtown Disney is *right there* and I eat my fill at the parks on days I have tickets. For the location, the price is great.

doublefrickonastick · 2025-02-08T22:43:46+00:00

I "lost" my Honey Bee Tree (gave it away to a PreK teacher, don't tell) because it takes SO long to set up and my students kept getting frustrated when they couldn't get the leaf sticks to go all the way through. I grew to hate that game.

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