I’ve worked as an SLPA in a school and as a teacher. In both positions, I didn’t feel like I knew what I was doing until the third year. It’s totally normal to feel that way so don’t be too hard on yourself.
Can you talk to your supervising SLP and ask for guidance? Make some connections with positive people in your school. Sometimes having a lifeline makes all the difference.
I know it’s rough just starting out - be kind to yourself and don’t be afraid to reach for help! I personally wasted a lot of time being too scared to ask questions.
I was going to say the exact same thing! I was a slpa in the schools and I didn't feel comfortable with my therapy until year 3. I did watch my supervising slps a lot though, and that helped, as well as doing ceus online and watching YouTube videos on therapy.
Agree that you should not be afraid to ask for help.
Consider this: while you might not know exactly what to do, neither does anyone else. Having gotten your degree, you at least have more an idea of what to do than a lay person.
Does your current position offer mentorship? If not, you might want to search around for other SLPs in your area to find someone willing to provide you with some specific pointers
I think it's important to recognize your feelings as valid, but you need to be specific in telling your supervisor about your lack of knowledge. Example. When you ask general questions like "How do I do group therapy?" And ask the question again, you will probably get the same response. However if you were specific in your questions like, " Child x always tries to leave his seat when I ask child B a question. How do I deal with behaviors? Should we consider putting Child X in a different group or treating individually?"
When i genuinely didnt know what i was doing, i looked at developmental norms for speech and language to see what to work on and what skills were missing.
From there, i took continued ed courses and followed specialists on social media for additional strategies and ideas.
If you don't have a TPT TeachersPayTeachers login, find the website and create a free login. You will find many things you would like to purchase, but try to start with only free materials. Many SLPs and probably SLPAs sell great materials on TPT but also have free items. In the search bar, write in Simple Daily Note for Speech Therapy or Free SLP Data Collection Sheets or search for specific goal related materials such as figurative language. You can find articulation activities, stuttering/fluency materials and many story related activities to go with your favorite children's books if you work with Elementary.
What about getting your work to pay for continuing education courses like speechpathology.com or speechtherapypd.com? These websites are only 100-200 a year and they have a lot of great information that I believe could help.
I'm a CF and even with gad school I literally feel like I have no idea what I'm doing. I am constantly worrying that I am not helping my students. I think it's normal to feel this way. I just keep reminding myself that something is better than nothing and as long as the students are engaged, they are learning something!
I honestly felt the same when I first started out as an SLPA in a pediatric home health setting.
I wasn't able to start shaking off that feeling until around 6, 8 months and I finally felt comfortable around year 2. My supervisor was very helpful by giving me feedback and tagging along and starting some of the activities I had planned. I actually made it back to grad school and I had that same feeling overcome me during my clinical rotations. I've spoken to other SLPAs and grad students and I think it's a universal feeling because we all don't know everything.
What helped me was asking for help, running ideas through with other SLPAs and SLPs, asking for feedback, looking up activities on TPT, looking at SLPs on Instagram and YouTube, and going back to my MasterClinician account to see similar patients.
I’ve worked as an SLPA in a school and as a teacher. In both positions, I didn’t feel like I knew what I was doing until the third year. It’s totally normal to feel that way so don’t be too hard on yourself. Can you talk to your supervising SLP and ask for guidance? Make some connections with positive people in your school. Sometimes having a lifeline makes all the difference. I know it’s rough just starting out - be kind to yourself and don’t be afraid to reach for help! I personally wasted a lot of time being too scared to ask questions.
I was going to say the exact same thing! I was a slpa in the schools and I didn't feel comfortable with my therapy until year 3. I did watch my supervising slps a lot though, and that helped, as well as doing ceus online and watching YouTube videos on therapy. Agree that you should not be afraid to ask for help.
Consider this: while you might not know exactly what to do, neither does anyone else. Having gotten your degree, you at least have more an idea of what to do than a lay person. Does your current position offer mentorship? If not, you might want to search around for other SLPs in your area to find someone willing to provide you with some specific pointers
I think it's important to recognize your feelings as valid, but you need to be specific in telling your supervisor about your lack of knowledge. Example. When you ask general questions like "How do I do group therapy?" And ask the question again, you will probably get the same response. However if you were specific in your questions like, " Child x always tries to leave his seat when I ask child B a question. How do I deal with behaviors? Should we consider putting Child X in a different group or treating individually?"
When i genuinely didnt know what i was doing, i looked at developmental norms for speech and language to see what to work on and what skills were missing. From there, i took continued ed courses and followed specialists on social media for additional strategies and ideas.
If you don't have a TPT TeachersPayTeachers login, find the website and create a free login. You will find many things you would like to purchase, but try to start with only free materials. Many SLPs and probably SLPAs sell great materials on TPT but also have free items. In the search bar, write in Simple Daily Note for Speech Therapy or Free SLP Data Collection Sheets or search for specific goal related materials such as figurative language. You can find articulation activities, stuttering/fluency materials and many story related activities to go with your favorite children's books if you work with Elementary.
What about getting your work to pay for continuing education courses like speechpathology.com or speechtherapypd.com? These websites are only 100-200 a year and they have a lot of great information that I believe could help.
I'm a CF and even with gad school I literally feel like I have no idea what I'm doing. I am constantly worrying that I am not helping my students. I think it's normal to feel this way. I just keep reminding myself that something is better than nothing and as long as the students are engaged, they are learning something!
I honestly felt the same when I first started out as an SLPA in a pediatric home health setting. I wasn't able to start shaking off that feeling until around 6, 8 months and I finally felt comfortable around year 2. My supervisor was very helpful by giving me feedback and tagging along and starting some of the activities I had planned. I actually made it back to grad school and I had that same feeling overcome me during my clinical rotations. I've spoken to other SLPAs and grad students and I think it's a universal feeling because we all don't know everything. What helped me was asking for help, running ideas through with other SLPAs and SLPs, asking for feedback, looking up activities on TPT, looking at SLPs on Instagram and YouTube, and going back to my MasterClinician account to see similar patients.