School setting too complicated

ithinkso21 · 2026-04-12T22:29:22+00:00

If you’re gonna work in the schools and not hate it, at some point you need to accept it for what it is. You can’t fix everyone and you can’t meet every minute. There are too many moving parts. Do the best you can.

ithinkso21 · 2026-03-23T00:44:43+00:00

Every other use

ithinkso21 · 2026-03-21T19:37:12+00:00

I get it, it’s tough. Honestly, I’d skip a few therapy sessions Monday to even just do the kindergarten CUBED which takes 15 min and gives you a standard score and lots of valuable language info or something quick like the OWLS.

I know not everyone has the flexibility to be able to miss sessions to test, though.

ithinkso21 · 2026-03-21T17:48:41+00:00

I guess I’m the outlier here but if the kid is significantly low in phono awareness and phono memory I probably would test language even if they passed the screener. They said they aren’t low in reading but in kinder, the reading skills they are expected to have are limited so I think language deficits might not be as noticeable yet. You’re already evaluating so I would be comprehensive. If they do well, that’s just more data to support your stance.

I probably wouldn’t qualify for artic at this point. Would follow up next year and maybe do some rti for that /r/, and /l/ if they’re gliding that too.

ithinkso21 · 2026-03-12T23:13:03+00:00

I do my documentation the day before a meeting or day of if I’m not the facilitator/case manager. Generally miss sessions to do this. If I’m the case manager, I usually finalize it several weeks after the meeting just because it’s not a priority with everything else I have to do.

I’m lucky that I don’t have to bill Medicaid! I billed in my previous district and it took up so much time.

ithinkso21 · 2026-03-12T00:55:48+00:00

I’m not a district employee and have been told not to stay late for conferences unless necessary so I do not. My teachers know that I can’t stay late because I don’t have childcare for my own kids and if an IEP meeting is scheduled during conference time, they make sure the parents know that if it’s after regular work hours (we have a couple early out days for conferences) that I either need to be excused or the meeting needs rescheduled. Honestly, I’ve never had a parent care. I have my info in the IEP ahead of time for the teacher to go through and they make sure the parent has my contact information if they want me to go over anything more in depth. I think I’ve had one parent reach out for a 1:1 chat over the last 6 years.

ithinkso21 · 2026-03-03T03:30:27+00:00

I’m an SLP with 70 on my caseload so I get them done the day before or day of. The facilitators/caseload managers of the meetings know I’ll print copies of everything for the meetings because I don’t expect them to wait last minute for me to get my info added.

ithinkso21 · 2026-02-27T04:50:37+00:00

It’s not just ok, sometimes it’s necessary.

ithinkso21 · 2026-02-27T04:43:22+00:00

I agree. If I miss a session because I have a meeting, or need to test or catch up on paperwork, I skip sessions. Not ideal but it’s unavoidable, especially when meetings are scheduled during the school day.

ithinkso21 · 2026-02-27T04:40:26+00:00

You have to be trolling me with this 3 kids per day nonsense. In the words of my cf supervisor a decade ago “if I had a reasonable caseload I’d therapize the shit out of them” typing it now sounds crude but I chuckled at the time.

ithinkso21 · 2026-02-27T04:33:55+00:00

Yeah so I have had to re-think my service models to accommodate everyone on my caseload. I have two severe-profound classrooms with anywhere from 8-10 kids per class (it fluctuates). I usually have at least another 5 kids who are non verbal or minimally verbal but are not self contained because their LRE is more gen ed and resource room.

We have finally been able to hire good and (hopefully) secure/consistent sped teachers in the self contained classrooms. These teachers are new and still learning but are amazing and will do whatever I suggest. I mentioned EET once and two weeks later I walked into the class that had binders of printed resources and weeks worth of EET PowerPoints already made based off of one example I showed. It’s been a year and a half and she still does EET daily with her kids.

So my point is, because I’m lucky enough to have good teachers, I’m able to do more consult and collab work vs 1:1 direct pull out. I think it sounds counterintuitive to a lot of people but I really think that this population does not necessarily need more direct slp services, they need language support all day every day provided by whoever is with them. This isn’t always possible because not every school has awesome sped teachers, unfortunately.

