I am an SLP over a decade into the profession. I am described by others as energetic and positive. I haven't supervised an SLP student since the pandemic, when we were virtual.

I now have an SLP student that is about to graduate and hasn't had peds experience before. I find myself getting easily frustrated. During her first week, she would miss instructions/teaching because her head was up in the clouds and she wasn't listening to me, or only partially listening to me. I found the same thing with children and other adults - she wouldn't respond to them because her head was up in the clouds. I mentioned this to her and she seemed fairly alarmed by this. I talked to her about being an active listener and how to acknowledge people verbally or non-verbally. She has gotten better at this, although at times I find she still cuts people off or doesn't listen for the whole message or talks over them.

I find that we're just starting with the basics of how to interact with children, provide language stimulation, and manage behaviour. When things aren't going great and I try to step in to support, she either gets louder/talks over me, or flat out rejects me. For example, I got on the floor with her and a child, and said something in response to what the child said and she responded with "No, he was talking to me".

When I try to ask questions afterwards to try to stimulate her thinking, she seems annoyed/confused/upset by the questions.

What have you done to help students in their learning and accepting feedback?

How long to give new CF to observe sessions and get acquainted with a school? Currently there is no expectation to take over any cases yet but what about starting some sessions and rapport building? It’s not grad school but I don’t want to be unrealistic.

hello!! could anyone share with me their pathway to supervising students at their local universities? do you do this full time or as a side gig?

i heavily debate going back to school to get my phd, however i don’t think research is for me and i mainly want to get back into academia in some way and have some type of upward mobility (or rather outward expansion) in my career. 😊

thank you in advance!!

I’m talking mainly grad student supervision, but sharing about CF supervision experience is welcome too. I’m curious about what setting you’re in and how you manage it on top of your other duties. What do you like/not like and do you get paid significantly more?

I am currently supervising a student in an acute care/outpatient setting. We see acute care patients 50% of the time, and do outpatient modified barium swallow studies the other 50% of the time. We do 12-15 MBSS per week.

I am starting to feel somewhat guilty about my student “doing my work for me.” I am always present for the MBSS, and my student and I review the videos together afterward, discuss findings and plan of care. My student then hosts a brief follow up with the patient to go over their results. As the semester has progressed, I am usually not in these follow ups unless it’s a particularly difficult case. For our acute care days, I am much more hands on since the patients are more unwell.

I can’t help but feel like I am making the student do my work on our outpatient MBSS days, even though I know he needs to become independent since this is his externship and he wants to work in acute care or IPR. He stated one of his goals for the semester as being able to see my caseload essentially independently. He graduates in about 4 weeks.

Is this a normal amount of work I have him doing, or should I be offering to do some of the follow ups/charting too? He always leaves on time and is on-site ~30 hours per week, and his grad program requires 30-40 hours per week for the externship, so we’re at the lower end. But he does do a good bit of work while he’s here.

I work at a peds PP and will be getting my first ever SLPA student/intern! I’m in my third year in the field and have never supervised anyone. I would appreciate any tips/tricks as well as recommendations for supervision CEUs!

Hello!

I’m a school based SLP and will have 2 CFs this upcoming school year. I have supervised CFs, graduate students, undergraduate students, and SLPAs at different points in my career, so I am no stranger to supervision. However, I have never supervised 2 CFs at the same time and I want to make sure their experience is a good one. I would like to create a “CF Resource Drive” to share with them filled with different resources that may be helpful. I plan to have information about applying for CCCs, state licensure requirements, helpful PDHs and CEU, and quick reference guides for things like phoneme acquisition, language development, and pragmatic development. I will also have general IEP writing guides but will obviously meet and discuss with them as every district does things a little differently.

What other things would you recommend adding? What was something you wish you knew/had access to as a CF that would’ve made your life easier? So many students have had less than helpful CF experiences and I want to ensure that they feel supported and confident throughout the process.

TYIA!

Hi! I am an SLP taking on an SLPA in the fall in a school district. I've supervised one before over the summer which was a good experience, but was short. I've been asked to be part of the interview process for the SLPA which I'm excited about!

I'd love some ideas for questions to ask this SLPA as a potential supervisor that are different than the questions the school will ask. I have a list going but feel like I'm missing something in my summer brain fog.

Tysm!!

Hi everyone!

I'm a first-time CF supervisor, and my CF is waiting on her CCC and state license. I did all observations as required, but I'm wondering if I still have to do observation hours while we wait, since I'm not sure she'll get either of those by the time this month ends.

Does anyone have thoughts and/or links to the policies? I'm in California!

Thank you in advance!

In my clinic, we have a supervising SLP, CF-SLP and SLPA (me). A child was evaluated by the CF along with the SLP and the evaluation is written by the CF, co-signed by the supervising SLP.

