/r/slp
A community of Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs), Speech Therapists (STs), Speech-Language Therapists (SLTs), Clinical Fellowship Clinicians (SLP-CFs), Speech-Language Pathology Assistants (SLPAs), graduate clinicians and students. We discuss ideas, stories, information, and give general advice through our personal experience and research.
Please join /r/SLPGradSchool for pre-graduate school and graduate school related discussion.
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A community of Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs), Speech Therapists (STs), Speech-Language Therapists (SLTs), Clinical Fellowship Clinicians (SLP-CFs), Speech-Language Pathology Assistants (SLPAs), graduate students, graduate clinicians, and undergraduate students. We discuss therapy ideas, share stories, share informative links, and give general advice through our personal experience and research.
Speech-Language Pathologists, sometimes called speech therapists, assess, diagnose, treat, and help to prevent communication and swallowing disorders in patients. Speech, language, and swallowing disorders result from a variety of causes such as a stroke, brain injury, hearing loss, developmental delay, a cleft palate, cerebral palsy, or emotional problems.
Speech-language pathologists work with patients who have problems with speech, such as being unable to speak at all or speaking with difficulty, or with rhythm and fluency, such as stuttering. They may work with those who are unable to understand language or with people who have voice disorders, such as inappropriate pitch or a harsh voice. Find out more about SLPs here and here.
If you have a speech or language concern, please contact your local speech therapist. You can find a therapist in your area using ASHA's Professional Finder. Speech pathologists can talk about language, development, and the field in general, but they cannot diagnose or treat in this subreddit.
Feeling burn out or job stress? Consider talking to a mental health professional or researching strategies for anxiety, stress, and depression. Just as we cannot diagnose/treat speech and language disorders in this subereddit, we can only offer support, not true mental health counseling. * NIMH: National Institute of Mental Health * NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness
‣ Let's talk salary - SLP redditors discuss salary
THIS SUBREDDIT IS IN NO WAY AFFILIATED WITH ASHA, SAC, OR ANY OF THE WEBSITES LISTED BELOW.
ASHA's online directory for undergraduate and graduate degree programs in communication sciences and disorders (CSD) A page that contains a listing of university programs in speech language pathology and audiology in the United States.
National Student Speech Language Hearing Association aka NSSLHA Pre-professional membership association for students interested in the study of communication sciences and disorders.
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Official Website
Related subreddits:
Credit goes to /u/taximes for our logo.
Credit goes to /u/stophauntingme for our subreddit design.
/r/slp
Hi, Deaf Studies linguist here with some knowledge in SLP (university module on a degree).
I have seen the term AAC in use by SLPs and I am a little bit confused as to whether sign language is considered a form of AAC? If so, why?
Sign languages are complete languages with their own vocabulary and grammar. They are processed by the brain in much the same way as spoken languages - and have full are expressive and receptive capacity (all messages can be expressed and received in them like any language).
If they are AAC then why are they classed as "alternative" or "augmented"? Augmenting or alternative to speech? Does this not put speech on a pedestal instead of language as a whole? Surely the goal of language therapy is to produce a person who is language capable, not just speech capable, right?
If not then would individual signs be classed as AAC? If so, then why aren't individual words classed as such?
Sorry if any of my assumptions are wrong or I come off as confused, I am happy to have my views corrected if I am!
I really want to know. There was a whole lot of “😂😂😂” when those of us who have known about the dangers of a second Trump administration voiced our concerns here, but I haven’t seen one comment from them now that people are posting about things they’re ACTUALLY doing in real time to hurt us and the populations we serve. Don’t be shy! Tell us why the horrors we’ve seen in the last 2 weeks are good! Own the libs!
Hi!
I’m an SLPA in elementary with 85 kids, most of whom are Spanish-speaking English learners. I’m an intermediate Spanish speaker myself (I am Latina, not a heritage speaker but my pronunciation is great, so I do know how to make the sounds myself). It’s been challenging but I’m hanging in there!
I have one little dude who has basically blown up every group I’ve tried him in. As a result, I have to see him twice a week for artic drill. For reasons I don’t quite understand, his only goal is /r/ (flap and trill). I am not the strongest on artic because I’ve been working mostly in high schools since I became an SLPA so would definitely appreciate hearing your experience with this!
