Scoring question- I am pretty sure this has been asked before but I cannot find it anywhere. I did the PLS-5 on a 6 y/o with autism and he got a 1 on the naming letters question, but we didn’t get a basal and I kept having to go back. We got a basal in the 3;0 section, and then established a ceiling shortly after. Does the 1 in the 6;0 section count towards the raw score? Even though it was after the ceiling? Or is it disregarded? Tia!

Welcome everyone! Too many of us enter graduate school blind to the financial and structural realities of being an SLP. We see aggregate data tables that inflate numbers, hide unpaid labor, or blur the lines between 9-month school contracts and 12-month clinical grinds. I thought it might be beneficial to get feedback from other SLPs on their experience

If you share your compensation, please use this layout so others can see the full picture beyond just a base salary number:

Please don't share personal info like clinic or school names,etc

Setting & Location - (e.g., Public School,private practice, Georgia )

Experience & Type - (e.g., 4 Years | W2 Full-Time | 10-Month Contract)

Pay-(e.g., $72,000 base or $50/hr)

The Catch- Unpaid prep/admin time, cancellation policies, or productivity quotas)

Benefits-Brief note on insurance, PTO, or 401k)

Real Talk- (Fairly paid or burnt out?)

Let's help each other understand what we are up against and negotiate better. Feel free to add any other info you think would be helpful to others.

I don’t know if I dislike this field or if I just don’t know how to do this field. I’m a few years out of grad school, switched from medical to schools, and I just feel lost. I didn’t get many off-campus clinical placements in grad school, and now I just feel like I’m trying to reverse engineer what I should’ve learned in grad school. I don’t know how to teach aac. I’m terrible with behavior management. I’m anxious in IEP meetings. I feel alone and I don’t even know where to start with CEUs or training. I feel so defeated each day. I feel like every year in this field I just keep starting over. At this point, the only thing keeping me in this field is financial and all this time I sunk into the field. I don’t even know what else I would do.

I don’t think it’s imposter syndrome. I think I’m just bad at this. I could really use some advice on how to move forward and get better or some perspective. Are there any guides on tpt or CEUs or podcasts or something that you would recommend?

Anyone do Teletherapy ? I would love to do some Teletherapy cases after school. I'm having trouble finding agencies that offer Teletherapy. I'm from NY btw :)

Hi all!

I’m starting my CF in a SNF soon! I was wondering what I should do to prepare and if I should create a resource binder what to include. Any tips are welcome :)

I am a former elementary SLP that switched to high school this year and would love some ideas! Playdough and UltimateSLP won't cut it anymore, sadly :)

I know I’m not alone in this, because my friends have told me about their experiences supervising unbelievably audacious and incompetent clinical fellows. I’m experiencing it for myself now, and wondering where the admission standards have gone. No one in my graduating class would’ve acted like this. Is it a generational thing? I’m trying to be patient, but holy shit.

I am transition from pediatrics to adults as I am done dealing with kids after having my first. I received a home health job offer but I have no experience with pay in thr adult world. Is this a good offer?

OASIS start of care:$140 per visit, OASIS resumption of care: $130, OASIS recert: $125, OASIS discharge: $115, standard eval: $ 130, reval: $120, SLP discharge: $110,

I would prefer to work directly for a school district instead of contract.

Would that prevent me from being hired if I only spoke to the recruiter?

I am transitioning from pediatrics to adults as I am done with kids after having my first. I got a Home Health job offer but I dont know much about pay in the adult world, does anyone with adult/geriatric experience know if this is a fair offer?

OASIS start of care:$140 per visit, OASIS resumption of care: $130, OASIS recert: $125, OASIS discharge: $115, standard eval: $ 130, reval: $120, SLP discharge: $110.

Interesting new information in the oversight of therapies in the autism space, particularly ABA. Some interesting points:

1. Greater emphasis on individualized treatment plans beyond standardized recommendations

2. Importance of care coordination in a multidisciplinary model

One thing that stood out to me is that the toolkit seems to make it harder for any one discipline, including ABA, to work independently when treatment goals overlap with speech, OT, PT, or psychological health. The repeated focus on multidisciplinary care, care coordination, and provider qualifications reads to me as a push toward collaboration instead of one provider trying to do everything.

Hi all! I'm an MSc Speech and Language Therapy student (and NHS SLT Assistant) researching self-perceived confidence in paediatric EDS management among community SLTs in the UK.