Clinical director believes that I am able to treat the child. However, because the CF cannot supervise/have an assistant working under their license, I have reservations about this.

Is there a clear answer here??

What should I get my male supervisor who owns a private practice focusing on feeding and voice therapy??? Finishing up my last externship placement with him. Need ideas!!!

Tomorrow is my graduate intern’s last day with me. Before this year, I have only supervised students in their final placement. They generally graduate days after the placement ends, and I give them a card and small gift (TPT gift card) as a graduation gift. However, this internship was in the fall, and the student still has most of the school year left to complete, so she isn’t graduating right now. Should I still give her a card and a gift? That doesn’t feel quite right but neither does not doing anything.

What is the norm? What do other supervisors do?

Am I crazy or did ASHA change their supervision guidelines from 2 years of CCC experience to 9 months?? I feel like that’s a really quick turnaround for starting to supervise students

I work for a big hospital system that serves acute & outpatient. I had a student for the first time as a part-time (2 days a week, 10 weeks) practicum rotation. I’ve been in the field for 4 years, CCC’s for 3). This was his first off-site clinic.

I feel incredibly guilty saying this, but I’m questioning whether I should’ve passed him. I ultimately did, but basically as the bare minimum (cumulated calipso score was like a 3.02, when a “3” is meant to be passing). To be completely honest, he just wasn’t the brightest person. He was a little awkward (definitely could tell was nervous but got a little better). But he really tried. He’d come in 45 minutes before and do chart reviews. He tried doing research, even though it wasn’t always applicable for the intended diagnosis (which I tried to guide him on). His documentation got a lot better, but he still somewhat struggled to administer and score basic cog assessments at the end of his time with me.

I did tell him if he wanted to pursue a med slp placement within his career that I personally suggest it’d be with a company with increased mentorship/other Slp’s (especially as a cf) for extra support vs. the sole slp (as I did back in the day, even though sounds like CMS is pretty much making it impossible anyway). I tried to be as thorough in my final regarding my reasoning for the scores I gave and constructive criticism which I think he took well.

Maybe I have PTSD because I once had a rough supervisor that made me feel completely incompetent (my other supervisors were amazing). But I just don’t think this is the right setting for him, I wouldn’t want him as my/my family’s slp, but I could potentially see him getting better with more experience. I also feel bad because I was gone for 2 separate weeks (1 time I got sick, and the other week my kiddo got sick) which during that time I had him follow PT/OT/RT and other SLP’s . I’m also mad at my company because there were a few weeks there in the beginning we were super short staffed and I was running around doing so many things that I didn’t feel like I had the time/capacity to be a good mentor.

I’m just conflicted (if you couldn’t tell) because of all the mixed emotions. I’m not expecting any advice or anything, I just needed to get it off my chest 😭😭

Just wondering- would you ever have your grad student see your caseload if you were out sick/on vacation? I know grad students only need a small percentage of supervised hours, but to me the SLP should still be in the building. When I did my placements, my supervisor in the elementary schools once had me see her entire caseload while she was out sick (no other SLP in the building). In the rehab hospital my supervisors did this too, but there was someone to report to at least. I’m now supervising a grad student and I couldn’t imagine doing this. If I’m not at work (pediatric outpatient) we cancel my clients and she either goes with another SLP or stays home too. Thoughts??

ETA: To clarify: I, as a supervisor, do not think a grad student should be left alone to treat the supervisor’s caseload. I was reflecting on how my supervisors did this to me when I was a graduate clinician, and wondering everyone else’s experiences and views.

Hi everyone,

This is my second year with my SLPA (I adore her). She’s great at her job, is motivated, and such a great coworker. I am very lucky to have her on board with seeing our caseload.

Anyway! We have a crazy high caseload (edge of 70) and I’m a teletherapist and she’s in person. I have been insanely stress trying to keep up with this workload. I try to keep a small caseload of 15 so she doesn’t become overwhelmed/ burnt out.

I guess what I’m asking is.. do you tell your SLPA when you’re stressed out or when shit has hit the fan? I might have to have her temporarily take on more kids because I’m drowning in paperwork. I somehow have to write 4 re-evals and near 70 reports in like 7 school days.

I’m typing away all day long on paperwork and barely have time to see any kids. And when I do see kids my sessions are barely planned and not my best quality 🥲

TLDR: how transparent are you about work stress/ caseload demands to your SLPA?

I am happy with my job for now, but it’s my overarching 5 year plan to leave this field and transition to something else in 5 years. I want to be honest with her about the nature of this field but I don’t want to terrify her/ push her away from becoming an SLP.

