February 2nd, 2009 NSSLHA Meeting Minutes

Speaker: Rebekah Taylor (SLP at a private practice)
- announcement about paying dues, signing up for email, registration
- announcement about free magazine called “Advanced for Speech Therapist” – sign up online or on phone
- Walk for Autism on April 25th →sign up on walknowforautism.org
- look on ASHA website for skills you need to obtain during CFY, gives focus on what you want from the experience
- pay attention to change in supervisor rules →supervisors need to take a class to become a supervisor
- must do everything in BLUE ink for forms for California State Board
- she did CFY in private practice
- environment completely different than what she expected
- works with 2 year old kids
- she felt like she suffered through it
- impossible to get all the information you need in a 2 year program → don’t go into your first year feeling like you have to know everything
- observe as many people as possible to get ideas for therapy
- don’t forget your sense of self, have confidence in yourself
- professionalism isn’t knowing all the answers, but knowing how to find them
Questions:
1.) What should we look for in a CFY? Figure out what you want first, where you want to work, which age group. Ask classmates about the hospitals or schools they work in. Garner relationships with SLPs, network.
2.) How much supervision did you receive? She didn’t get that much. Definitely talk about it with your supervisor beforehand. She had weekly meetings with supervisor, but didn’t have much actual observation. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
Private Practice
- works at Briggsan Associates.
- Assessment, recommendation, treatment
- Parents are in the room during therapy
- Teach parents how to do therapy/strategies at home
- Work with the family, community in a team
- Initial assessments done as a team →2 people (one person records and interviews and one examines)
- Don’t give formal assessments, very play-based
- Best way to figure out a child is to figure out how they interact
- Giving a test doesn’t really give you an idea of what is going on with a child
- Sometimes give formal tests if school district requires it
- see kids birth-5 years old
Questions
1.) Can you choose the population you want to work with? Can’t get so specific with a specific disorder you want to work with; can choose age range you want to work with. Once you get into a CFY, you can request to your supervisor that you want clients with a specific disorder.
2.) What are the differences in load of paperwork, hours between private practice and school? She works 33 hours. She has 1 on 1 50 minute sessions with the parents. Out of the 33 hours, she has 27 booked with clients. Need to write notes at end of every session. Progress report every 6 months. All private pay; work with regional center, so don’t have to deal with insurance companies.
3.) How much vacation do you get? Vacation is based on hours worked. Get about 2 weeks off. Medical benefits not as great as working in a school.
4.) What is reverse swallowing? Babies stick out tongue to swallow. Can be a problem when you do this after infancy. In same category as tongue thrust.
5.) What problems do 18 months old have? Looking at where they are developmentally. Can work on getting their mouth moving, saying any sounds. Think about what they can do and start from there.
6.) What kind of diagnoses do the kids have? Developmental delay, dyspraxia
7.) What are the symptoms of developmentally delayed kids? Delayed in milestones for speech and language. Ask if they are receptively and/or expressively delayed?