For the Overwhelmed SLP during Distance Learning
You might be feeling completely stressed and frustrated. So I am. But you are doing enough.
Well… this has been quite the school year.
It’s hard to put into words all the frustration, stress, and self-doubting thoughts the last few months have brought. When my school district closed on March 13, I thought, “Wow, I can’t believe we’re going to be off for two weeks.” Little did I know that we would not return to work for the rest of the school year and this pandemic would completely turn everyone’s lives upside down.
As a school-based SLP, I used digital materials sparingly in my sessions and I never had any interest in teletherapy. Within a few short weeks of school closure, countless SLPs - without any teletherapy training - got to work by sending home packets, posting digital materials, and connecting with students and families through virtual platforms. I’m so proud of my colleagues and the online SLP community for sharing ideas, hosting free webinars, and supporting each other during this time.
Along with this admiration for the professionals in my field, I had the constant, overwhelming thought that I wasn’t doing enough. Even though I was working more hours than my normal school day, I felt like I was behind on paperwork and contacting families. I was hearing comments that families were not happy with the special education services that we were being provided and my colleagues and I had varying feedback from parents and administrators.
You are sending too much work home.
You aren’t sending enough work home.
Your virtual sessions aren’t long enough.
We want group sessions.
We want individual sessions.
You need to start delivering services like this…
No response
Everyone has a right to their opinion and I respect the decisions of all the parents, administrators, and educators at this time. I understand that everyone is in a different situation and they truly just want what is best for their child/student. However, the ever-changing directives from admin, the emails (or lack thereof) from parents, and the anxiety-ridden thoughts due to a global pandemic had my head spinning. Sometimes I would look online for inspiration, but would just find myself thinking, “You’re not as creative as those SLPs with cool green screens,” “You’re not as compassionate as the SLP that dropped off individual goodie bags to all their students,” and “You’re not as supportive as the SLP that has virtually connected with all of the students on their caseload.”
It was all too easy to focus on the negative around me. It overshadowed the small wins. But then I’d think about how my 7th-grade student finally remembered to come to their Zoom meeting or how all of the students in my AAC group participated in an online lesson. With all the pressure I was feeling, I found it helpful to replay these tiny successes in my head. I had to remind myself that after every negative comment came five times as many appreciative and thankful responses.
So for all of those SLPs that were (are) struggling with self-doubt during distance learning and did not get the assurance they needed …
You are an amazing SLP. Thank you for caring so deeply about your students. Anything and everything you did was more than enough.
I have a couple of weeks left until my school year officially ends. And I plan to read the above sentences every day until it’s over. I hope you do too if you need a daily pick-me-up. I am in amazement at how creative and hard-working all school-based SLPs are. Thank you for your dedication to our students and profession!
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I also wanted to thank all of the healthcare workers, medical-based SLPs, and essential workers for keeping our communities safe and running. My thoughts are with the families impacted by COVID-19. We will get through this together.