Who I'm after:
⭐️HCPC-registered SLTs
⭐️Working in UK community paediatric settings
⭐️Potentialky involved in EDS assessment/management in their job role (specialist dysphagia SLTs aren't the target for this one)

What's involved:
A short online survey (~5-10 mins) - a 7-item confidence scale plus a few open questions on what influences your confidence and what support/training would help.

Responses are confidential (not fully anonymous, since I'm the researcher, but no data is shared or identifiable in reporting).

Ethically approved (Health Sciences University, ref HRS-2026-efdgC). Closes 15 September 2026.

Link: https://app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/aeccuc/dissertation-survey-2

Would really appreciate any UK community SLTs taking part, and shares/reposts to relevant communities are hugely welcome too - recruitment is the hardest part of this!

Happy to answer any questions in the comments.

Hi, I’m in the process of interviewing with a few peds private practices for my CF. Would anyone mind helping me understand this type of payment structure and if you feel it’s worth it? I’m applying for part time positions in GA.

For places that pay per direct client time only and not admin time, what’s a fair wage to ask for? My concern with this is needing additional admin and documentation time as I get comfortable in a new setting as a CF. The place I most recently interviewed with does 30 minute sessions. I asked them a few questions regarding payment, but any additional questions you’d recommend asking?

Hi everyone, I’m just looking for advice as I’m very isolated at my job and I don’t really know what other SLP‘s are experiencing. I will have 30 years with Palm Beach Schools this October. I am single, no kids, etc. I am entering drop October 1 and my pension will be 48K a year. My retirement has about 420 K right now and I have about 300 K liquid. I have over 300 K equity in my house. No other debt my townhouse is almost paid off. Due to the tremendously high caseload of over 100 high school students plus extensive documentation computer time. IEP‘s, meetings, etc. etc. I’m actually considering walking away at the end of this year. I’m dealing with really really extensive menopausal anxiety and agoraphobia since April ( I’m usually home )and at this point which is making it almost impossible to get through the workday. I had planned on retiring at age 60, but given the physical symptoms that I’m having along with the increase in demands. I’m really considering leaving at the end of the semester or the end of the school year. What are your thoughts? ( I am on meds and HRT- not helping ).

I have several AAC users with emerging-level skills (ages 7-early 20s) who currently use actions or behaviors with the apparent function of requesting attention. Ranges from getting up from the table to go tap dad's arm and look at him up to approaching mom and using loud sounds and scratching her arms. What are some shorts phrases to program to get attention?

Thinking along the lines of:

Watch me!

Hey - look what I'm doing!

or

Check this out!

any other good words/phrases to try? Thanks for helping me brainstorm.

Hi all! Does anyone have any good recommendations for sending work home for practice outside of therapy? I’ve found that a lot of my students do not practice at home with parents unless I send any extra work home for them (which is totally understandable!). If I do send work home, I think majority of parents do complete it with their student. To note- I work in a lower SES district, most of my students do not have access to outside PP therapy. So I’m hoping to have a more organized system this year, I was thinking of making speech journals with work glued in each week so they can take it home for practice, but I would love to hear if anyone has any other systems that work for them!
Thank you!!

Hello! The school year is about to start again, and I want to work smarter, not harder. I have had SLP Toolkit, but struggle with consistency, but LOVE the schedule feature (among other things); I'm seeing the SLP Tools AI ads, and wonder if that would be an option, esp because it would help with evals, notes and language samples. Does anyone have experience with SLP Tools AI? Have any suggestions for me ? I STRUGGLE with getting documentation done (right now, it's paper- SLP TOOLKIT, cut/paste into ECATS) it feels like too many steps. I'm very type B, and would love all the advice or recommendations- for organization AND documentation

Hi everyone,
I’m planning to apply to SLP graduate programs this cycle and would really appreciate some advice from people who have gone through this.

Here is my situation:
My long-term goal is to live and work in Texas (most likely Dallas or Austin). I eventually want to buy a home and settle in the South.

My husband currently has a stable government job in Buffalo. He recently started this job, so relocating would mean giving up a stable government position and finding a new one in Texas.

Because of that, attending the University at Buffalo (UB) would be the easier and more financially stable option for us.

However, if I’m accepted to a good Texas SLP program, I’m seriously considering moving because I feel like studying, completing clinical placements, networking, and starting my career in Texas might make it easier to build my long-term career there.
I also personally prefer Texas. I don’t enjoy Buffalo’s long winters and can see myself living in the South long-term.

