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View Full Version : What do you like about your SLP, OT, PT?



niccig
12-17-2011, 01:48 AM
I start clinical phase of my course to be a SLP in January. It's still undergraduate classes, so I won't be on my own with clients just yet. My department deals with many more children than adults. I was wondering what you all like about your SLP, OT and PT?

Thanks.

WatchingThemGrow
12-17-2011, 07:50 AM
She smiles and seems to really engage DS2 and watch for when he needs a change in activities. She has NEVER frustrated him so that I had to come running to turn his crying around.

pinkmomagain
12-17-2011, 08:51 AM
That they had children of their own. Seriously. I just felt like most of the young girls just graduating from programs seemed immature and just didn't "get" the kids, as well as the parents. The professionals who were parents themselves, I found, were better with the kids and the parents.

I also liked when they really took the time to explain to me what they were doing and why they were doing it.

elliput
12-17-2011, 12:42 PM
My DD has both an SLP and an OT. Just to name a few things- they are attached to DD and care about my family as a whole, they have amazing patience, and are able to engage DD (and their other kids) in a very natural and easy manner.

crl
12-17-2011, 03:03 PM
Ds has had several therapists. My favorite is his ST in SF. I love her because my kid loves her. She is just so good with him. And other parents I know have the same view. I think she tries very hard to make therapy fun and engaging and I think she is very good at helping kids stretch and learn without pushing them to the point of frustration.

I also value that she really listens to parents and is very solution oriented in IEP meetings. Some therapists have been very entrenched in their views and she just always seems to be looking for a solution and for what is good for the kid.

And, I love that every time I ran into her while she was ds' therapist she would tell me some positive tidbit from his recent sessions. It was clear that she knew who he was and who I was and that she really did see him in a positive light. When you hear all the time about all the things your kid isn't doing yet, can't do, has trouble with, etc, those positive tidbits are so valuable. I always felt better after I ran into her.

Catherine

niccig
12-18-2011, 03:22 AM
Thanks everyone for your advice.


That they had children of their own.

I'm hoping this helps me, but I'm worried as DS never wants to do his speech therapy homework with me, and I have to nag him like I do with homework. I hope that it's the "you're my mum, so I don't want to do it" rather than I suck at therapy.

brittone2
12-18-2011, 11:52 AM
Thanks everyone for your advice.



I'm hoping this helps me, but I'm worried as DS never wants to do his speech therapy homework with me, and I have to nag him like I do with homework. I hope that it's the "you're my mum, so I don't want to do it" rather than I suck at therapy.
LOL, it is soooo different working with your own kids vs. other people's children. Seriously. No worries.

I would agree that life/parenting experience *can* make a better therapist.

As a therapist in EI nicci, I would say communication is key. If you are seeing a child in EI in a childcare center, or a child who is seen while with the nanny, etc. it is absolutely critical to have good written communication and a very open relationship (feel free to call me with questions, etc.). Communication with the family is always key IME (especially in EI), but if the parent is not there for sessions, it is absolutely sooo, so, so important IMO.

I'm sure your personality will be great and you'll do beautifully with engaging the kids. Having parenting experience and experience with children of friends, etc. will really help there.

It takes time to learn how/when to push a little and when to relax a little. (learning the child's frustration tolerance, how much you can expect, what progress you can anticipate, when to be firm and when to be softer...).

THere are occasional cases where you just can't seem to build a good rapport with certain kids. It just doesn't click. Every single therapist I've worked with will admit to having kids where the therapist/child just don't hit it off, no matter what. Sometimes we trade off cases or something when that happens. Fortunately, those cases are IMO quite rare, but I think it happens to everyone at some point in their career. Sometimes it just takes time and you have to spend time building the rapport (might look like a lot of playing and not much "work" being done, even though most of therapy does look like play anyway.) It might just seem like it is *only* play until you can get some rapport built with certain kids. If they are having stranger anxiety, etc. you sometimes just have to realize the time invested in building a relationship is key and it can take a little time for that to occur. Laying that groundwork is just necessary with some children's personalities.

Above all else, I definitely would say open communication. Spend time teaching the parent, lots of time communicating, use parent-friendly language and not clinical terms (can be hard just coming out of school and being so accustomed to everything being phrased in clinical terms), write evaluation reports so the parent can read and understand them, make the parent feel safe in asking about things they don't understand. Sometimes you have to explain what you are working on because it may not always look like "therapy" and the parent is scratching their head wondering what exactly you are working on, but if you explain as you go, parents tend to understand what exactly you are trying to elicit through the play. A lot of therapy, particularly in EI, is teaching the *parent* how to help the child too.

