"The Way We Talk"

As a speech therapist I have worked with clients who stutter, and I have friends who stutter. It is my belief that stuttering is not an affliction that needs to be cured or fixed. Rather, it is the societal belief that stuttering is wrong, that needs to change.

SLP Corner: No IEPs!

* Warning: this post is heavy on the SLP talk and jargon. Read on if you dare!

I think I may have found the perfect job: minimal direct therapy, lots of assessments and no IEPs! My new job is working for SERRC, a non-profit funded by grants and contracts. There are several divisions to SERRC, and I work for the part that contracts with school districts to provide their SPED needs.

Their needs may be speech, OT, PT or general SPED administrative support. Some districts need OT and PT but not speech. Or vice versa. Typically these are rural school districts that don't have enough of a caseload to warrant hiring a full-time or part-time therapist, so they contract with SERRC.

Snowshoeing in Denali

I didn't realize how close Denali National Park actually is to Fairbanks, until the Spring Break Road Trip to Anchorage. So snowshoeing in Denali it was to be on a fine Sunday. I loaded up the snowshoes, my back pack and headed off. During the winter, operations at DNP are limited. The visitor center is closed, as is the bookstore. But they do have a ranger working and of course you can get your stamp for your National Park Passport (a main reason for going!)

 

Everyone has an ice sculpture!

SLP Corner: Alaska SPED law and IEPs

This is part-two of of being a speech therapist in Alaska. See the last post for details about my caseload.

The IEP process here is a bit different. They use a software program called Goal View. It's okay but I prefer SEIS. Most schools have a "data clerk". This person handles all the IEP paperwork! If I need an assessment plan signed by parents, I tell my clerk. If I need to discharge a kid, I tell my clerk and she calls the parents, tells them what we need, sends the paperwork out and voila! Before an IEP the clerk brings me a file of all the IEP papers for the meeting -- I don't even have to print anything out! When the meeting is over I enter my notes online, give the signature page to the clerk and she finalizes the IEP online and then sends hard copy to the district office. It's a dream come true.

SLP Corner: My caseload

This will be a two-parter post. The first, details about my caseload. The second, about Alaska SPED law and IEPs. Otherwise, be forewarned that these posts are heavy on the SLP talk, full of acronyms and abbreviations with no explanations. If you've been traumatized by speech therapy stories, jokes or plain just aren't interested, I recommend you skip these two! All others, read on.