The Pressure Cooker

And suddenly the semester is finished. There were many times this semester that I thought I wasn't going to make it and that I wasn't cut out to be an SLP. Most of these moments were outside of the therapy room and involved paperwork, but inside of the therapy room, I morphed from a very unsure, anxious-filled student into a more confident, heck-yeah-I-can-do-this clinician. I love doing therapy. I love the fact that I can go in to a session with a plan of action and the ability to modify it on the fly. I love trying to figure out what will help my clients the most and give them support they need while fostering independence.

So, what made this semester so difficult? All of my spare time was devoted to clinic and my clients. My other

ASHA and the end of another semester...

The Fall semester is officially finished and only a few more days of work to go until I am officially on break. What a crazyemotionalbusy semester, it's no wonder I haven't had time to write many posts!

So here are some highlights from this semester:

#summabreak13

Summer plans are in the works and it's going to be a nice one! July is already becoming packed with things to do including a roadtrip to the other side of the state for a long weekend, a week-long trip up to the U.P. (upper peninsula of Michigan), and taking online continuing education courses through speechpathology.com  through the StudentUnion.

I've signed up for a bunch of dysphagia related courses to start off with:

-Performing a Clinical Swallow Evaluation

-Putting the Pieces Together: From research to practice in dysphagia management

-Cultural Sensitivity and Dysphagia: A Good Blend?

-Through Thick and Thin...Liquids

-Clinical Excellence in Dementia-Dysphagia Management

-Swallowing Issues in Individuals with Tracheostomy, Ventilator, and Respiratory Compromise Swallow Screening: How and Why

-Dysphagia in Patients at the End of Life

They are all video courses, all an hour long, and there are handouts that go along with most of them that consist of at least a pdf of the powerpoint though a few have checklists, resources lists, and/or other