mentorship
I am honored to have been chosen by GVSU to join their gratis affiliated clinical faculty by mentoring one of their speech therapy graduate students from time to time. This summer, Miss Hanna will be the first of those students. She will be joining me in June and July on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays for most of my therapy sessions and for our Summer Buddies group.
I am and will still be your child’s therapist and I will be in the room and in control of 100% of all therapy sessions. Miss Hanna will assist me in planning for and setting up our sessions and she may take the lead on some therapy tasks, but only those for which I have full confidence in her. If there is any point at which Miss Hanna needs me to step in, know that I won't hesitate to do so!
I conducted a very thorough interview process with 3 GVSU student candidates for this internship, and Miss Hanna was quite impressive. Part of the interview process was collecting a language sample from my own 4 year old, which she handled so well that I could have been convinced that she was already an SLP! Her and Callum (my son) had tons of fun reading and playing dinosaurs together. She was also exceptionally humble and open to feedback, while clearly experienced enough to confidently execute some challenging therapy tasks with no support from me. Before grad school, Miss Hanna had a background in early childhood education and has worked in the nature preschool setting, as well as other preschools/daycares.
I do believe that there is so much to be gained from teaching and explaining therapy strategies and techniques. It keeps me on my toes, it makes me re-question the way I do things, and both of those things ultimately help me refine my therapy skills and make them better.
Additionally, our profession has a huge dearth nationwide. We need more knowledgeable SLPs in the country and since it takes multiple internships during grad school + clinical supervision for a year after grad school, it’s imperative that every experienced SLP give back to our profession regularly.
I have mentored graduate students and new graduates before, as well as SLP-As (assistants), and know that I am very comfortable in this role.
Also, note that Miss Hanna will be fully vaccinated from COVID and she has been fully vetted by GVSU, including a full criminal background check, fingerprinting and urine drug screening.
Should you have any questions or concerns about you or your child working with Miss Hanna, please don't hesitate to let me know! Although I am committed to Miss Hanna having an educational experience with me this summer, my commitment to your child and family will always come first.
I am and will still be your child’s therapist and I will be in the room and in control of 100% of all therapy sessions. Miss Hanna will assist me in planning for and setting up our sessions and she may take the lead on some therapy tasks, but only those for which I have full confidence in her. If there is any point at which Miss Hanna needs me to step in, know that I won't hesitate to do so!
I conducted a very thorough interview process with 3 GVSU student candidates for this internship, and Miss Hanna was quite impressive. Part of the interview process was collecting a language sample from my own 4 year old, which she handled so well that I could have been convinced that she was already an SLP! Her and Callum (my son) had tons of fun reading and playing dinosaurs together. She was also exceptionally humble and open to feedback, while clearly experienced enough to confidently execute some challenging therapy tasks with no support from me. Before grad school, Miss Hanna had a background in early childhood education and has worked in the nature preschool setting, as well as other preschools/daycares.
I do believe that there is so much to be gained from teaching and explaining therapy strategies and techniques. It keeps me on my toes, it makes me re-question the way I do things, and both of those things ultimately help me refine my therapy skills and make them better.
Additionally, our profession has a huge dearth nationwide. We need more knowledgeable SLPs in the country and since it takes multiple internships during grad school + clinical supervision for a year after grad school, it’s imperative that every experienced SLP give back to our profession regularly.
I have mentored graduate students and new graduates before, as well as SLP-As (assistants), and know that I am very comfortable in this role.
Also, note that Miss Hanna will be fully vaccinated from COVID and she has been fully vetted by GVSU, including a full criminal background check, fingerprinting and urine drug screening.
Should you have any questions or concerns about you or your child working with Miss Hanna, please don't hesitate to let me know! Although I am committed to Miss Hanna having an educational experience with me this summer, my commitment to your child and family will always come first.
