I worked as a preschool Push-in Speech Therapist for 30 years. Now I’m retired and help preschool speech therapists like you feel confident providing therapy in the classroom.
I know what it’s like to be asked to do something you’re not prepared to do. I had to learn through trial and error. I don’t want you to flounder and waste time trying to figure it out like I did.
I’ll guide you through the steps to becoming a successful therapist in the classroom.
I came late to the game. I finished college with a degree in Interpersonal Communications. What does a person do with that, I ask you? I wasn’t worried, however, because I got married and had three beautiful children during the next 7 years.
After our first child was born, my husband took a gap year and taught at the high school where he grew up. I started substituting for him when he had to be away from class. It was a nice way to bring in a little extra money. After one year, we moved to Tucson where he started graduate school.
After two years at the University of Arizona, we ended up in Ithaca, New York, where my husband completed his PhD in Sociology. I continued substituting now and then, mostly in the middle schools in the area. Just after giving birth to our third and last child, I was asked to fill in for a Speech Therapist at a middle school who was taking a leave of absence. It was a CRAZY thing to do…but it felt right… so I jumped in for the following 8 months of the school year.
I LOVED the entire experience, and when the school year ended and my husband was done, we moved to Salt Lake City, Utah for his first job. After a year of living there, I started a graduate degree in Communication Disorders at the University of Utah.
After I graduated, I was hired by the Salt Lake City School District to work with preschoolers. This wasn’t what I had in mind! Both my externships were with middle school students. But for some reason, it felt right, so I took the job. Soon I found out the preschool therapists worked with students in the classroom. (The term “Push-in Therapy” wasn’t even a term then.) What in the world had I gotten myself into?
It was frustrating and daunting at first. I was on the edge and stressed all the time. There was only one other preschool speech therapist at the time, and she was only a year ahead of me. I asked as many questions of her as I could, but she was learning, too.
It was a tough way to start a career. I had such high hopes when I began graduate school. I had worked so hard and what did it get me? I felt like I was swimming with the sharks with no boat in sight.
Everything was trial and error, but I gradually started to figure things out. I felt so relieved as I figured out what type of goals to write and how to write them for a classroom setting. I experimented with various ways to take data and came up with several different ways to do it. I developed a routine that allowed me to work with the class as a whole, while also allowing me to see students individually when needed.
Eventually, I was actually enjoying my job! Over the years I worked in all kinds of classrooms, from self-contained to inclusive. I had developed a solid foundation that allowed for flexibility as I worked with a variety of teachers and students over the years. I was on my way!
That’s why I created my FREE resource 5 Easy Ways to Optimize Push-In Therapy…to help you get the most out of your time in the classroom.
The time to start is now!
Guess what? You already know how to be a great speech therapist. I’ll show you how to apply your skills to the classroom setting!
Get going now! Sign up for my FREE resource 5 Easy Ways to Optimize Push-in Speech Therapy and get started on your way to becoming a Pro!
Enter your name and email and I’ll send you my FREE resource 5 Easy Ways to Optimize Push-in Speech Therapy straight to your inbox!
