I spend so very much of
my day in conversation. Case managing with colleagues. Going over the day’s
lesson plans with my SLP-A. Discussing students’ progress with parents and
developing new goals in IEPs. Teaching kids how to say /r/ or when to use the
plural –s versus the plural –es marker or how to participate in conversation.
Yes, I actually teach kids how to converse.
Conversation seems like
such a natural way of interacting. You say something about something, I say
something about the same thing, you respond on the same topic; back and forth
we go, maintaining the topic, engaging with each other, and offering
appropriate eye contact and gestures. Seems so easy, right? Not for all of my
students. Some of them have to be taught how to have a conversation. What to
say, when to say it, and how to say it. What not to say. How to wait your turn.
What to do when you’re tired of the topic and want to change it. How to use your
body language and not just your words in conversation. Not every kid picks this
up through incidental learning. Some kids, especially those on the autism
spectrum, need to be explicitly taught. And it’s not easy!
Talk, talk, talk,
sometimes it seems like that’s all I do, all day long. So when the work day is
over, I often don’t want to talk. I hate talking on the phone. Most of my
conversations with friends and extended family take place via text or e-mail. I
love having the technology that can give my voice a rest but keep the
conversation going with the people I love.
At the end of a long day
at work, I sometimes wish I was a librarian instead of an SLP. Then, instead of
participating in all the conversations, I could just say, “Shhhhhh.”
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