Tales From My Life To Make You A Better SLP

Many of the skills and perspectives I have gained in my job as a speech therapist are often acquired experiencing life. I thought I would share some favorite tales from my life to make you a better SLP.  Of course, most of these tales from my life are funny in nature, so you should get a good chuckle when reading my life stories.

When my son was 2 years old, we went to visit my aunt and uncle and my two cousins for the 4th of July.  It was a hot day in northern California, so my aunt and uncle took us to their fitness club for cool swim during the day. Still trying to get some of my baby weight off, I refused to invest money in buying a more updated bathing suit until I was back in my prime, lol. So, I threw in this goofy floral looking bathing suit and headed to the gym with the fam.  As I stepped outside to the pool area, it felt like we had just entered a music video shoot for JLo and I clearly did not read the fine print for the casting call. Please come dressed in your finest designer swim suit and make sure all body parts are nicely sculpted or enhanced. I looked down at my floral one piece and thought “Well, there’s always next year.” Needless to say, I shrugged it off and spent the afternoon hanging in the pool  with the fam.

The fitness club was bbqing hot dogs and hamburgers for the guests, had fun music playing and this really amazing blow up water slide.  Imagine the slide in the picture above, but bigger with a tunnel you had to climb up.  It had a twisty turn halfway down the slide that winded you around until you hit the bottom where there was a small pool filled with water.

As I walked over to the slide with my son, I saw many of the kids slowly bouncing down the slide into the small pool of water with disappointing looks on their faces.  So, when my little man wanted to climb up and take a whirl down the slide, I agreed.  He climbed to the very top, looked down at how high up it was and started crying.  Well, any nurturing mother like myself would see the fear in their little one’s eyes, and climb right up to the top of the slide to rescue them from the giant water slide.  As I reached the top, I scooped Riley in my lap and headed on down.  I was in for quite the ride because the minute I pushed off, I soared around the corner of the slide.  I continued to pick up speed as we headed closer toward the pool of water and before I could gain control of myself, I dunked my 2 year old in the pool of water making such a splash that the crowd of kids all yelled “WHOOOAAAA.”  Next, a couple of the parents in line were like “wow that was a big splash.” Meanwhile my aunt, uncle and husband were trying to hold back laughter as I clumsily stood up with my son that I had just immersed in the water.  The rest of the weekend was filled with recounts of THE BIG SPLASH and each time I winced just a little bit picturing my stylish floral bathing suit plunging into the pool of water.

Let’s talk about how this tale from my life can make you a better SLP.

1. Sometimes our students and clients need us to go along with them for the ride.  We have to help through the process of something before they can learn to do it on our own.  It was necessary for me to get on that crazy water slide with my 2 year old, so I could show him how to try new things. When we take the “plunge” with our students, most often we come out with a deeper connection.
2. There is always a risk in therapy when we try something new.  We always envision our therapy plans will play out like we want them to and are mortified when they fail miserably.  Just like how I expected my water slide ride would end with me slowly and gracefully gliding down into the pool of water!  Do I wish it would have gone differently?  Well, of course!  But now I know that I probably should have sent my 12 year old cousin to head on down those fun slides with my son. When we take the risk, we learn either way!  If therapy went well, we know that what we executed worked.  If the therapy session ended much like my water slide adventure, then you learned that you need to modify or change the lesson completely.

Hope you all have a great 4th of July!  Stay tuned for more tales from my life to make you a better SLP!!