You'll do great. Really, I do think life experience is a huuuuuge asset, as well as the fact that you've experienced a bit of therapy yourself and I think with your DS.

eta: I will say as a new grad, working in EI (not sure if you'll be rotating into EI for any internships or doing any in-home stuff) but navigating some of the socioeconomic stuff was *very* challenging. Easier with some life experience, but if you've spent most of your life as a middle class or upper middle class person, it can be an absolutely eye opening (shocking???) experience at times. Some of that depends on where you live, what clients you serve, etc. but there are lots of potential challenges that come with that IME. It can be tough to prepare for that. I had families where the mom and kids were sleeping on a mattress in the kitchen with the oven open for heat. I mean, it becomes challenging to navigate how to get people help, when it is "neglect" or abuse, and when it isn't, etc. Does the parent need parent coaching help, etc. No amount of classroom experience can really prepare you for some of that, and you may not encounter as much of it unless you rotate into EI or do home visits for other reasons. Sometimes you encounter challenges that you talk about in school but are surprised about when you encounter them. I had a family of 8 kids, and the mom and dad only spoke Spanish (not uncommon obviously). But mom and dad were also both fully deaf *and* spanish speaking. And didn't have the setup when I started where their light would flash if someone rang the doorbell. So we had missed sessions all. of. the. time because they would miss the phone, doorbell, etc. Stuff like that can be very challenging as a new grad. I knew some Spanish, but had lots of families who were Vietnamese and spoke very little English. And you need to figure out how you are going to adequately communicate all kinds of things with people in those circumstances. If you change an appt time, did they understand? If you are demonstrating certain techniques, are they understanding what you are saying? It can be challenging when you are just learning the therapy part and then encounter all of the "extra" challenges that can go along with it.

Gena
12-18-2011, 02:47 PM
DS has has several SLPs, through EI, school, and private therapy. Some have been absolutely wonderful, others have been ok but not great, and there are one or two who were disappointing.

This is very specific to our situation, but I found a HUGE difference in the quality of therapy between SLPs who knew about and understood Hyperlexia and SLPs who were not familiar with it or only superficially familiar with it. The therapists without prior understanding of Hyperlexia have always been willing to learn about it, but I had to provide them with all the information about this particular language disorder including how it's a different learning style and about what techniques work best, etc. By the time these therapists got up to speed, we were close to exhausting our number of visits allowed by insurance each year.

DS as both pragmatic language difficulties AND articulation errors. I know that both are important, but I feel that in his day to day life the pragmatic issues have a greater impact on his functioning. So it annoys me if the SLP wants to spend most of the treatment time on the articulation errors. It's important for the therapist to understand what goals the parents think are a priority.

pinkmomagain
12-18-2011, 05:15 PM
DS as both pragmatic language difficulties AND articulation errors. I know that both are important, but I feel that in his day to day life the pragmatic issues have a greater impact on his functioning. So it annoys me if the SLP wants to spend most of the treatment time on the articulation errors. It's important for the therapist to understand what goals the parents think are a priority.

Great point. DD2 had an SLP for pragmatics...she had no articulations issues. I found someone who was OK, but most couldn't really address the pragmatic/semantic issues...I felt like they weren't trained very much in it. This was a few years ago...not sure how things have changed. But if there were professionals who really specialized in the social piece...gosh, even now with dd almost 13 yo I would pay $$$ out of pocket for someone who could really help her. I almost imagine someone with not just a SLP background, maybe social work/psychology too.

ETA: Gena, based on my experiences, I almost wonder if your DS's SLP is well-equipped enough (training, materials, etc.) to focus heavily on the pragmatics and that is why she spends more time on articulation. Maybe she is more comfortable/confident working on articulation?

mytwosons
12-18-2011, 08:29 PM
And, I love that every time I ran into her while she was ds' therapist she would tell me some positive tidbit from his recent sessions. It was clear that she knew who he was and who I was and that she really did see him in a positive light. When you hear all the time about all the things your kid isn't doing yet, can't do, has trouble with, etc, those positive tidbits are so valuable. I always felt better after I ran into her.

Catherine

:yeahthat: When DS1 was younger, I was always getting negative feedback from teachers, random strangers, etc. on his behavior and other issues. Those positive reports, no matter how small, definitely carried my through and gave me much needed hope. I LOVED the therapists that gave me that boost.

mousemom
12-19-2011, 02:33 AM
DS has had speech therapy through EI and numerous evaluations. Our speech therapist did a good job of really listening to DS and responding to him, even if a comment seemed to be off topic. Unlike some who have done evaluations for us, she did not talk too much, and understood that it was ok to leave some silence while DS thought about what he wanted to say. She also let DS make a lot of choices in sessions - do you want to play with x or y, should we do the red cards or the blue cards, etc. I agree that communication with parents is vital - let us know what you are targeting, what the procedure for an evaluation is, what concerns you may have. And I agree with others, she often made very positive comments (which I felt she really meant) about DS's personality after a session, which really endeared her to us, as we felt she really liked/knew DS.

niccig
12-19-2011, 11:53 PM
Thanks everyone. You've given me great insight from the parent and child's perspective. I know I've got a lot to learn and it's going to take some time. I want to be good at this, it's my do-over, and I'm not going to get another 2nd chance.

melrose7
12-22-2011, 06:08 PM
Being willing to try different things to work on the same goal. DD1 has always been stubborn and tough to teach and we would spend some of our first private speech lessons with her crying and nothing getting done. The therapist would keep trying and didn't have a different approach. So frustrating.
I have heard from our therapists now that what works with 95% of the kids chances are it won't with my DD. we've had a few SLPs and none of them have been great but now we are doing ABA with a SLP running everything and she sees that just because she is a little more difficult doesn't mean she can't learn the task at hand.