Any tips on how to introduce the two sounds, how to work with the fact that he is a first grader who is an emergent bilingual student and does not appear to care about or notice the error, how to elicit, etc.?
I read children with CAS need at least 3 sessions a week, 60-90 minute sessions.
What if you work in a school? That is physically impossible without putting the child in groups (and probably a different group with different students each day), and that is often not the best because they're not getting 100-300 productions, and it becomes much more difficult to use apraxia-specific approaches.
Does anyone in the schools find shorter (but still frequent) sessions beneficial?
Do you consider whether or not the child has outside services?
Finding it tricky to start to navigate everything as a recent graduate working with adults in a rehabilitation hospital in Canada. Does anyone have any fantastic resources for all things SLP?! Things like websites, blogs, articles, textbooks, etc.
Just wanting some places to go for guidance and such, thank you!!
Hey fellow SLPs. Here’s the deal- I’m in my final semester of Grad school (full time online at YU in NY). I work 4 days a week under a TEE license where I am the preschool SLP. Still getting my hours in for school, but also being paid to work as a full on SLP. I used to work 5 days a week but I found it extremely difficult to balance school with work and having one day off a week makes the school workload much more manageable.
Anyway- I only have 33 kids on my caseload. There are a good amount of them that I see twice a week for 20 minutes at a time because preschoolers are pretty hard to see 30 minutes at a time. There are also a handful of them that I have to see individually. Here’s my problem. I’m having a really hard time balancing writing reports, writing IEPs, attending meetings, meeting monthly minutes, get accurate data for IEPs, and doing really solid treatments. I try to make my lesson plans simple and very flexible to target most of my kids in one day, but I’m really struggling to figure out time management.
Does anyone have any tips on what I can do to help myself get more organized, feel less chaotic at work, and not have to take work home anymore? Thank you in advance
Are you worried about the recent bills and executive orders to eliminate the department of education and/or cut SPED? I urge you to take action. Reach out to your reps!! Please refrain from engaging in performative despair and take action. It's going to be a long few years folks. We must stay vigilant and not throw our hands up in defeat. There is a thin republican majority in both houses of congress. You can make a difference by taking action and reaching out about issues that mean something to you. Flood those inboxes.
Here is a letter you may copy and paste to send to your elected officials:
[Your Name] [Your Address] [City, State, ZIP Code] [Your Email] [Your Phone Number] [Date]
The Honorable [Senator/Representative’s Name] [Office Address] Washington, D.C. [ZIP Code]
Subject: Urgent Concerns Regarding Defunding of the Department of Education and State-Level Threats to Special Education Services
Dear [Senator/Representative’s Name],
I am writing to express my deep concern over discussions about defunding or eliminating the U.S. Department of Education and recent state-level legislative efforts that threaten special education services.
Federal Concerns
The Department of Education plays a crucial role in ensuring equitable access to quality education nationwide, particularly for students with disabilities. As a speech-language pathologist, I see firsthand how essential federal programs like the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) are in ensuring children receive the support they need. The Supreme Court’s ruling in Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District (2017) reaffirmed that students with disabilities are entitled to services that allow them to make meaningful progress in school, not just minimal advancement. Defunding the Department of Education would directly undermine this ruling by threatening the funding and oversight needed to uphold IDEA and the Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) that students with disabilities are legally entitled to.
Additionally, if special education funding were significantly cut, it could lead to the loss of up to 500,000 jobs in public schools, further straining an already struggling system. Schools are already facing severe shortages in special education staff, and any further cuts would be devastating for both students and educators.
State-Level Legislative Threats
Alongside these federal concerns, state-level legislation is also putting special education services at risk. Oklahoma Senate Bill 1017 would prohibit the Oklahoma Health Care Authority from covering medically necessary services for students with disabilities, restricting coverage to only “educationally necessary services.” This change threatens access to therapies like speech, occupational, and physical therapy—services that are crucial for students to succeed in school and make meaningful progress. Other states may follow suit, further eroding protections for students with disabilities.
Call to Action
I urge you to: • Oppose any efforts to defund or dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, ensuring continued federal support for programs like IDEA that protect students’ rights. • Advocate against state-level bills that restrict special education services, reinforcing the federal government’s responsibility to uphold FAPE and the principles outlined in Endrew F.
