tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-139582748133952698.post8728344102238537872..comments2023-10-03T20:11:35.036-04:00Comments on Chapel Hill Snippets: Shout out to School-Based SLPs! (musings from an 'ordinary speech pathologist')Chapel Hill Snippetshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16556275873912032352noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-139582748133952698.post-70437963638805274882013-12-16T13:09:09.253-05:002013-12-16T13:09:09.253-05:00I think it still exists because up until quite rec...I think it still exists because up until quite recently there were some states that allowed school therapists to only have a bachelors degree to work in the school setting. I know there are some states where some have been "grandfathered" in to be allowed to continue working with a bachelors. Hopefully as the years go by the requirements for liscensure and certification remain the same for school therapists as clinical/medical therapists that perception will fade.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00785016860526597482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-139582748133952698.post-16753385142381280692013-12-16T06:43:45.237-05:002013-12-16T06:43:45.237-05:00Having been on both sides of the fence, I've c...Having been on both sides of the fence, I've certainly seen this in action. I think the point about specialization is a huge one. When I worked in the schools I was lucky enough to be given mostly the children with Autism but still needed to be prepared to treat any child with any communication disorder. When given a voice or fluency kiddo, I needed LOTS of help! In private practice, I can do what I know I do well and focus on that. I think it's really challenging to become an "expert" in every communication disorder and totally respect the efforts of my public school counterparts in their efforts. The best results I've seen with children is when there is a strong collaboration between the private and public school SLPs with each sharing their own expertise.<br />The other major issue is funding which also tends to drive trust. I've had to earn the trust of many of my parents, especially when my recommendations are very different from their previous SLP with whom they had already developed that trust. I just think it tends to be easier to develop trust when you know the professional is working for you and not for the school system. I can often say the exact same thing as the school SLP but it's heard differently.<br />Just like any other field, there are "good" and "bad" SLPs in both private and public employment. I've met and worked with many excellent school based SLPs!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10607982494550034989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-139582748133952698.post-82821578792206000832013-12-16T06:14:41.289-05:002013-12-16T06:14:41.289-05:00I work in both school and private settings. I fin...I work in both school and private settings. I find that most children do better with both private and school therapy-but insurance makes it difficult for some families to receive both. I'm in MN where it is difficult to qualify for school services (2 SD below on 2 separate assessments) I have parents who will ask me to "tell" the school therapist what to do and I always make a point to explain that we can certainly collaborate on goals as professionals but that I can't make blanket recommendations for schools and that educational based therapy can be different from medically based therapy. Also, the school therapist understands the schools culture, teachers and how best to address the students goals within that educational system. Speech2Uhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06147181032719688035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-139582748133952698.post-75739088585797682802013-12-14T21:58:01.978-05:002013-12-14T21:58:01.978-05:00Thanks for your nice words, and I completely under...Thanks for your nice words, and I completely understand why some choose private in addition to school SLPs, especially when handicaps are severe. The blog entry really wasn't about the child's needs, but about misperceptions in general (not yours, though, obviously!)Chapel Hill Snippetshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16556275873912032352noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-139582748133952698.post-52539192546661709242013-12-14T21:23:52.322-05:002013-12-14T21:23:52.322-05:00I don't have the misperception that school SLP...I don't have the misperception that school SLPs (in general) are any less qualified than those in private practice, so I can't really comment on that. My son has had great school SLP (you) and not great. He has had great private SLPs and not great. School SLPs by their own admission are only required to have educational goals and their only purpose is to help a child access FAPE. I'm not putting that down because it is a very necessary part of special ed, but it certainly is a limitation. So if I take my child to a private SLP, I am free to find someone who is not a generalist but rather is an expert in my child's specific speech-language issues. For example, my son's current SLP is an expert in feeding and swallowing and she almost exclusively works on expanding his severely self-restricted diet, with about 1/4 of her time spent on artic. Not to mention I can hire and fire at will, and I have. That element of choice is pretty much everything- I can find a speech therapist who can offer their expertise but ultimately I, as the parent, drive what the treatment goals are. I'm thankful every day that our health insurance covered my son's early private speech therapy because I was able to find a SLP who had expertise in co-morbid autism and apraxia and was willing to work on the apraxia within the context of rewarding, fun activities to individually teach my child every phoneme as was needed. The school SLP was unwilling to do that. If not for the private SLP, I'm not sure my son would actually have speech. But I'll add that even with the absolute best school SLP, I'd still get private (if available) so that we are free to work on exactly what is needed, not necessarily within the limitations of being "educational".NCmomof3giftshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06572984403683217267noreply@blogger.com