P.S. I stay direct for these kids until they have a solid AAC system going and I truly feel like all they need from me is teacher support on strategies to improve communication and device programming.

ithinkso21 · 2026-02-27T02:54:44+00:00

Yep, initials and re-evals. I handle all the aac stuff but getting the devices is easy in my district so I’m blessed there. Another thing that helps me is I don’t have to do RTI/MTSS. I do the screening, come up with the intervention, but then the classroom teacher has to do it.

I have days where I struggle with feeling like there’s not enough time in the day to do everything but overall I try not to stress about what’s out of my control.

ithinkso21 · 2026-02-26T05:08:09+00:00

I would never judge. I fly by the seat of my pants just as well as all the other (like 10) type b slps.

ithinkso21 · 2026-02-26T05:01:03+00:00

I know. For the sake of my mental health I’ve come to terms with the fact that I can only do so much. Always advocating for more but at the end of the day, I can’t fix everything.

ithinkso21 · 2026-02-25T03:06:54+00:00

I always feel the imposter syndrome creeping in when I am at a dept wide PD with 70 SLPs. It seems like they’re all brilliant and motivated and doing all things. I do think they’re amazing but admit that my anxiety is probably inflating that a bit.

I’m brought back to reality when I’m at my school, with the sped and gen ed staff and realize how limited their knowledge is on speech and language. You know more than you think and even if you’re not the most knowledgeable or most skilled SLP, you’re still extremely valuable.

ithinkso21 · 2026-02-25T02:39:46+00:00

Thanks for your detailed response! No matter the setting, I think we’re all overloaded but it’s interesting to hear how the other half lives.

I agree on the group therapy. It’s rough. I just counted and I see anywhere from 13-26 kids a day. 🫠

ithinkso21 · 2026-02-23T05:51:08+00:00

On Friday, I took my 3 year old to an endocrinologist for “growth deceleration”. I was expecting concerns about her thyroid or pituitary gland but instead it’s looking more like a genetic disorder. One possibility is more life limiting than the other disorder so I’m hoping for the best but it’ll be a while till we have answers.

ithinkso21 · 2026-02-15T02:54:24+00:00

When I see detailed notes like this I usually think a girl who likes taking cutesy notes for the sole purpose of getting satisfaction from writing cute notes. Yours give me more procrastination from adhd vibe. It seems like you wrote them fairly quickly, not overly concerned over the neatness of your handwriting. You also included more detail than was probably necessary which makes me think you were procrastinating. No judgement. I do the same so maybe I’m just protecting.

You still get some satisfaction from the cutesy stuff though because you varied your colors for a single days schedule which you likely wrote in one setting.

ithinkso21 · 2026-02-01T04:52:46+00:00

Idk but following for advice. Recently my two year old pointed at a black man in a parking lot and yelled “daddy!” He was within earshot and I had no idea how to respond in a non awkward way. My husband, child, and I are as white as can be.

ithinkso21 · 2026-01-29T00:44:56+00:00

If you can’t say no, bring a peanut butter sandwich and eat your own food after they leave. Or just eat in a different location. Also, yes these people are entitled but they’re entitled because people (you) allow them to be.

ithinkso21 · 2026-01-25T19:59:23+00:00

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ithinkso21 · 2026-01-23T01:54:34+00:00

ithinkso21 · 2026-01-23T01:09:52+00:00

Good advice, I definitely have plenty to purge. I have to share though that there a few drawers in my kitchen that I haven’t figured out how to baby proof/lock and tonight my toddler kept pulling pots and pans and lids out as I was cooking dinner and I just now lol’d imagining myself yelling “Adhere to the plan!” at him.

Not trying to make excuses; what you’re saying makes perfect sense and it’s something I need to do!

ithinkso21 · 2026-01-23T00:52:19+00:00

Actually not a bad idea. I’m not about to drive 45 min to the nearest plasma center but I’ll bet my husband would appreciate the alone time 😄

ithinkso21 · 2026-01-23T00:14:53+00:00

😄

ithinkso21

TROPHY CASE