My First Experience as a Speech Clinician

This summer I had my first three speech clinic clients at my university's speech clinic. We had a 10-week session where I worked with children with articulation problems and phonological disorders. Here are just a few of the things I'd like to share about what I learned.

1. Allow much more time for scoring, double-checking, and thoughtfully evaluating language tests. I administered my first evaluation (the Hodson Assessment of Phonological Patterns) this semester to a school-aged child. The test itself is very hands-on, almost fun to administer. I did find it more difficult than I thought to be able to transcribe it as I was administering it. All the things I learned a year ago in Phonetics came flooding back as I read the test manual, however. Suddenly I was transcribing a mile a minute, looking for patterns, admiring my diphthongs, and making notes in my notebook about missing phonemes. I first used a "test" page and then fully transcribed the final information in the formal scoring paperwork. It took me several days to then add up all the instances of specific phonological patterns, and then, to make recommendations for therapy based on the results.
2. Always know what’s in that materials closet in your clinic. I did look through the games, cards, and activities before my clinics began and had a general idea of what it contained. But I purchased much more "stuff" than I ended up using. I can only attribute that to being excited and wanting my clients to like me. Many of my friends in the program who are further along have told me that they created their own materials closet at home to be able to use in the future.
3. Ask prior clinicians about their experience with the client. I discovered some great ideas from them and gained insight I wouldn’t have otherwise. I also learned some of the games that children in specific age ranges enjoyed most. But give the child a new experience with your clinic – I felt like I had other things to offer, and I wanted to switch up the therapy styles a bit, too.
4. When it comes to parent conferences and meetings, keep it brief and simple. My clinic supervisor told me that parents often get lost when their clinician is rattling off percentages and scores. Basically, they want to be assured that you know what you’re doing, that their child is well-liked, and that their child is making gains with your intervention. Focusing on the children’s positive gains and giving the parents simple ideas for home carryover, including websites, games and word lists, worked best for me. Parents seem to want to help, and they put their trust in us, so don’t let them scare you away from showing what you’ve learned in all those courses you worked so hard in completing.
5. Share your clinic experiences with others in the graduate program. Many of my friends have children of their own and were wonderful sources of information about basic behavior and learning styles.
6. Your supervisor is there to help you! Ask for help early on if things get tough. Your success means they are doing something right. They have years of experience doing what they do, and they’ve all been where we are and remember how difficult it can be. My supervisor encouraged me to explore the Teachers Pay Teachers site and I opened my Tpt store this summer.

 

I’ve just purchased the materials for my fall courses and am awaiting information on my new clinic this semester. I’m hoping to streamline this year with a smaller clinic notebook and an accordion file for important paperwork, for which I can assign a client to each file. Last semester I used individual folders which worked well, and the children enjoyed "decorating" them with stickers. But by the end of the summer the folders were full and falling apart. Maybe it’s time to try the accordion file method.
It’s my first week of fall clinic this week…..I’m excited to see who I will be working with!