We have all been there emotionally, sometimes more often than we would like. Last week, I was mentally drained by the workload. It hurt to get through spending late hours typing reports, transcribing speech samples, scoring assessments (first timer for the new KLPA-3), agonizing over IEPs, and then wondering how the meetings would turn out. My eyes hurt, my body hurt, and my brain hurt. This is not the time I offer advice or strategies to avoid this hurt. It. Happens. Sometimes. A. Lot! I still LOVE my job. I love seeing my students. I love analyzing data. I don't even mind writing the reports and IEPs. Would I like it to be more manageable? Yes. But it's not. #SLPLoveHurts
When #SLPLoveHurts physically the memory lasts for a long time. This event is changed slightly to protect student confidentiality. Many years ago I had a student that challenged me weekly, if not daily. There was a special place in my heart for this student and I will never forget her. The discrepancy between this student's ability to verbalize higher level language about a special interest in contrast to significant deficits in pragmatic language was often very misunderstood. So when I was head-butted trying to communicate with this highly escalated child, truly the miscommunication was on my end. She was hiding between gym mats when I found her. I only received a brief report about the cause of the incident. To me, it was a little deal of problem. So, I leaned in to attempt to coax the student out from between the mats. That's when I was hit head on. Lesson learned. My perception of the little deal was not shared by the student. Not getting to sign up for your first choice on career day, even though you knew 5th graders were entitled to first pick which ultimately filled up the top choices, was a BIG deal. You would totally erase the top name and write yours on the line. When you were caught, you would absolutely become uncontrollable, refuse to erase it and hide so no one could find you. Once my head stopped hurting and the child entered a calm state, we each filled out a problem log to process the situation. Keeping a little bit of distance might be in my best interest next time!
In my current position, the physical hurt is very minimal. I am trained in nonviolent crisis intervention through CPI and serve on the crisis team at my school. There are times when #SLPLoveHurts physically and emotionally. When children are in crisis, it hurts and the effects can be debilitating for both the child and the support staff. SLPs are trained to help people communicate, which supports crisis prevention. When situations occur, I should feel empowered to support.
Please take some time to read other stories of how #SLPLoveHurts below. I hope the love outweighs the hurt for your this week!
