Aruna Hari Prasad, M.A., CCC-SLP
Associate Director, School Services Team in Speech-Language Pathology
Whether you’ve just started your career as a school-based SLP or are moving to the school setting from another setting such as a hospital, private practice or outpatient clinic, SLPs play a critical role in student success—and there’s a lot to know stepping into this environment. Here are three things to keep in mind.
Use the resources and support in your school, district, state, and ASHA. The ASHA School Services in Speech-Language Pathology team has five members, all of whom are here to assist you. The team’s responsibilities include creating and moderating professional development courses and programs and advocating on behalf of members on school-based practice issues.
The School Services team is available Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm EST to answer any questions related to school-based clinical and professional topics. Check out the following resources they offer:
Remember, ASHA refers to the full range of your responsibilities as a school-based SLP’s using the term “workload” and advocates for manageable workloads. Caseload is a component of workload. To practice quantifying and qualifying workload try out an edition of the ASHA Workload Calculator (AWC); there are several to choose from to meet your unique needs: weekly, monthly and telepractice editions.
These tools allow you to capture the time spent providing direct and indirect services to students. You can also analyze how your work with individual students contributes to your overall workload using the ASHA Workload Analysis Calculator. Bottom line – become knowledgeable about solution-based advocacy with tools like the AWC.
School-based speech-language pathologists have a range of roles and responsibilities as clinical service providers and members of school teams. SLPs reported having large, dynamic, and varied caseloads; demanding workloads; and work environment conditions that may not be equitable. These and other factors may lead to feelings of overwhelm. Typically, when experiencing overwhelm, a person may still be working toward—and even meeting—goals.
Workload Factors That Contribute to Overwhelm checklist [PDF] can help you identify tasks leading to feeling overwhelmed, define action steps to handle, and develop a plan to help prevent overwhelm going forward.
Addressing Stress, Overwhelm, and Burnout in School-Based SLP Practice identifies symptoms of burnout and how to address it.
Here are a few Leader articles, on collaboration, workload management and stress, overwhelm, and burnout that were developed by SLPs for SLPs:
Wherever you are on your career journey, the ASHA School Services Team is here to support you. Email us directly at schools@asha.org with your questions—we’d love to hear from you!