#slp thoughts

[esperantoauthor]

There is a very particular sort of satisfaction that an educator experiences when they are able to pull their class back from the very brink of total nuclear meltdown. Today was one of those days and I don't know why, but I want to write about it.

I have this one class that is very small, they've been in school together so long that they relate more like siblings than classmates, and they all struggle with regulating their emotions. I always say they are like dominoes; if one falls, they all fall (i.e. if one gets upset, the others will soon follow suit until all three are yelling/crying/taking a break outside/furiously sitting in the corner).

Today I walked in and was warned that one student had just returned from the Dean's office and the morning had not gone well. The second comes in late and immediately begs to use the bathroom, when he came back was begging to eat his snack (which we don't allow during this time, they can snack right after) and when he was told "no" immediately got frustrated and soon was in tears.

We managed to get him calmed down (the teacher talked to him outside) and I try to present the activity with as much enthusiasm as I can muster after the already shaky start. One, then the other, complain that this isn't what they want to do today and that we should take a vote. This happens somewhat regularly but thankfully they are pretty easy to redirect. They also get ruder and ruder, which then leads to further redirection from the adults, such as me telling my student not to call me "little girl." The teacher ends up reviewing the expectations and that I get to pick the activity for our speech group. I remind them that in the past they have complained whenever the activity is something they haven't tried before but that they nearly always end up liking it. One of them complains, "I don't like sentences!" and I reassure him that I won't ask him to read. This is a group for whom reading is incredibly, incredibly difficult.

Then...through some type of magic, when I pull up the activity the students immediately start volunteering to read. In fact, they are practically crawling over one another to read. "I want to do this sentence" "No it's my turn!" and me having to remind them to take turns and let the other one try. It was the most unexpected turnaround I've seen in quite some time. I felt so happy at the end of the lesson. The students were beaming and proud of themselves, they not only completed the activity I'd planned but they went above and beyond. It was the best reading I'd seen from either of them.

Today was a good day.

[esperantoauthor]

hello!! do you happen to know anything about sensory processing disorder in adults/teens? all of the articles that i’ve found have been talking about it in elementary age children, especially boys

Sure! Still not an Occupational Therapist, but the population I work with has a high rate of sensory processing challenges so I certainly have some background and experience in this area. Sensory processing issues are definitely something that can affect teenagers and adults!

Most articles do tend to focus on the early years when it comes to developmental disorders, I suppose because that is when diagnosis most often occurs and the importance of "early intervention." This can create the illusion that these are childhood when the reality is that they are lifelong conditions that one doesn't grow out of. Sometimes adding the words "adult" or "adolescent" to your internet searches can yield more specific results.

Here's a resource I found that might be a good starting place for you to learn more!

As you may know, the majority of the teenagers I work with have ADHD and I can definitely report that most of them also have some degree of difficulty with sensory processing. They can be fidgety, sensitive to loud sounds, only eat foods of certain textures, wear only soft tagless clothes, like to have a toy or fidget with them to touch/move/look at, spin in their chairs, get distracted if worksheets have too many elements, pace the classroom, and much more. Accommodations can be very helpful!

I hope that helped 💖

[esperantoauthor]

Nothing makes you feel like an Adult (tm) like teenagers finding you deeply uncool.

[esperantoauthor]

Shoutout to my student who always wears his hood up who came to my office for speech language testing and decided to tuck his hood behind his ears totally unprompted. Presumably to make sure he could hear things well? It was adorable. And yes the hood absolutely made his ears stick straight out.

Like, yes king, meet those sensory needs while simultaneously showing me that you are giving me your full attention and want to do well.

[esperantoauthor]

A very niche rant

alksjhdfalksjdfh OKAY OKAY OKAY so there was this one thing in grad school that made me go absolutely feral which was people saying, "you can't write a goal at 50% accuracy, ThAt Is ChAnCe." And when I say people, I mean fucking clinical supervisors and professors at my Master's program.

The thing is, though...the vast vast majority of the time it just fucking isn't. If I am trying to teach someone to say their /r/ sound correctly, they might start out at 0% accuracy. Because they say it correctly exactly never. That kid being able to say it with 15% accuracy would be a great improvement! 50% would be something to throw a party about! Now obviously you don't want 50% to be your end goal. Like definitely keep going until it's up pretty high.

The *only* scenario where a speech goal written to 50% accuracy is actually the same as chance is if the goal is formatted like this: Child will identify synonyms with 50% accuracy given a multiple choice format (field of 2).

[esperantoauthor]

i don’t really know how to phrase this correctly, but is deep pressure only helpful on the torso area, or anywhere?

Okay, very short answer is: Anywhere, I think!

As for the science, your body has many different types of receptors (nerves) that respond to touch. Some activate in response to temperature, some to pain, some to light touch, some to being stretched. There are touch receptors whose job is to tell you that your joints and muscles are moving so you know where your body is in space (this is called "proprioception"). The receptors that respond to "deep pressure" are just what they sound like; receptors that are deeper below the skin and are only activated to stimulation that presses "deep" within the body (so scratching your nail across your skin won't activate these). As far as I can tell, you have these types of receptors all over your body, so in theory I don't see why it would be exclusive to the torso. Hugs are the famous example of something that provides "deep pressure" but other examples are swaddling an infant or massage therapy, which are both whole body experiences. If you've ever had a hand or foot rub, you have probably enjoyed some deep pressure stimulation. I imagine that certain areas may be more effective or easier to stimulate than others; the torso may be a popular choice because it isn't as bony so you can squeeze tighter without discomfort; although, that is literally just a guess.

I would say that ultimately, someone should go with what feels good to them! Deep pressure isn't something that is "good for you" but will feel uncomfortable or unpleasant. This isn't like eating your veggies. If something feels pleasant and relaxing, then great! If not, then it isn't having the desired effect! Some people don't find it helpful at all and that is fine. If you are wondering what parts of the body you might find deep pressure stimulation to be helpful, the easiest way to know for sure is to give it a try and see what you think! Go with what feels good to you! Everyone is different!

Important disclaimer here is that sensory integration is really more within the realm of occupational therapists rather than speech-language pathologists, but obviously we all end up learning a lot about one another's disciplines because someone doesn't only have sensory integration needs during occupational therapy sessions just like they don't only have communication needs during speech-language therapy sessions. A lot of what I know is what other professionals have taught me and a little that I learned in graduate school from one of my professors who really just gave an overview of what sensory integration is. So I know more than the average person but am by no means a true expert. (TLDR; I am not an expert in the subject)

[esperantoauthor]

Take 👏🏻 head 👏🏻 trauma 👏🏻 seriously!

Bob Saget's death shows the danger of head injuries. Here's what you should know

Actor and comedian Bob Saget's death was caused by a blow to the head that he appeared to ignore before going to bed. Medical experts say yo

This has been a PSA from your friendly neighborhood SLP.

[esperantoauthor]

Ok so I was a little hesitant about “Love on the Spectrum” but my verdict is in and I think they did a really great job. It’s neurodiversity affirming and doesn’t feel at all exploitative of the people who participated. At least from my perspective, it gets a lot right about autism including the diversity of presentation and rejects stereotypes.