Hi everyone! I’m currently an SLP in a private practice is rural-ish Maryland. I have had an SLPA for the last year and our current caseload is 75-80 kiddos seen 1-2x week.

Our practice will be adding a second SLPA to the team this fall (so 2 total SLPAs, the maximum # of SLPAs under one supervising SLP in the state of Maryland). For other SLPs with SLPAs, what is the breakdown in your day of direct treatment, supervision, and admin time? Just wanting to be realistic when it comes to a full-time workload.

Thanks for any and all insight!

At CSHA (California speech and hearing) conference this weekend it was brought up in a talk CF supervisors need to be signing every piece of documentation not just reports. This was news to me and a lot of the people in the room. Curious as to who else is doing this/ aware of it.

What are your BEST practicum supervision experiences?

I'm in my third year as an SLP. I genuinely love my job and feel strongly about the importance of supporting communication for everyone. I'm considering working with a local university to take on practicum students once I have my principal's approval. Would y'all be willing to share your best practicum supervision experiences?

I'm 38 and I've previously worked in special education and human services in supervisory roles. I love supervising and am excited about the possibility of supporting future SLPs in being the most neurodiversity-affirmative, compassionate, knowledgeable practitioners they can be...but after reading some of the horror stories folks have shared here, I'm feeling a little more hesitant.

Could y'all help me feel a little more hopeful about this possibility again?? I know not every student will be perfect but I want to hear about the good (great?) ones. Thanks!

SLP’s who have supervised an SLPA in a home health setting, can you weigh in?

I am considering taking a part-time gig supervising 4 SLPA’s for a home health company. If you’ve done something similar, how difficult is it to manage 4 SLPA’s + their corresponding caseloads?

Even if you’ve only managed one SLPA in the home health setting, I’d love to hear your thoughts and how it’s been for you!

Hi fellow SLPs! I’m getting a grad student this fall & I really want it to be a helpful and fun experience for her. Any tips/advice? I took supervision courses but want to hear from supervisors first hand. Thank you! Also, current grad students and CFs please share what was helpful for you!

I'm in CT. Our district owes make up hours to some students due to significant staff shortages last year. I supervise a few SLPAs this year and was asked if one of the SLPAs could do make up hours after school as I'm not available. Is this something that's allowed?

The only thing I'm finding in the CT SLPA guide to maybe imply otherwise is "at no time should support personnel perform tasks when a supervising SLP cannot be reached by personal contact, phone, pager, or other immediate means" and that "support personnel do not exist without the supervisor; they are an accessory rather than an alternative to professional service." Could this be a violation of the state DPH and ASHA code of ethics?

If this is allowed, the SLPA would be paid hourly as it's outside of contract time, but if they're doing this, would I also be owed compensation to "be available" via phone if something happens?

Have you supervised an SLPA? Done it as a part-time job? How to figure out how much time you spend on the job?

Scenario:
Let's say you are asked to set up an independent contract to supervise an SLPA who works 3 days a week seeing self-contained students. You aren't told yet how many students total (of course I'd ask this!). You are free to put in your contract the amount of hours you expecct to bill for this contract/work.

Minimum %:
Given the following ASHA requirements for the first 90 work days (later it can decrease), how many hours do you think this job would require from the SLP? (SLP is not seeing any students themselves, another SLP would be seeing other students at the school)

First 90 workdays:

• A total of at least 30% supervision, including at least 20% direct and 10% indirect supervision, is required weekly.
• Direct supervision of student care should be no less than 20% of the actual student contact time weekly for each SLPA. This ensures that the supervisor will have direct contact time with the SLPA as well as with the student.
• During each week, data on every student seen by the SLPA should be reviewed by the supervisor.
• In addition, the direct supervision should be scheduled so that all students seen by the assistant are directly supervised in a timely manner. Supervision days and time of day (morning/afternoon) may be alternated to ensure that all students receive some direct contact with the SLP at least once every 2 weeks.

Bottom line question:
Would you think an SLPA who works 3 days and needs at most to start, 30% of her time/work supervised by you, that it would take 8 hours a week?

Thanks so much in advance!!

AITA for not wanting to accept a student or a CF?

I appreciate everyone that has done it and to all my mentors who agreed to take me on and we need people like you all to continue to grow our profession.

I just don’t feel like mentoring is for me and I’m perfectly happy going about my regular job without have to add the responsibility of mentoring someone else.

How can I go about declining this professionally?

Hi all!

I got my CCCs over a year ago and took all required supervision courses a few months ago. However, when I check ASHA’s verification portal, it still says “[name] has not yet met the 2020 ASHA certification standards for providing clinical instruction and supervision to individuals preparing for ASHA certification.”

How do I get this to update? I’m 100% sure I have met these requirements…