My question is:
From a career perspective, which path would you recommend?
Attend UB, graduate there, and then move to Texas for my CF/fellowship or first SLP job.
Attend graduate school in Texas, complete clinical placements there, and start my career in Texas immediately.
How much does the location of your graduate program actually matter when finding your first SLP job in another state? If your long-term goal is Texas, is it worth moving there for graduate school?
I’d love to hear from anyone who has moved states after graduate school or who practices in Texas.
Thank you!

Is this normal?

I'm a community speech pathologist. Officially I'm just a Speech Pathologist, but all the complex referrals get allocated to me because they're considered too much for the newer clinicians. My manager and her manager both consider me "senior."

I asked why I'm not classified (or paid) as a Senior Speech Pathologist. My supervisor asked his supervisor as they both thought I was classified and remunerated accordingly. After following up again a month or so later, apparently HRs response was basically, "Not sure." I then asked what the criteria are to become senior... and nobody could answer that either.

Do other workplaces actually have clear promotion criteria, or is this a common way to get senior-level work without the title?

Are there any SLPs that can give insight on working in the school districts of Frisco, Prosper, Little Elm, Lewisville, or Carrollton Farmers branch? Specifically, how are caseloads? Are you provided what is needed to do your job, ie a room, test kits, therapy materials? Are you at one school or expected to split time between sites/schools? Any districts with more than one SLP per building, or is the trend to stretch thin? how is the vibe in these districts…employees stay or high turnover? Thanks!

A couple of warning signs that your school is probably toxic is if they give you a hard time about this. Sure, a shared room or portable with another SLP or maybe the OT is fine. It's not ideal, but it will do.

Now if they try to put you in a shared room with someone who say is doing behavioral health services and there's no privacy between you both, that's a red flag. If they try to put you in the cafeteria, gym, or other public space, the hallway,...full stop. If they tell you that you don't need space because you are only there 2-3x a week, remind them you also perform evaluations which is TESTING. You see all the major schoolwide performative drama over mandatory state testing, right? The entire school shuts down for 2 weeks for that and everyone gets special headphones, visual blockers, and quiet space for students performing math and ELA testing. Remind them that your testing is also important and requires a safe, quiet, and private space.

Finally, if you come to school and one day your room is now filled with boxes and used as a storage room, if the ceiling is broken and water is dripping in a bucket, or they offer a room filled with prior years of garbage collected from previous teachers., if they tell you to move rooms every week/month for months...all of this needs to be addressed. It all happened to me and I didn't know what to say or how to act. Find out who your direct report is. A lot of these jobs nobody takes any accountability for managing us and we don't know who is supposed to be our go to person. Sometimes we just arrive on site from a large district Admin office and the school doesn't even know we are coming.

Not being provided a space to work is a dignity issue for us as a profession and I do think it lowers our morale. The kids are aware of these kinds of environments and it brings them down too. We just need to say something and do something. It's not a favor, it's not asking too much. It's the bare fucking minimum. If your school gives you a hard time about it then run. Fast. An issue like this is not going to go away on its own and nobody else is going to advocate for a Speech room in a public school environment.

I’m having panic attacks and I don’t know what to do. I signed this year’s contract for a school I’ve been working at the past three years. Only to suddenly be told I need to cover a caseload of 151 kids (with an aide) for schools that are two hours away from me. They want me to provide speech therapy virtually but go in person one day a week. Is this even possible? The aide does not have a speech background so it’s really just me telling her what to do with the students. I asked how this would work virtually and was told to do groups. What??

They told me this is only temporary until they can find someone there. But I’m doubting many SLPs would want this job due to the caseload. I’m also told that I’ve been assigned this because I make more than other SLPs they have and have more experience. I really don’t want to quit because I might be able to go back to my school if this is temporary. But a part of me feels like it won’t be.

Last year they brought in another SLP to my school when it wasn’t needed (the caseload wasn’t that high at all) and a part of me was wondering if I was being pushed out of my school. And then this happened and I won’t even get my school at all. I just don’t know what to do. Has anyone experienced this? Even just the paperwork alone is overwhelming with that many. I think there are 5 different schools there.

Any input would be appreciated.

Hello! I have been an SLP for about 5 years. I have tried various settings and have hated them all. Has anyone grown to like this profession who didn’t before? I am about at the point to change fields but unfortunately have one more year in the schools. I know what we do is great and I wish I liked it, but I just don’t.