Today, I will share successful tips for providing speech-language services for adolescents.
Why Following a Child’s Lead Isn’t Just for Early Intervention
Hi I am Carly Fowler, a Speech Language Pathologist in
Nebraska. A big thanks to Tamara for letting me join in her blog celebration!
Now a little about myself: I live in Omaha, Nebraska with my husband and two
cats. I have been a SLP for three years and I love what I do. I especially
enjoy creating materials for my students. I work with students elementary up through
high school. It is quite an unusual caseload as I stay at just one school, but
it also means I have to stay on schedule, plan ahead and know what I am up
against.
Today, I want to share my tips when working with
teenagers. It is not an easy population, nor do I claim to have all the
answers. But I want to share with you what works for me. Many times working with elementary students
they are thrilled to see you and are willing to work for a token or a sticker. It
is not that easy with high school students, trust me sometimes I feel like I am
pulling teeth in order to get any kind of data.
When working with my teens, I follow their lead. This is
probably making you think of early intervention kiddos but I recommend it with
any age. I find that following my high school students' lead will allow me to gain
more effort from them. Teens are searching
for more control of their lives. Many times their days are dictated for them; they
are told when to go to school, what they need to do and they are not often
given the freedom to choose. By allowing your teens to run the session they
will give you more respect because you are treating them more like an adult.
When following the lead of a teen it is important to listen
to them. Often times, my students want to chat about life or sports. Let them! You
can target a lot of goals by doing this, plus it is functional. I am often able
to target grammar, sentence formation, pragmatics and articulation when talking
about sports.
Another thing a student may lead you to is school work. I see many students during their study hall
and I encourage them to bring their homework. I also ask how classes are going
which may reveal their struggle with homework. School work and homework are
functional activities and a great therapy target. I know many of you may say “I
am not good at science” or “Math is like a foreign language”. I encourage you to step outside of your
comfort zones and encourage students to bring homework or materials from
classes they need help with. It is okay to learn with your student- in fact I
encourage it! By helping them with homework it shows you are a valuable
resource and they will begin to see your time as more valuable.
Another way to follow your high school student’s lead is by
allowing them to play with some of your toys in your speech room. You may be
thinking that they would never be caught dead playing with toys but you are
wrong. They often need a fiddle such as a ball to concentrate or playdoh as
sensory stimulation. As long as it doesn’t become a distraction is a perfect
outlet to the energy they may have.
These are tips that I have found successful when working with teens during their speech-language therapy sessions. Thanks for reading the blog today!
Thanks for the tips. They can be a "tough" group =) But are my favorite
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ReplyDeleteNice article. There are few well-known Speech Language Pathologists in Kolkata who provide speech therapy. Looking forward to more informative articles from you.
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