Our children’s future, particularly those with disabilities, depends on robust educational support at both the federal and state levels. As your constituent, I ask you to take a firm stance in protecting these essential services. Please let me know what steps you are taking to address these concerns.
Thank you for your time, and I look forward to your response.
Sincerely, [Your Name]
Hey yall! I’m currently a graduate student very interested in the medical SLP world. If there any medical Slps that supervise or just any medical Slps who love to give advice comment if I can DM with a few questions
All the best
When I was in undergrad, I remember being taught that if a child is considered a complex communicator/AAC user, we should only work on one form of communication, or else they will never become efficient. I’ve worked in the Mod-Severe population for a long time, and in my experience, this was not true. I learned that any form of communication is valid, and we need to accept it.
Anyway, I’m sitting in an IEP and an administrator told a student’s mother not to teach him several (functional) ASL words or else he “will never learn to use his device.” Ironically, he’s having a burst of language and I found that statement to be silly. His primary form of communication is through his device but I don’t think teaching some unaided forms of AAC is a bad thing at all.
Am I wrong?
Hello!
I’m currently seeing a Pre K student and one of the sounds targeted is S. They make the S sound through their nose. This is something I have never encountered before, and I tried several different things. But what I landed on was shaping S from T like I would with a student with a lateral lisp (teaching flat tire sound).
My issue is were kind of stuck at this level. They can make S in the initial positions of words, but they usually have to make a little T sound along with it (“t-sssooock). They can also make words that end in TS (bats, mats).
When they make S at the beginning of words, the T sound is pretty mild, and sometimes I barely hear it at all, so I tried for S at the end of words that do not end in T, and that’s hard. For example they say “butsss” for “bus”. I tried fading out the T and replacing with H but they are SO reliant on the T sound. I think part of it is they are little and it’s just hard to grasp. I’m happy we got S at all because they are VERY used to making it through nose, but I’m afraid I’ve trained the TS thing too hard. Any ideas on where to go from here?
I'm currently working in an elementary school and I honestly have no idea how to use a craft or an overarching activity to target 3 very different goals. It'd be one thing if all the kids had pragmatic goals and expressive language goals, as those can be targeted together--same with articulation. However, I'm not sure how to target something like decoding, phonological awareness (segmenting and blending oral language in this case), and fluency all in one activity. I feel like I get no data and have no idea how to do it. I realize some-most of this is my own lack of creativity, but I'm just starting out and want to make the best sessions I can. Does anyone have any advice on working with groups that have super different goals in them and not much in common? Thank you!
I mostly love my job but sometimes I wonder if I'm making a difference at all. I work in the schools, right now only with students in autism-focused special day classes, which I do love. Getting students AAC devices and helping them start to communicate with those always feels meaningful. Sometimes I feel like nothing else I do is. I of course see progress with language skills and get excited when my students start doing things they weren't before, like talking in past tense, but obviously all children make progress in their language skills over time regardless of whether they get speech for 60 minutes a week or not.
They mostly all enjoy coming, so I guess that's something. I feel like I do a lot of basic, play-based therapy and just natural language modeling. I do wonder if I should be doing something more or different. I feel like, aside from AAC, I'm not doing anything anyone else couldn't do and they're not already getting in the classroom. Any advice?
Hi, I have two cases that I need help with because they’re not my area of expertise.
Highschool age male who is nonverbal, has minimal ability to use hands, wheelchair user. Uses iPad to communicate. Receptively, can identify items and ask for wanted items with iPad. Parents want him to be more independent. What buttons, activities etc should I add?
Highschool age male who uses iPad primarily to communicate. Does speak verbally when prompted. We are working on texting, identifying and labeling items, articulation, and reading. Need new activities/ added buttons to increase functionality around the home, in conversation etc.
Thanks!
Hi, I have two cases that I need help with because they’re not my area of expertise.
Highschool age male who is nonverbal, has minimal ability to use hands, wheelchair bound. Uses iPad to communicate. Receptively, can identify items and ask for wanted items with iPad. Parents want him to be more independent. What buttons, activities etc should I add?
