8 Things I Wish I Knew as a CF SLP

Your CFY as a new SLP can be overwhelming. I wish I had known these things back then.

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Alright, I’ll admit this right upfront:

I was not an ideal student in graduate school nearly 25 years ago. While I liked the subject matter of my undergraduate (Linguistics) and graduate (Speech and Hearing Sciences) majors, I tended to sit in the back of my classes and listen, and I was not very open to forming collaborative relationships with my professors.

Call it "childhood stuff" or issues with authority! Regardless, I was more of a leave-me-alone-and-I’ll-figure-it-out-myself kind of learner. It's just what was most comfortable to me back then.

I somehow made the choice to move to New York City to do my Clinical Fellowship Year (CFY) – a place where I had never spent more than 48 hours before rolling up in a U-Haul. I got my first job as a speech-language pathologist at an agency, which meant that I hopped from school to school, with very little in terms of on-site support or professional relationships with colleagues. I don't remember feeling much of a connection with my CFY supervisor, but I probably was not very open to having a connection either!

Also -- this is embarrassing but true -- even after grad school, I was skeptical that I could actually help and effect real change in the kids I was assigned to work with (oh, how wrong I was...).

The 8 things I’m about to share here have been hard-won and learned over time. I sure wish I could tell these things to my younger self!

Here we go:

1) You do not have to be perfect - not as a CF SLP or ever

Learn the power of “I’m not sure. Let me check and get back to you.”

When I graduated with my degree in speech-language pathology, I thought I was now responsible for knowing all the information related to my field. I tried to answer questions right away to the best of my ability, even when I wasn’t sure. It took time and confidence to tell people I didn’t know something.

The fact is, this field is so broad that we simply cannot know everything! Over time, you will specialize in more specific age ranges and populations. In addition, things are always evolving as new research emerges. SLPs continue to develop and deepen their knowledge throughout their career.

(Even after 23 years, I learn new things about speech-language therapy all the time. I write about them in this blog. Subscribe at the bottom of this page and you'll get a post in your inbox every other week.)

It's ironic, but I say "I don't know" more often now than I did when I first started my career!

Don’t be afraid to tell people you’re going to check on something and get back to them. ASHA’s Practice Portal has excellent, up-to-date information on many topics.

And make sure you follow up and give people the information they asked for!

2) Slowly build your network

Keep in touch with your grad school classmates, professors, supervisors, work colleagues, etc.

Now that I’ve been on the other side of things as a clinical supervisor, I know firsthand – your supervisors would love to hear from you and help answer a question you have!

Offer to be a resource for colleagues and they’ll be one in return; you’ll find that many of them also want to grow their networks. You don’t need to form the closest of friendships with them; just keep in touch online or meet for coffee once in a while. It can be fun to bounce speech therapy ideas off each other, just share knowledge and resources, or even (gasp) complain!

A network also helps when you’re looking for a new job.

3) Energy in = energy out

After working with preschoolers for a few years, I started to realize that things went really well with my students on the days when I was feeling energetic and really attuned to them. Conversely, they could sense it on the days when I was tired and feeling less focused.

Kids notice when you show up for them and they’ll give that effort right back to you. I also started to realize that simply being genuinely happy to see students and feeling curious about what they are doing, thinking, and feeling will get you a very long way. Try it and you’ll see what I mean.

Also, kids are people and we have different chemistry with different people; you might connect more easily with one child over another. Every child has endearing qualities - figure out what they are and keep them in mind when you're with them.

4) Join a Special Interest Group forum on ASHA.org

I’ve been a member of the SIG1 Forum for several years now and I think it’s worth the extra money when I pay my ASHA dues every year. You can ask questions, or just lurk. Either way, you’ll learn a lot from smart SLPs who care enough about their profession to participate in a professional forum.

5) The better you get as an SLP, the busier you’ll get

The better you get at your job, the busier you’ll get. This is because people will recognize you as a source of support and answers. They’ll seek you out for consultation and collaboration. While this is a good thing, it adds to the busy-ness of an already very busy job.

The only way to stay on top of everything is to develop SYSTEMS. Take the time to develop systems to streamline your tasks. A little additional work upfront can really pay off down the road. Create session planning sheets for each student with their IEP goals on them, so you can stay focused on their goals. Set up auto-completes on your devices for phrases you’ll be typing a lot. Develop filing systems to organize your therapy materials and continuing education information. You'll need to figure out the systems you need, based on your specific work setting.

I developed StoryWhys book companions to help manage the planning, workload, and needs of my upper elementary language groups, and am so glad I did! The time I put in upfront to create them has paid off in so many ways, and I am so happy to share them with other SLPs now!

Explore all of the StoryWhys book companions in my store. You'll find comprehensive book companions that target many different language skills or Spotlight Series book companions that focus on one type of skill, all using high-quality, beloved storybooks.

You can also try my FREE, 71-page book companion here. It targets tons of different language goals with one, high-quality storybook. There are free pdfs of this book available online too!

6) Don't panic if you don't like your CF SLP setting

I’ve seen threads on Reddit and elsewhere where new SLPs feel so disappointed when they don’t like their CF SLP experience and they question whether they’ve made a mistake in choosing this field.

Do thoughts like, "I've spent so much money on this degree but I hate my job!" sound familiar?

I've been there and I know how demoralizing that feels.

SLPs have so many options in terms of settings and populations to work with. From medical settings, schools, private practice, from infants to seniors, and so many areas to specialize in, it’s likely you can find a work setting that will allow you to feel like your real self and will feel like a good fit.

Try not to be disappointed if this doesn’t happen right away. Learn as much as you can where you are right now and move on as soon as you can.

7) People often use SLP terminology without really understanding it

After going to school for as long as we have, we have developed some very specific knowledge and terminology. Parents, clients, and professionals in other fields often use this terminology. Don’t assume they know what it means. Find out what they understand about it and meet them there. One example is the terminology around phonological processing and phonological awareness. See this post to find out more about these commonly misused terms.

8) Get to know the staff in your settings

As someone who has worked in a lot of different schools, I have learned to make the effort to get to know the support staff – the receptionists, the custodians, the paraprofessionals, etc. There are a lot of amazing people working in schools. Learn their names. Ask them how they’re doing, how their weekends were, or how their kids or pets are. Offer to help carry something or open a door. Understand and appreciate what they do. As an SLP in a school building, we are one small part of a community that works because everyone plays an important role.

Have any tips you'd give a CF SLP? Leave a comment below!

LEVEL UP YOUR SPEECH THERAPY ACTIVITIES WITH STORYWHYS

Did you enjoy this blog post? Subscribe below to get the latest blog posts, which feature lots of speech therapy ideas for busy SLPs who want to provide fun, impactful, and meaningful speech-language therapy.

Have you heard? StoryWhys now offers the Speech and Spell series of resources. I am always trying to tie articulation work and spelling together in my therapy and I've never found any good resources out there to help me do this. So I made my own! Many more speech sounds and spelling rules to come. They'll be 50% off for 48 hrs when new resources are added to the StoryWhys store. Find them here.

Did you know book companions can be among the best speech therapy materials for elementary students? Explore all of the StoryWhys book companions for speech therapy in my store. You'll find comprehensive book companions that target many different language skills or Spotlight Series book companions that focus on one type of skill, all using high-quality, beloved storybooks.

And get your FREE, 71-page book companion for speech therapy on the Free Downloads page.

For quick videos to help you get the most from StoryWhys book companions, check out the YouTube channel here.

Enjoy!