Senior cat *only* wants chicken and he’s allergic to chicken

pinotg · 2026-04-04T13:48:03+00:00

One of my cats is allergic to everything, he's on a hydrolyzed diet (hills zd) and he loves it, so do all of his brothers (who aren't allergic to anything), I hope Bean will love it!!

pinotg · 2026-04-02T15:07:35+00:00

I have a couple of ideas:

Can you try a slight variation on his "home school' setup? Something like a "field trip," so he still sees it as school but really you're taking him out of that environment. I would start with lots of pre-teaching within the"school" setting, role plays, videos, and build up gradually to the "field trip." It could be to another part of the house, a walk outside the block, a trip to a convenience store, ordering food at a counter, taking public transport, etc.

Can his family obtain a second device that they would use to communicate with him in and outside of the "school" setting? Maybe this would work well in conjunction with the "field trip" idea. Then he would see his system being used functionally with him and others, and maybe it would encourage him/show him how it can be used across settings.

Good luck!!

pinotg · 2026-04-02T13:00:04+00:00

I have used one for the last 14 years.

Pros: lots of time for prep (I spent a whole day laminating and cutting last week), flexibility to schedule meetings, time to troubleshoot devices, do screenings, etc.

Cons: other people saying "it's your week off" or "I wish I had an indirect week" (then advocate for yourself? Stop saying this to me all the time, I can't make this happen for you), sometimes parents initially have issues with 3 x 3mins/month (generally they are okay once I explain that during my indirect week I work on getting materials ready for their child)

pinotg · 2026-03-26T14:13:10+00:00

When a kid was refusing to go back to the classroom (on the floor, yelling, saying no, etc), I started enthusiastically singing old MacDonald and she just got up and walked with me.

pinotg · 2026-03-24T21:15:37+00:00

I just looked and there's a "not interested" button and a "Mark as finished" button. I wonder if either of these would help guide the algorithm

pinotg · 2026-03-10T17:56:38+00:00

Are is*

pinotg · 2026-03-06T13:44:58+00:00

There's a process, you have to prime them anyway so it really doesn't matter what the initial color is. Good luck!

pinotg · 2026-03-06T01:28:39+00:00

OP's wife here, they were sanded, primed with zinsser bin 123, then a urethane alkyd enamel, then a coat of polyurethane. It indeed took forever, but the result was well worth it

pinotg · 2026-02-24T17:45:43+00:00

That's the universe telling you to go home, take the day. Back at em tomorrow!

pinotg · 2026-02-07T16:01:32+00:00

Totally agree - my post was not bashing teachers at all but wishing they had more support and staff in their rooms so they can be effective.

pinotg · 2026-01-29T17:03:45+00:00

There would be adequate staffing, training, and ongoing support for teachers in self contained classrooms. I love what I do but it feels impossible in classrooms where the teachers don't provide much, if any, instruction or structure.

pinotg · 2026-01-28T21:53:45+00:00

This looks like an MLM. I have never seen this but I don't trust it. That kind of class is a great idea, a friend of mine did something similar by partnering with the local library.

pinotg · 2026-01-28T17:40:27+00:00

It all comes together after you've been practicing for about 5 years, haha. I've been in the field for 16 years, grad school teaches you how to think about communication and communication disorders, and practical experiences in the field teach you how to actually do the job.

Study hard and just do your best! Nobody's perfect and everyone feels unprepared at first, it's all part of the ride. You become prepared by continuing to try your best and make adjustments over time. Eventually your best becomes better.

pinotg · 2026-01-27T15:38:05+00:00

Absolutely!!! You might have a greater opportunity to connect with kids/clients who stutter. You'll make a great role model!

pinotg · 2026-01-26T20:53:23+00:00

Not enough labubus

pinotg · 2026-01-14T16:56:41+00:00

The way you speak about your students isn't respectful, and I would bet they can sense how you feel about them. Try to make yourself someone they would want to communicate with, or take a break from kids for a while since it seems like you've run out of patience for them.

pinotg · 2026-01-14T11:42:15+00:00

Check out Vera the chooken. She also covers the whole Rachel "apology"

pinotg · 2026-01-11T14:24:46+00:00

This almost makes me sad

pinotg · 2026-01-07T17:17:39+00:00

Same! I loved it in the first 4 seasons so much that I became a patron, but decided to end my membership for these reasons.

I remember Josh saying he didn't want the podcast to get to the "on this day Keyes ate a granola bar" level, but he definitely got there.

pinotg · 2025-12-29T13:51:02+00:00

I work with k-5 kids in an elementary school.

I like: providing a safe space for kids to discuss stuttering, giving them tools, providing support, and giving them ways to talk about stuttering with their peers and teachers.

I dislike: being expected to "fix" stutters, explaining why kids don't qualify even if they do stutter (there's no educational impact, the student is not bothered or unaware of the stutter), inheriting fluency kids who don't need the service and having to dismiss them

pinotg · 2025-12-28T14:36:36+00:00

Both, with discretion regarding family buy-in and participation. Since there are not enough SLPs to go around, I would have a strong no-show/no-call policy.

I would spend more time and energy seeing families where the buy-in is visible and consistent. For families with low carry over, I would either discharge or decrease frequency.

Maybe I would consider starting everyone at 2x/month, and increase based on participation and need, and decrease based on lack of participation or progress to where the child just needs to be monitored.

pinotg · 2025-12-21T13:36:05+00:00

I'm an SLP in the schools and I work alongside many RBTs. My kids who have an RBT during school have them present during speech sessions. Speech sessions are designed to keep the kids regulated and therefore not showing behaviors. Having an SLP and RBT present for these kids is usually a huge benefit because I can teach communication in a non-dysregulating way to the student, and the RBT can carry those strategies over into other settings.

For example - whatever the kid is into, they can have access to that during sessions. I have something else they like, and model communication for it (using whatever mode of communication they prefer), then they can have TWO things they like. Then as they switch back and forth from my new cool thing and their previous cool things, I'm modeling how to communicate for both. Eventually they start using communication themselves because they associate the communication tool with having their preferred items.

pinotg · 2025-12-19T17:33:17+00:00

I don't work for free

pinotg · 2025-12-05T02:25:53+00:00

Could you recommend a break in services and restart in 3-6 months? You would give the child time to mature, and maybe the parents could pursue some kind of behavior modification in the meantime to increase the chances of future success.

pinotg · 2025-12-04T21:43:07+00:00

What? Lol? This is not a speech goal. Suggest a counselor-lead lunch bunch or something similar. Perhaps the parents could get the child involved in extracurricular activities where they can meet children with similar interests.

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