Highschool age male who uses iPad primarily to communicate. Does speak verbally when prompted. We are working on texting, identifying and labeling items, articulation, and reading. Need new activities/ added buttons to increase functionality around the home, in conversation etc.
Thanks!
I plan on not renewing my contract, but want to work for other districts.
I don’t think the contract company will do anything if I do that and my contract is not super strict.
Any tips?
I really like working contract because I feel like I have less duties and I can hop around from school districts to find which ones I like.
Hi all,
I have worked the following jobs over 4 years:
EI School Private practice Back to EI Now school again 😬 hoping it’s better this time!!
My dad (an account and old guy tbh) said it’s not good to job hop. I do understand, but I also feel like speech is different? I don’t want to switch jobs every year but I also feel like it’s not as uncommon in our field (at least switching 2-5 years or something). Is it the lack of movement, position wise and pay wise? I know we are in need, so maybe since it’s easier to move around we do? Or we see value in different jobs depending where we are in life?
My husband works at a company where people work for 10+ years. They also get yearly raises and move up (associate, senior, team lead, manager, etc). They can also move teams within the company and get a raise. Just saying it’s different for us. But at the same time I do see others outside of the field saying job hopping is the new way of getting a raise. Maybe my husband is just lucky lol, what do you all think?
Hello! I have a CFY interview at a peds and adult private practice in about 2 weeks. This is my first CFY interview so I’m very excited! What are some questions that I can expect and prepare for? Thanks!
So, while ASHA is still twiddling their thumbs trying to figure out how the executive orders from two weeks ago are going to affect us, the new administration is continuing with their scorched earth and illegal destruction of the administrative state. This will have very real effects on our lives. Since the only news on the asha home page is about asking congress not to cut Medicaid/telehealth, S.T.E.P. Mentee enrollment, and Tinnitus awareness month, I thought we could start a thread listing all the things so we can start shouting louder at our legislators as it seems some of the pushback has been helping. Also maybe sharing on our social media/with parents and such.
Dismantling the department of education
Texas wants to to create a committee to decide which aspects of IDEA they can ignore
Oklahoma lawmaker files bill that could cut special education services for some students
and the executive order abolishing DOE from what I understand you can’t abolish a department established by statute by executive order, but what do I know?
5 Calls app to contact your representatives
That’s all I can find atm. Have to go cook dinner. Any others?
Hi! Current CF SNF SLP in Pittsburgh area starting at $37/ hr with raise obtained upon CCCs. Is this normal?
Hello! I will be graduating in May so I am beginning the process of thinking about jobs. I know I want to work in the schools, and so I’m wondering the best places to look for school jobs, and any advice for tailoring my resume or interviews! Thank you in advance!
I work with a middle schooler who has one of the most severe vocalic /r/'s I've ever heard. Their "er" sounds like the way a British person might say the initial o in "octopus" (/ɒ/). It seems the student's previous speech therapist told them they have a tongue tie, and indeed they do. So because of that, the student says they can't move their tongue back because of the tongue tie. I've been doing research to find a way to help this student, because a lot of the strategies I've tried have not worked. Explaining the articulators, cuing the student to shape /r/ from /l/, using a dental pick to physically push tongue back, using visual cues to show how tongue slides from front to back of mouth, etc. I've noticed this student also clenches whenever I have them say an individual word (I've noticed it's a nervousness thing, because they don't seem to clench in casual back and forth convo). Does anyone have any advice for strategies I should try for their /r/?
Also on a side note, I've been seeing a lot of things online that say tongue tie doesn't typically affect speech, but in this case I really think it does. BUT, they also have trouble with "th" (very mild stopping of "th" to /d/ so I don't target it in therapy) so maybe it's just a coincidence? Any advice is appreciated!
Hey guys, I'm an undergrad working several jobs and it's becoming ridiculously stressful in my senior year. I was wondering if anyone knows of any stable clinical/assisting jobs for students who want to pursue SLP grad programs in the future....? A front desk job, data analysis... literally anything at this point. I'm just looking for something within the field. Should I start calling around to local clinics...? Feel free to tell me if I'm being too hopeful.
Thanks in advance :)
Hi all, I’m learning to use the Arizona-4, wanted to try it out instead of the GFTA. I’m a little confused on scoring, my kid had some sound errors but not on the targeted sound. Is this not counted against them?
Hi all!
I moved away from home for grad school and then took a job in another state for my CF and I genuinely hate where i live and can’t wait to move home.
My job has a sign-on bonus after one year, so I want to wait until I get that bonus in August, but i am starting to look for jobs now. The hardest part for me is that places with current listings are hiring immediately and not several months out. Are people using recruiters? indeed? linked in?
i don't want my current job to know that it has been my plan all along to leave, so i don’t plan to post it on linked in, and i don't want to work in a school ever.
any insight is greatly appreciated!!
I am debating if I should jump to medical since the public education landscape looks grim. I don’t know if any of this will pass. These bills have been introduced many times before but I am confused. ASHA is silent too…Honestly going to work has been depressing. I feel for these kids and parents.
I’ve been hearing that contract companies make 100+ an hour off of contract SLPs. I want to make this money for myself, since I’m the one doing the job. Does anyone know how I can educate myself on this process?
I’ve also heard it’s a smart idea to make yourself an LLC. Would this make the process more concise? I know you can also do tax write offs for anything work related that you buy (testing materials, activities, etc).
Hi! This is basically exactly what it sounds like lol. Just encouragement if you're hating your SLP job or questioning why you went into this field. That was me the last 2.5 years. After doing peds HH and then SNF, I was felling disillusioned about this field, mad about the healthcare industry holistically, frequently burnt out, angry about my subpar income, and envious of my friends with cushy corporate jobs. WELL I am 6 months into my adult HH job and it has just been amazing. Great pay, great schedule, great coworkers, great patients... like no job is perfect but it blows my mind how much happier I am in this job. Just putting it out there in case anyone's like me and felt exasperated and like every SLP job would suck the life out of them. They might be few and far between but the good ones exist and it's worth it to find one!!!
Ok stepping off my soapbox Would love to hear if anyone has a similar story!
I have an upcoming IEP meeting, and the parent has implied they will want speech taken off the IEP. I don't think it's a hill for me to die on, but this particular student does need the services academically. (Receptive and expressive language) Usually I'm very much a "share the information and reasons you recommend continued services and if they say no, that's their right" type of person. But this one is worrying me because the student is graduating 8th grade this year, and moving to a private high school that is known for following what the IEP says and no more than that (sometimes less than is on the IEP). My worry is that the student will get to high school and struggle, and won't be able to get the support needed if speech is taken off.
Does anyone have any advice or has experienced something similar? Advice on things to add under accommodations or to the profile if goals are taken off, or wording to explain it to the parents? I just want them to make the decision with a strong understanding of what the student will need in high school compared to now
Edit for some more context: this student goes to a private school, so there are public school district requirements and also requirements for the private school she attends currently. I realized I didn't include this info in my original post which might be helpful with any advice offered- the most recent eval was last year and the student did qualify. She also has an auditory processing disorder. I also got more info from the coordinator and the requirement for her to get speech taken off the IEP is for me to say that she doesn't need the services anymore...which I am just not comfortable doing as it isn't true. I might try and meet halfway by reducing minutes, as I do understand her not wanting to be pulled from class and how that can impact how beneficial services actually are
Hi everyone,
I hope this is the right place to post—apologies if it’s not.
I’m a male in my 30s, and as a child, I had speech and language difficulties. I attended therapy for being a late talker, and later in university, I was diagnosed with dyslexia after struggling with writing, memorizing words, and names.
Through self-reflection and research, I suspect I may also have a mild form of Developmental Language Disorder (DLD). While I work professionally as an engineer and architect and consider myself quite social, I often struggle with word retrieval, describing how I feel, and expressing my thoughts clearly. I frequently have to rephrase mid-sentence because I can’t find the right word or phrase, which can be frustrating.
As an adult, are there any resources—books, exercises, apps, or therapy approaches—you’d recommend to help improve my communication skills? I’d really appreciate any advice.
Thanks in advance!
Hi all! I’m a school-based SLP and have had only 1 acute care rotation in grad school as experience. I’m interviewing for an acute care PRN position and have no idea how to prepare. Any advice?